Peter Ickes

Discipleship I
 St. Joseph Seminary, Yonkers, NY
St. Augustin, Des Moines

I am a lifelong Iowan, born and raised in a faithful Catholic family. I first had thoughts of becoming a priest when I was very young, but it was not something that I explored until I entered college at the University of Northern Iowa in 2011. Throughout my time studying in Cedar Falls, I was actively involved in many activities around campus, and spent a lot of time discerning where God might be calling me in my vocation. Ultimately, I decided not to enter seminary after college, but instead go to law school. So when I graduated with a degree in Biology in 2015, I moved to Des Moines. Then, I graduated with my law degree from Drake University in 2019, passed the Bar Exam later that summer, and have practiced law ever since. During my seven years as an attorney, I have lived pretty much the full gamut of life experiences you might expect for someone in their 20s and 30s: love and loss, success and failure, hurt and healing. Yet through all that time and all those experiences, that "little question" of vocation and the priesthood was always present in the depths of my heart; instead of fading, it seemed to become stronger and more persistent with each passing day. Eventually, I acknowledged that every major life decision I've made was framed around the question of priesthood and keeping open the possibility that I might some day enter seminary. So this year I decided to take the leap and enter seminary.

To say that I am excited to enter seminary is an understatement: I truly did love the practice of law for all that it gave me: an engaging and exciting career, interesting work and fun experiences, and (most of all) the chance to help people who were in tough situations. But at the end of the day, there is simply something in my heart - the place I encounter God which is the heart of Christ himself - that has fed this longing to explore whether God is offering me a path to even greater depths of love through the priesthood. That experience of loving so deeply, a greater resonance with the heart of Christ, is something that strikes the core of who we are, part of the essence of vocation for every person.

Please pray for me, and for all my brother seminarians, that we may strive to be faithful shepherds while accompanying all peoples in the journey towards knowledge of the love of Christ.