Fr. Emmet O’Hara’s Story

Don’t be afraid listen to your heart…Call on the Holy Spirit to guide you…

Trust where the Lord is leading you…Pray with Our Lady each day…

Fr. Emmet O'Hara sac

Jesus continues to call men of faith and prayer to the Pallottine’s…

My Vocation Story!

My name is Fr. Emmet O’Hara SCA. I have been a Pallottine priest for the past eleven years and I want to share my story with you on how I came to be a Pallottine. I used to play Gaelic Football with my home club, Stars of Erin in Glencullen, up in the Dublin Mountain’s. On the team were two Pallottine’s Br. Steve from Cork and Fr. Liam from Derry; I got to know these two lads through training and by going to matches. Liam invited me to his ordination in Limavady, Co. Derry. It was during Liam’s ordination that I felt the voice of the Holy Spirit calling me to become a priest. I had thought about becoming a priest when I was younger but never really gave it much consideration, but that day the Holy Spirit gently called me to become a Pallottine.

A few days later I travelled to America to work for the summer in Camp Anawana in Monticello, upstate New York. I was away from family and friends, living in the middle of nowhere, sharing a room with 3 Hungarians. It was there that the Lord spoke to my heart and the vocational call got stronger and stronger.

After the summer I returned to Dublin and I applied to join the Pallottine’s and was accepted. I can’t say my path towards priesthood was easy, I swerved off course a few times, but the Holy Spirit put me back on track and I was ordained a Pallottine in 2002.

So that’s my Story!

What’s Yours?

Do you think the Lord might be calling you?

A few tips…

Don’t be afraid listen to your heart…

Call on the Holy Spirit to guide you…

Trust where the Lord is leading you…

Pray with Our Lady each day…

Part of my ministry with the Pallottine’s is to journey with men (between the ages of 18-40) who might be thinking of becoming a priest or a brother. At present we have six guys in Pallottine formation. If you want to know more about our way of life or have some questions or would like to come on a discernment weekend, I invite you to contact me:

Prayer

For our Founder St. Vincent Pallotti, the fruit of all vocations comes from prayer, so please join the many people who pray our Vocation’s Prayer daily to obtain true vocations for the Pallottine’s.

Prayer for Vocations

Lord, make me a better person,

more considerate towards others,

more honest with myself,

more faithful to you.

Make me generous enough to want sincerely

to do your will whatever it may be,

help me to find my true vocation in life

and grant that through it

I may find happiness myself and bring happiness to others.

Lord, may those whom you call

to enter the priesthood or religious life

have the generosity to answer your call.

Amen.

St. Vincent Pallotti: Pray for us

Mother of Divine Love: Pray for us.