Some parents have expressed remorse that if they had been better parents or offered a more functional, loving model of marriage for their son, then he surely would have chosen a married vocation over a single-hearted vocation to serve God’s people and God’s Church.  In other words, an attitude of, “It’s my fault that my son is discerning a vocation to the priesthood.”  This is very rarely true and this sense of causal-guilt should be set aside.

Although a functional, loving model of married life while a child grows up is very beneficial, no home or marriage is ever without it's problems and challenges; even if your marriage was not or is not the example you would have preferred for your son, healthy examples of marriage are present in the lives of children and young adults among neighbors, extended family, parishioners, coaches and teachers to name only a few.  A vocation comes to a young person in the form of a personal call from God and should never be seen as being the result of a reaction against the problems that they saw you experience, that all their other relationship options failed or their only option due to a limitation of choice.