LEWISTON – Seamus Griesbach tried to avoid the priesthood.

“I have to see providence in all of this,” he said. “It’s not as if I looked at these decisions and knew what I was doing.”

Even when he went to a monastery – working for five hours and praying for two and a half each day – he was not thinking seriously about the priesthood.

“It wasn’t even on the radar,” he said. “When it’s happening, it seems like you’re on a road with all these twists and turns. But when you look back, you’re on a road as straight as a turnpike.”

As a kid growing up in Lisbon Falls, Griesbach was involved in church youth groups at the local and state levels, but aspired to be a fireman. Then he wanted to be a landscape architect.

When he enrolled at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., he was undecided about his career. He left with a philosophy degree..

After teaching religion at St. Dominic Regional High School for a year, he finally applied to the priesthood.

He had been sharing an apartment with a buddy. They rented a place near the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Griesbach’s home parish. They wanted the church to be a big part of their lives but stopped short of the priesthood.

“I think we both didn’t like the idea of celibacy, particularly,” said Griesbach, who had contemplated the life from time to time. “I thought about it in college, in between girlfriends.”

Eventually, Griesbach gave up, deciding that his life was leading him to the priesthood, even if he hadn’t intended it.

“I figured, ‘I won’t be at peace unless I give this a try,'” he said. “I came back with the application and there was another one sitting on the dining room table. We hadn’t talked about it, but we both applied at the same time.”

His friend wasn’t accepted, though. The diocese asked him to wait a year.

For Griesbach, his acceptance and assignment to a seminary in Rome was bittersweet. He felt bad for his friend.

“He, in many ways, wanted to be a priest more than I did,” he said.

It all worked out, though.

“He couldn’t afford the apartment after I moved out,” Griesbach said. “He moved into my parents’ house for the summer. He met my sister.”

They’re now married and have a baby.

Seamus Griesbach

Age: 28

Hometown: Lisbon Falls

Parents: Paul Griesbach and Pauline Sabo Griesbach

Education: Mostly home schooled through high school; St. Anselm College, Manchester, N.H.; Pontifical North American College, Rome