Playing for THE "Major"

My son belongs to our parish Edge group, which is a"pre" Lifeteen youth group for 6th, 7th and 8th graders. This last week they had a special guest speaker that his youth leader had emailed me about that I just had to sit in and listen... Now we don't get the local paper(really not worth the money...) and about the only local news we watch is the weather, unless we have "heard" of something to watch for... Anyway, I had never heard of this local kid, but was intrigued by his story.

Grant Desme, Major League Baseball's latest-greatest hopeful, before taking his BIG chance to play the game he loved his entire life, at the level he had always dreamed of, decides to retire and join the seminary. Turning away from the Big Leagues in order to play for THE Big League... The kid was SO cute I seriously wanted to just put him in my pocket and take him home! With great humility and humbleness Grant shared his story and answered questions of the teens and parents alike (I wasn't the only parent that didn't want to miss him!)

Grant did such a fantastic job of sharing his heart with us, and it was so wonderful to hear such a young person reaching out to kids barely younger than himself. I think the most inspiring thing that I got from his talk was when he shared when he realized that he had learned that going to Mass wasn't just a matter of "punching a time clock" and doing his obligation for the week. Tears literally came to his eyes when he shared how blessed he felt to stand at the foot of the cross with Mary at every Mass and receive Jesus inside of him.... He shared that he discovered that God created him, out of LOVE, for a REASON, and it was his job, and all of our jobs to contemplate "Why are we here?".... We must put god first before all other things, and even though it may not be easy at first, we need to take time to quiet ourselves and be with God... have a relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ... He told us to love Mary with all our heart, because if we want to get close to Jesus, go to His Mother..... beautiful stuff....

Grant spoke of how surprised and humbled he was by all the press that he has received for his decision, again, giving all the glory and credit to God and how blessed he has been... With the full support of his family, and happy to leave the life of fame and fortune behind, Grant Desme will be entering the order of Norbertines in Southern California this summer, looking forward to a quieter, more contemplative life.... Please pray for him...