Can God Call Someone at 10 Years Old? The Bryce Case (Video) and Various Calls

(ZENIT News / Guadalajara, Mexico, 06.24. 2026).- Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative U.S. organization founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk; it has student chapters at numerous universities and high schools across the United States.

During these campus stops, various events are typically held, including talks by conservative leaders and debates on politics, culture, and social issues, among other activities.

At one of these events, a 10-year-old boy told Matt Walsh — an interviewer and moderator — that he wants to become a priest because he feels God is calling him.

It happened during a stop on the Turning Point USA college tour at Missouri State University: a boy called Bryce, from Billings, Montana, said to the conservative presenters of the Daily Wire, Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles, that he wanted to become a priest and asked for their advice.

Walsh asked the boy why he had decided to become a priest. «Because God is calling me,» Bryce replied.

Knowles described his aspiration as the «ultimate white pill» — that is, a source of hope.

«There are many moments in politics when you feel disillusioned. You think, ‘All hope is lost. The culture is dying. No one holds the right ideas anymore,'» Knowles said. «And then you meet a boy who says, ‘I want to serve God and become a priest,’ and you think, ‘We’re going to make it!'»

Walsh then offered his advice, which was directed primarily at the audience: «Keep doing exactly what you’re doing right now. You are answering the right question, which is: ‘What does God want for my life?'»

«If you ask most adults what they do for a living, how they live, or what their lifestyle is like, they’d say something like, ‘Well, it’s what I want to do,'» Walsh said.

«In other words, God created us all — which is an amazing fact: that we were all created. We were all intentional creations of the Lord of the entire universe. The God who created tens of billions of entire galaxies with His own hands also created each of us, and He did so with a specific purpose: to come into this world and do something. And that purpose will be different for each person. So, our task — first and foremost — is to discern that purpose through prayer, asking God: ‘I know what I want to do, but God, what do You want me to do?’ And the moment you ask that question, you are receiving an answer,» said Walsh, before advising: «Keep asking it, and remain open to God’s answer.»

As the segment concluded, Knowles reflected on the significance of the exchange, noting that after two hours of complex cultural debate, the evening’s deepest wisdom came from a child.

«We received the most concise and wise answer of the entire night: ‘I want to do this because God is calling me to do it,'» said Knowles. He added: «Out of the mouths of babes. That is one of the most beautiful answers I have ever heard at any event.»

Monsignor Rodríguez Vega Discussing the Topic a Couple of Years Ago…

The Archbishop of Yucatán, Mexico, Monsignor Gustavo Rodríguez Vega, said in a homily on January 15, 2024, that a vocation is and will always be a mystery springing from God’s love for each of us.

He urged those who begin their vocational journey in the Church at an early age to take seriously the religious experiences and values ​​that children so often teach us. «Let us not close ourselves off to the possibility that God might call a young child or an adolescent. If it is difficult to explain how one falls in love with another person, let us not try to understand a child’s vocation through purely human reasoning. It is my personal experience; I bear witness to having experienced the call during my own childhood,» he noted.

He highlighted that, during the week, they had the great joy of ordaining two young seminarians as deacons — men who, God willing, would reach the ministerial priesthood in a few months. «We ordained each of them in his own parish so that this celebration might serve as an opportunity for children and young people to hear God’s call to the priestly life,» he asserted.

He added that a vocation is for everyone, for God calls each person along different paths: to marriage, to consecrated life, to the priesthood, to the single life, or to other ways of living. How differently marriage is experienced when the man and woman are conscious of sharing the vocation of marriage!

He remarked, «So, at what age might the Lord call you to a special vocation? The truth is that there is no set age for the Lord to call us. At any moment in our lives, the Lord can surprise us with a particular call.»

«Let us remember that Abraham received his call to a new life at the age of eighty; Moses received his at seventy; and various saints were called to the priesthood or religious life when they were already adults. Perhaps, however, we find it more difficult to understand a vocation in adolescents, and even more so in children,» he emphasized.

Nevertheless, he noted that the list of adolescent and child saints throughout Church history is extensive; indeed, as recently as 2020, Carlo Acutis was beatified — a young man who was just 15 years old in 2006 when the Lord called him into His presence.

A Young Man’s Intellectual Conversion

In contrast to Bryce, young Jonatan Medina — the son of Evangelical pastors — shares the following in an interview with Montserrat Martínez for Aleteia: «The beginning of my conversion was very intellectual. I even recall that when I went to a retreat and was told I had to do something, I would say, ‘I’m not going to do it.’ I simply loved Catholicism because it made so much sense to me, yet I knew deep down that it was useless unless the heart and one’s whole being were involved; there can be no authentic conversion otherwise. (…) Because when one begins to understand who God is and what His attributes are, it is impossible not to become emotionally engaged and love Him more.»

He added: «As Saint Augustine said, one cannot love what one does not know; so, the more one gets to know Him, the more one falls in love. The heart is more than key, it’s necessary, because otherwise it remains mere intellectualism.

He concluded with this: “Prayer and contemplation humble us and bring us down from the heights to which our intellect tends to lift us. Obviously, we are made of clay, and we tend to think, ‘Look, now I know more things.’ But, hearing the words ‘I am nothing’ helps put things in perspective.”

In Conclusion Regarding These Topics

From a Catholic perspective, it would not be extraordinary for a child to receive a call to the priesthood. There are numerous testimonies from priests and saints who stated they felt that inclination from a very young age. Even the current Pope, Leo XIV, reportedly expressed a desire to become a priest during his childhood, according to those close to him.

On the other hand, increases in baptisms and conversions of young adults to Catholicism have been recorded in various Western countries. In France, for example, adult baptisms reached record highs recently, with a strong presence of young people aged 18 to 25.

Various dioceses in the United States have reported notable growth in Christian initiation programs for adults, particularly among university students and young professionals.

In Spain, there is a renewed interest in Catholic youth movements — such as Hakuna — and in forms of spirituality that combine adoration, community, and service. The call is for everyone; God, who is always communicating, awaits our response.