Deacons Micheal Panka and Nick Vance will be ordained to the priesthood May 25. But they took different paths to get there, the deacons told “Practicing Catholic” radio show producer Kayla Mayer in an episode that debuts April 12.

Deacon Vance first experienced the call to the priesthood while volunteering in high school and college at Dunrovin Retreat Center based in Marine on Saint Croix, where he helped put on retreats for at-risk youth.

“(It was) just this experience of serving those who I wouldn’t normally run into (that) showed me the beauty of what it meant to say, ‘my life is not my own,’” Deacon Vance said.

The Lord continued tugging on his heart during college and he entered seminary immediately after he graduated, the deacon said.

Deacon Panka’s path to priesthood was less direct. After graduating from college, he worked as a teacher. He felt the Lord inviting him to the priesthood, Deacon Panka said, but he was reluctant to follow the call.

“I had this ongoing debate with the Lord that he seemingly very clearly wanted me to pursue the priesthood, and I was trying to give him all the excuses I could think of for a very long time,” Deacon Panka said. “The Lord is patient and kind and merciful and he just kept inviting me to consider this possibility.”

He said that his vocation was clarified through “many years of prayer, discernment and talking with others.”

“It was very clear to me at a certain point that this was what the Lord really wanted for me, and I just had to want it for myself, in a certain sense,” he said. “As soon as I was at that point, I was happy to start seminary because I knew that this is how my relationship with the Lord was going to continue to grow and deepen.”

Deacon Vance said the different paths he and Deacon Panka experienced are representative of the variety in this year’s seminary class.

“God calls all sorts of guys to this sort of thing,” Deacon Vance said. “Our class is all over the place. Michael came from teaching; I came right out of college. One of our other classmates was a grocery store manager. Guys (are) coming from all sorts of different places.”

To hear more of the deacons’ vocations stories and what they are most excited about as they prepare for priestly ordination, tune into “Practicing Catholic” when it airs at 9 p.m. April 12 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, or when it repeats at 1 p.m. April 13 and 2 p.m. April 14.

Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes a discussion with Jean Houghton and Marci Franzen, who head the Catholic Services Appeal, and Nancy Bandzuch, a Catholic mom and podcaster who talks about a new resource for parents.

Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.