Time to Answer the Call

This guy has some major courage to walk away from a professional soccer career to enter the priesthood. I think this article fills out Hilgenbrinck's journey pretty well and I'm glad his VP and coach were supportive. My favorite quote from the article is, "Delayed obedience is disobedience." Straight up.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=555353&sec=mls&&cc=3888

*EDIT 7/16*
I was discussing the concept of delayed obedience with a friend from college. She pointed out that it isn't so cut and dry like that and that from an eternal stand point, God's favor and sovereign will still rests on you even if you delay in your obedience. For example, in Matthew 21:28-32, the Parable of the Two Sons, The first son who disobeyed at first, but then later changed his mind was favored. However, the issue of consequences and the reality of reaping what you sow come in to play where your life can be permanently altered as a result of disobedience (ie. children out of wedlock, personal injury, emotional scars, etc). In the story of Jonah, he chooses to directly disobey God's direction and he found himself chillin' in the stomach of a big fish. Only after his repentance and agreement to go to Nineveh, the fish "spewed Jonah upon the shore." Stealing a bit from Pastor Paul of Abundant Life, Jonah could have gone to Nineveh looking fly with his Sunday suit all pressed bringing the Word and them bangin' pagan chicks be jockin' to meet him. Instead, he ended up going to Nineveh smelling like whale poo with seaweed all up in his hair preaching the Word. Makes you sorta wonder if it was the smell and the look that changed their hearts ;). Anyways, maybe to tighten things up a bit, delayed obedience is still disobedience at the point in which you choose to delay and you are really playing it very dangerously. However, there is nothing you can do to put yourself outside of God's love and forgiveness if you would only repent and obey. Better late than never.
*END EDIT*

Hilgenbrinck retires to enter priesthood
Associated Press

Updated: July 15, 2008, 3:25 PM UK

BOSTON -- When he was playing professional soccer in Chile, Chase Hilgenbrinck would seek comfort in the churches to satisfy his spiritual needs and remind him of childhood Sundays spent at Holy Trinity in his hometown of Bloomington, Ill.

Even after moving back to the United States last Christmas to play Major League Soccer -- a dream of his, but just one of them -- Hilgenbrinck felt the pull of his religion.

"I felt called to something greater," Hilgenbrinck said. "At one time I thought that call might be professional soccer. In the past few years, I found my soul is hungry for something else.

"I discerned, through prayer, that it was calling me to the Catholic Church. I do not want this call to pass me by."

Hilgenbrinck accepted the calling on Monday when he left the New England Revolution and retired from professional soccer to enter a seminary, where he will spend the next six years studying theology and philosophy so he can be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest.

"It's not that I'm ready to leave soccer. I still have a great passion for the game," he said in a telephone interview. "I wouldn't leave the game for just any other job. I'm moving on for the Lord. I want to do the will of the Lord, I want to do what he wants for me, not what I want to do for myself."

A 26-year-old defender who was the captain of the Revolution's reserve team, Hilgenbrinck will attend Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. After finishing his studies, he will report to his home parish in Peoria, Ill., for assignment.

"He said it was time for him, that he had been thinking long and hard," New England vice president of player personnel Michael Burns said. "Purely from a Revs standpoint, it's too bad. But a lot of players leave the game not on their own terms. He's clearly left on his own terms, which is great for him."

Raised in a Catholic family of regular churchgoers, Hilgenbrinck played soccer at Clemson and hooked on with the Chilean first division after he went unpicked in the 2004 MLS draft.

Far from home, he began to seek out familiar surroundings.

"I fell back on what I knew, and that was the Catholic Church," he said. "I grew up as a Catholic. I was always involved in the church, went to Catholic schools. It was when I got out on my own that my faith really became mine. I really embraced it. I didn't have to go to church any more, I was free to really believe what I wanted to believe.

"I looked to strengthen my personal relationship with Christ. And when my personal life started to flourish, I couldn't turn my back on that relationship."

Hilgenbrinck was signed and cut by the Colorado Rapids before he landed with the Revolution. He played in four MLS games for New England and started in both of the Revolution's U.S. Open Cup matches this month.

Although he has felt the calling for some time, Hilgenbrinck also knew it would be easier to continue playing soccer. He tried to convince himself that he was not ready, not deserving, or not in a hurry.

"I was putting up a bunch of barriers, saying I'm not worthy to be called to something like that," he said. "But, one by one, the barriers started to come down."

With a short window in which he will be able to play professional sports, he considered postponing the priesthood until after his career was over. But he decided with the same certainty that he could not allow himself to wait.

"Trust me, I thought of that," said Hilgenbrinck, who in his studies came across the saying, "Delayed obedience is disobedience."

"We are all called to do something. I feel like my specific call is to the priesthood. So, no, it was not possible to continue with soccer. It's absolutely inevitable."

Hilgenbrinck had his initial interview for the seminary last July, followed by a rigorous application process. There were written tests, personality screenings, background checks, fingerprinting and meetings with three different psychiatrists to make sure he had the right temperament to be a priest.

At first, he told no one, lest they influence him one way or the other: "I really wanted it to be a decision between me and God," he said.

There were more tests in January, and in March Hilgenbrinck learned he had been accepted to the seminary. A few weeks ago, he met with Burns and Revolution coach Steve Nicol.

"We weren't exactly sure what he was going to say, because it's not what you usually hear," Burns said. "When he said it, I was glad. I was glad for him. This is something that he clearly wants to do, and we wish him all the best."