Brandon Kelly

Introduction/Tell things about you, your family, your Catholic journey:
My name is Brandon Kelly. I was born to Dennis and Liz. I have one younger brother, Zach, who is three years younger than me. I grew up in Clear Lake, IA.  At the age of 3, my parents baptized my brother and me and continued to raise us in the Catholic faith. My family attended St. Patrick's Church inClear Lake. I attended and graduated from Clear Lake Community Schools. From there I went on to North Iowa Area Community College. After two years there, I transferred to the University of Northern
Iowa and obtained my undergraduate degree in Business Administration.

During the upper high school and college years, I did not practice my faith much. I would pray sometimes, but my Mass attendance on Sundays was few and far between. I started working for Principal Financial a few months after college. It was during this time that my faith life started to increase. It was a slow process and definitely not a instant lightning bolt moment of change. In the fall of 2019, I joined Blessed Sacrament Parish in Waterloo, which I found to be a supportive community for me.

Where/when did your sense of call develop?
I sensed a slight call during my mid 20's even though I had no clue where it came from. A priest had taken notice of me attending Mass and mentioned the idea of priesthood. It did not make sense to me. I would not have described myself as much of a practicing Christian at the time.

Were you invited by others to enter seminary?
While I did not have any invitations to seminary, I did have others mention the idea of priesthood to me. It was often times in passing, and from people who I thought did not know me well. I thought, 'if you
really knew me, you would know I am definitely not living a life of a priest or worthy of becoming one.' However, I think if those people would not have mentioned it to me, I would have dismissed any idea of the priesthood had it come to me on my own.

What was your main motivation in pursuing your call?
I always thought the idea of priesthhood would fade away and I would be able to completely dismiss the idea. It would diminish from time to time, but kept coming back to me. Finally, after 15 years of it persisting, I decided I needed to explore it more. I was nearing middle age,and did not want to get to the end of my life and feel like I did not do what God was inviting me to.

Who were/are your biggest influences?
My parents are the biggest influence in my life. Had my parents not chosen to raise me in the faith, make sure I was making good choices, and also provide a loving support system, I would not be who I am today. As I have become older, I am able to reflect more on the ways and circumstances my parents provided a model to live by.

What advice would you give other men who are discerning their call?
First, make sure to pray about it. God will continue to place the invitation within you if it is where he wants you to be. Also, a book I found helpful is To Save a Thousand Souls by Father Brett Brannen. It gives a good detailed look into discernment and the life of a priest. Reading or listening to other
vocation stories is also helpful. I always found them interesting. However, I would offer to be cautious of those as well. It is very easy to look at those stories and get caught up in comparison of others. I found myself sometimes feeling quite discouraged or not good enough after hearing others vocation stories if I could not find much in common with my own life. Do not place too much value in those stories if you do
not find many that resonate with your story. God calls each of us in different ways and from different walks of life so do not let that discourage you.