It’s hard not to love a good vocation story, and the blog Clerical Whispers is offering up this one:

Just a few years out of college, Chris Canlas was helping run a Seattle investment firm that managed $100 million in assets.

He had a car, house and six-figure salary.

Life was good. He was happy. But not complete.

Canlas quit his job, sold or gave away virtually all his possessions and moved to Portland last fall to study to become a priest. The 28-year-old leaves for a seminary later this year, and he plans to return in four years to become a priest with the Archdiocese of Seattle.

“I always knew I had a call to priesthood,” he said. “I just didn’t know how to answer it.”

The Roman Catholic Church had seen a decline in the past few decades in the number of men entering the priesthood. But in recent years, more have sought out the ministry, church officials said.

Like Canlas, they’re often older and better educated than their predecessors, said Greg Magnoni, spokesman for the archdiocese. And some have work experience.

Raised a Catholic in Idaho, Canlas moved to Washington a decade ago to attend Seattle University. There he studied economics and contemplated the draw he felt toward religious life, meeting with a campus priest monthly to discuss his life.

After graduation in 2001, he became a partner in Owen Canlas Investment Group with Piper Jaffray. He helped people plan for their future — saving money for their children’s college education or retirement.

But he still thought about entering the priesthood, sometimes daily.

“There was this pull to do something else,” he said.

Check out Clerical Whispers for the rest of the story. Thank the Lord of the harvest — and let’s keep men like Chris Canlas in our prayers.