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All Saints Graduate Cole Johnson: Answering God’s Call to the Religious Life
Cole Johnson has some thoughtful advice for young people as they consider their futures and choices available to them. In short, be open to the religious life as a potential path.
“I would say the most important thing is admitting that the religious life is a viable option going forward and learning to talk with others about that,” says Cole. “If you start thinking that the priesthood or religious life might be for you, find people to talk to about it. Be open with your family and your parish priest.”
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This fall, Cole had his vestition ceremony and began his two-year novitiate with the Norbertine community. His vocation journey began within his family and the faith community at St. John’s, where he was baptized in 1999.
“I was raised in and by this parish,” says Cole. “Since my parents wanted to ensure that my sister and I received a firm religious education, they sent us to All Saints, and we served the community together.”
All Saints Catholic School was an instrumental step in Cole’s vocation journey and where Cole began to think deeply about his Catholic beliefs.
“At All Saints, I was provided the opportunity to think critically about what we believe as Catholics, and by doing that, I was able to maintain a sort of relationship between faith and reason,” says Cole. “The faith was always a significant part of my life, and the faith became very reasonable and attractive.”
He felt his first calling to the priesthood while in middle school and particularly in his religious education courses.
“The teachers made the faith attractive to me, and I’ve always been a thinker type,” says Cole. “Later on in high school, I started to pick the idea of a vocation back up — partially because of the example of priests at St. John’s and other wonderful and joyful priests who had impacted me.”
When he began studying at St. Norbert College, Cole had declared his major as theology and religious studies, and he thought he’d become a diocesan priest.
“I didn’t know anything about other orders, and then I met some of the Norbertines who worked on campus and got to know them and about their life and how they minister,” says Cole. “I fell in love with their community and their way of living and started entertaining the idea of joining them and immersing myself in their way of life.”
Cole’s vestition ceremony took place in August. Now, he will spend his first year with the order learning about what it is like to live in community with them.
Cole Johnson, Parishioner at St. John’s
“I’ll be getting to know them personally, taking classes on the history of the order, and participating in daily prayer with them,” says Cole. “I’ll learn how to serve and minister as a Norbertine. In my second year, I’ll do more ministry work.”
“I would love to extend my gratitude to the local Catholic faith community because I know that without them, I would not be where I am today,” says Cole. “Faith is best nourished in community. Thank you! And, thank you in advance for your continued support.”
Let us remember to keep Cole in our prayers as he begins his novitiate with the Norbertines this fall.
Cole Johnson with his parents at his college graduation at St. Norbert College (2021)
