On June 25, 25 high-school-age men gathered at Holy Trinity Church, 501 Cherrywood Road, to learn more about the priesthood.
They were joined by 18 Archdiocese of Louisville seminarians and three priests for the one-day event, “Flaget Day,” sponsored by the Archdiocese of Louisville Vocation Office.
Throughout the day, the attendees heard vocation stories from the priests and seminarians, were visited by Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre, attended Mass and adoration, and had the opportunity to ask the priests and seminarians questions.
“Whether they are called to the priesthood or not, it gets them thinking about what the Lord might be calling them to do.”
— Harrison Frey, seminarian
The event also included regular breaks and opportunities for the attendees to “get to know each other and get to know the seminarians,” said Trenton Thieneman, a seminarian who helped lead the event.
“One of the most important things with discernment of the priesthood that a young man has to ask himself is, ‘Can I be with the people in my diocese? Like, do I really want to spend the rest of my life with these other men?’ And so in order to do that, you really have to know the seminarians,” he said.
The attendees came to the event at different phases in their discernment, said Thieneman.
For some attendees, the event was the first time they considered the priesthood, he said. “A lot of them said their mom suggested it to them, so shoutout to moms!”
As the day progressed, the attendees “broke out of their shells just a little bit,” seminarian Samuel Mattingly added.
Harrison Frey, a seminarian, said he hopes the event “planted seeds.”
“Whether they are called to the priesthood or not, it gets them thinking about what the Lord might be calling them to do.”
Mattingly expressed a similar sentiment.
“The main thing to take away is openness to the will of the Lord,” whether that path involves the priesthood, religious life or marriage, Mattingly said.
“Discernment isn’t something limited to just discerning the diocesan priesthood,” he added.
The Vocation Office plans to host its second annual “Flaget Day” in June 2026.
Tools for men discerning the priesthood and information about current seminarians can be found at the Vocation Office’s website, www.archlouvocations.org.
