Welcome, Seminarian Eli Holt

The Diocese of Knoxville has sent Seminarian Eli Holt to the Basilica this summer. He will be serving at Mass and participating in our activities. Please welcome Eli when you see him, and pray for his vocation.

Vocation Story by Eli Holt

  My name is Eli Holt. Here is a little about myself and how I have been discerning a call to the priesthood. I grew up in Washington State in a family of ten. My dad is a Chiropractor and my mom has always been a stay-home mom who homeschooled all of us kids through high school. We lived on a family farm, raising cows, chickens, pigs, and other animals. Mom had a vegetable garden. And she would drag us out of bed at the crack of 9 am to do the grueling work of pulling weeds and watering the plants. As much as I complained at the time, I actually enjoyed the farm. We didn’t have a furnace in the house. So every summer, we would have to chop our firewood in order to survive the harsh winters of 60 degrees.

  I would say that I first heard the call to the priesthood when I was five years old. It wasn’t anything serious. In fact, whenever I thought of a priest, the voice in my head was rather sarcastic when it spoke to me, “You will be that one day.” Even though it was a sarcastic thought, I didn’t seriously see myself being anything but a priest.
  But I quickly dismissed that idea and shoved it away. Ambitious five-year-old Eli was determined to go places. Between the ages of five and fourteen, I wanted to be an airplane pilot, astronaut, inventor (whatever that meant), and mechanical engineer. I didn’t think much about the priesthood at that time.

  When I was about thirteen, I became more involved in youth retreats. In these various retreats I would attend, there would always be periods of adoration. I had never enjoyed going to adoration before - I hadn’t developed a very personal relationship with God yet. But with this new consistency of sitting with God, I finally began to encounter Him in the Eucharist. I started going to adoration every week. It was in this silence that the voice began to come back. However, I still didn’t want to be a priest. “Dang it,” I thought. “I think God is calling me to become a priest.” But I stuck with the idea and prayed with it. Eventually, after a few months of praying, the thought turned from me trying to run away, to filling me with peace. After I let go of my own ideas, I noticed that I actually desired to be a priest.

  I was still only fourteen. I had some years before I needed to worry about applying to the seminary. I also decided to do a couple of years of college before jumping right in, which ended up being timed very well, since my family decided to move to Tennessee during that time. I finished up my associate's degree and moved here. I applied to the Diocese of Knoxville and put one foot in front of the other, which eventually led me here. I have now finished up my second year of seminarian formation at Conception Seminary College in Missouri. I look forward to spending time at the Basilica and hope I get the chance to meet everyone!