(ZENIT News – Porta Luz / Delaware, July 14, 2025).- Joshua Brooks, «Josh,» a young man from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, USA, wasn’t even Catholic when, in an extraordinary experience of encounter with God, he learned that God wanted him to be a Catholic and a priest.
Born a Baptist, Josh was introduced to the Catholic faith when his parents enrolled him at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Elementary School in West Philadelphia. At school, he learned about God’s love, but his passion was basketball, and he dreamed of being the next LeBron James. He spent seventh and eighth grades, two years working hard to make the Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast High School’s first basketball team, when disaster struck. He didn’t make the team. His dream of becoming a professional basketball player faded, and he had no choice but to focus on his studies.
«Little by little, I began to find my attention gravitating toward Catholic theology classes,» Brooks says. He learned that the Catholic Church is the one universal family, and when he discovered that the priesthood is In Persona Christi . . . «I began to think, ‘Wow, that’s beautiful!’ I fell in love with it, and, look, I was a Protestant.»
Although he was fascinated by the matter, it was a thought Josh pushed out of his mind, reflecting that he still had plenty of time to think about his future. Reinforcing this decision, he met a girl and began dating her, but even that love never seemed enough for him. «I was looking for a higher love, a love that would transform me,» he states. «I told the young lady that at that moment I wasn’t sure if our love was what I was called to, because the idea of the priesthood lingered in my mind.»
His girlfriend’s reaction was categorical; she was offended and told him she wasn’t willing to wait for him while he sorted out the matter. Disconsolate, Joshua went to the chapel and asked Jesus, «Tell me, if she’s not willing to wait, who will be?» And then he was petrified when he heard a voice, Jesus, responding: «I have the best love to give you.»
Today, looking back, Joshua Brooks comments on that experience: «He was waiting for me the whole time, as He does with all of us.»
Billiard Tournaments, Prayer, and Brotherhood
His parents supported his decision to enter St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, and his brothers at the Seminary have become like a second family to him. «I never had brothers; I didn’t really know what a brother would be like,» he says. Camaraderie and spiritual unity are a pillar in the process of challenging himself to be a better version of himself. «We all have each other’s backs,» he comments. «My fellow seminarians and I really enjoy playing billiards. Some of us even organize tournaments, whether chess or billiards. But we also support each other in our struggles.»
His seminary classmate Sean Barker comments that the most impressive thing about Josh Brooks is his profound spiritual life. «He has a great prayer life,» Sean asserts. «Just seeing his prayer life pushes me to be better. It pushed me to spend more time in the chapel and to take my prayer life more seriously, to take my studies more seriously, to simply take everything in the Seminary more seriously.»
So far, Josh comments, the hardest part of the formation is getting the young seminarians to accept that no matter how much spiritual ardour and conviction they have, no one is or will ever be perfect. «Sometimes we don’t know how to deal with our imperfections or we feel like we may have let God down,» Josh explains. «As I’ve said before, God is waiting for us. He’s on this journey of holiness with us. He walks with us day by day.»
The Call Extends to His Parents
«My mother took me to Mass every Sunday and always sat in the pew with me,» he recalls. «My father was very happy for me. I had some doubts. But he told me: ‘If the Lord calls you to do this, do it.'»
«And it’s important to receive that validation from your family, that your family supports you every step of the way. And I’m praying for my parents’ conversion to the faith. My mother is interested, but she’s taking her time. The Lord waits for people, and He is waiting for my mother.»
Josh Brooks acknowledges that many people — especially those his age –, have left the Church or are looking for love elsewhere. For them, he has some advice. . . «(The Church) is beautiful, despite the flaws of her own people and the fact that over the past 2,000 years she has faced so many trials, so many adversities. Yet she still stands. Why? Because Christ rules the Church. We are an imperfect people, but we are ruled by a God who transcends all things and knows us better than we know ourselves. We will find here, in the Catholic Church, the heart of our highest search for love.”
