Bishop Hagemoen shares his vocation story
The B.C. Catholic
Bishop Mark Hagemoen shared the story of his journey to the priesthood Jan. 16 at St. James’s Church in Abbotsford. The talk drew more than 150 men.
Now the bishop of Mackenzie – Fort Smith, Bishop Hagemoen grew up in Vancouver. One of his earliest and fondest memories of his vocation journey was of his pastor.
“I loved what I saw in my parish priest,” he said. “He lived among the community, he was there for all the religious celebrations, and was there whenever someone died. He was facing life and death along with the community.”
The hunger for what he saw in his pastor stuck with him throughout life. He attended university hoping to find an answer to that hunger. “I had a false hope that after graduation, it would answer all my questions,” Bishop Hagemoen laughed. “Well, it didn’t. I had some good professors, and some not-so-good professors, but I was hungrier than ever when I left UBC.”
Afterwards, Bishop Hagemoen worked in mining exploration, spending a lot of time alone in the wilderness. “I struggled with that initially, because you face your demons when you’re isolated. But Jesus spoke to me in the wilderness, and to this day, I love it.”
Bishop Hagemoen then travelled the world, all the while hearing God’s call. “After working two years, I started to see what the Lord wanted from me. But I didn’t want to hear it,” he said. “I wanted a family.”
“I kept pushing the thought away,” he said. He was working his way through South-East Asia, when a quiet voice started talking to him. “Trust Me. Check out the priesthood,” the voice said to him. “There was no push. There was no force.”
This continued until Bishop Hagemoen could no longer bare it. “So I said to God, ‘Okay. I promise you, when I get back to Vancouver eight months later, I will go to Archbishop Carney and tell him I’m thinking of seminary. Lord, he might not take me, but I promise I’ll do this.'”
Five years later, Bishop Hagemoen recognised his call to the priesthood. “I shared this story because it was a powerful lesson that the Lord just asks us to trust him,” the bishop said. “For me, it was the call for priesthood. For some young men here, it’s a call to discern their vocation. God’s will is powerful and mysterious.”
Bishop Hagemoen’s advice resonated with Jake Kyhm, the coordinator of the event. “I thought (the talk) was wonderful; he’s a man’s man,” Kyhm said. “To hear what he talked about – to the hearts of men – he’s speaking a masculine language, which is wonderful.”
Kyhm was surprised at the large turnout and chalked that up to the star power of Bishop Hagemoen. “I’m glad and thankful for all the men who turned out,” said Kyhm. “It’s good for them that they’re hungry, not just physically, but for God.”
“Fundamentally, I think it’s important men come together to pray, reflect, and talk about what it means to be a Catholic man, because we can’t do this on our own,” Bishop Hagemoen added. “While there is a time for us to walk alone with the Lord, we also need the support and community to do that.”
