LEWISTON – Paul Murray first pondered a life in the priesthood at 12 years old, watching a priest in his home parish speak with people.

“I was just in awe of his love of God,” Murray said. “Something in me said, ‘I want to be like him.'”

Four decades later, he got his wish.

On Saturday, Murray became Maine’s only new Catholic priest, ordained by Bishop Richard Malone in a morning ceremony at Holy Family Church in Lewiston.

Murray will serve as priest for two parishes, Corpus Christi in Waterville and Christ the King in Skowhegan. The parishes serve Waterville, Skowhegan, Winslow, North Vassalboro, Oakland, Fairfield, Madison and Bingham.

For Maine Catholics, Saturday’s ordination was particularly poignant.

No other ordination is planned for either 2009 or 2010. Maine had 97 active priests in 2005. By 2010, there will be 65, predicted the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

For Murray, the ordination is less about numbers and more about his connection to God.

“It’s a personal answer to Jesus to be his priest,” said Murray, 52. “I give myself to Jesus and Jesus gives himself to the people.”

It’s an answer that’s taken years to come.

Murray grew up with the church in Cambridge, Mass. As a boy, he was an altar server. He graduated from Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, Mass. Then he began moving away from his faith.

He went to college, earning an associate’s degree in business administration from Massachusetts Bay Community College. By his mid-20s, he owned and ran a retail vitamin store in San Diego.

“I sort of lost track of the church,” he said.

Then he started attending Mass again.

“There was something missing in my life,” he said. “I guess you would call it a hunger for God.”

Murray sold his store, took oaths of poverty and celibacy and joined a Catholic community called Madonna House in Ontario, Canada.

“I went from San Diego to Ontario,” he said. “I kind of call it ‘God’s sense of humor.'”

It fit Murray, who was in his late 20s. Numbering about 250, Madonna House’s members all took oaths that left them without possessions or immediate family.

“They were the most incredible group of Catholics,” Murray said. Their oaths made then available to go wherever they were needed. “The promises give us a freedom of movement.”

Murray spent 18 years with the group. He worked for eight years on the house’s Ontario farm. There were years in England and in a Saskatchewan soup kitchen and in a hostel in the remote Yukon capital of Whitehorse.

In his mid-40s, Murray aimed for the priesthood. He had thin ties to Maine – an aunt was from the Boothbay area – but he wanted to be in a rural state. He also wanted to be close to his family in Massachusetts.

“It was just a sense I had,” he said. “Maine was a very good fit.”

In 2004, he petitioned the Portland Diocese and was accepted as a candidate for priestly formation.

The emerging philosophy of the church is to encourage those called to the priesthood to “get out into the working world and do other things before petitioning for the priesthood,” said Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the diocese.

The church no longer encourages young men to enter seminary directly from high school, so the usual age of those entering the priesthood is now in the 30s, she said.

Newly ordained priests in their 50s, like Murray, are commonplace, she said.

He entered Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., in 2004 and graduated from Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Mass., this year.

On Friday, the day before his ordination, Murray planned a day of prayer.

“I’ll stay to myself,” he said.

There may be few days like it again.

“I will carry Christ to the people of God for the rest of my life,” he said.