Seminarian Biography: Tyler Hiles

What is the purpose of life? Aristotle once said “it is to be happy”. The Baltimore Catechism once said it is to know, to love, to serve, and to be with God in Heaven. Which is right? I think they are both right. Because I believe that true happiness lies in coming to know God and deciding what God wants you to do and doing it. True happiness lies in love of God and neighbor and eventually living with God in Heaven. How do you do that? Well Christianity and Christian living should be extraordinary by nature. For if one wishes to find himself he must first deny thy very self take up his cross and follow for if one wishes to save his life he must first lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it Mat (16 ,24)

This brings me how I got to the seminary. About a year or so ago I left my family and friends behind as all seminarians and priests eventually do to live this amazing life of Christian living. My name is Tyler Hiles. To be a seminarian (which I am) is to discern the priesthood. It is through prayer and study that one can come to what is God’s will. Any way the story of my faith goes like this. I’m a cradle Catholic I was brought up going to a public school, Pittsville Elementary School, I went to CCD on Wednesdays, and church on Sundays. I simply did the minimal of what my faith told me to do. Simply, I was average. This all changed one day in 7th grade when a friend came up to me and told me an idea he had put simply he wanted to start a faith sharing group in a public school. Well now you are thinking that’s impossible! The school board passed it later that year. O I forgot to mention not only was this a faith sharing group it was a Catholic faith group. I didn’t think in a public school either. Next came the question who is going to teach it. That’s when it got interesting. To teach someone about the faith you actually have to know the faith. Well none of us did. We all knew it at a 7th grade level. One of us had to step up. I did along with a few others we ran, taught, prayed for, and got people to come to this. I researched and did the lesson plans nightly for the year and a half we did this. We’ll to get to know God better brings you to a greater love of him. Love prompts service. I taught this youth group. Then about 8th grade year I went on a retreat, dare to follow days.

Sometimes in life we see things so extraordinary we seem to wonder “if I could be like that, wow”. For some this is an assortment of professional sport heroes that inspire us. For me it was seeing the ordinary Christian life lived out in such an extraordinary, way seeing the priesthood lived out as more than the guy you see on Sunday. Christian life should be and is radical and it took a visit to the seminary to show me that. After that although nothing but God is perfect it would have took one heak of an argument and still will to convince me that that the seminary isn’t as close as it gets. So that next year I joined the seminary. Since then I’ve loved every moment of it.

What makes the seminary so great isn’t the food (that’s still really good by the way), or dominating Fr. Martin in foosball, or even the kids at Aquinas, the school we go to. (Who are really nice by the way.) It would all come down to nothing if it weren’t for the most important thing we do at the seminary. That’s prayer. Frequent recitation of the Rosary, liturgy of the hours, daily mass, spiritual direction, formation weekends, teaching CCD, DTS, adoration, prolife club, impact the list goes on and on. To discern your vocation here is a gift from God and it’s given by God. I know I’ll never get there unless it’s through prayer, so if you’re reading this I ask you to pray for me, the seminary, and anyone discerning their vocation.

When it all comes down to it you’ve got to put your trust and hope in the Lord. Our hope isn’t in seminarians, politicians, or Catholic schools even. Our hope is in the Lord who is the author of all good. And when it all comes down God chooses you and you respond. I want to leave you with a prayer a prayer by the Cure of Ars. He instructed to say this every morning, O God send me thy sprit to teach me what I am and what thou art.