When Wayne Harmon Arnold got his calling from God to the priesthood, he wasn’t sure he was ready. &uot;I was thinking, ‘You can’t be talking to me,’&uot; the Natchez native said. &uot;I’ve got everything I want.&uot;

Arnold went to his parish priest, who happened to be the director of seminarians for the Diocese of Memphis, Tenn., for advice.

&uot;I said ‘Tell me I’m too old,’&uot; said Arnold, who was 42 at the time. &uot;I thought maybe (God) was calling me to some other ministry.&uot;

But after a great deal of prayer and thought, Arnold decided the vocation was the right thing for him.

So he gave up his job at Methodist Hospital in Memphis, along with his house and his two cars, to enter Notre Dame Seminary Graduate School of Theology in New Orleans. There, he said, &uot;I moved into one room and stayed there for six years.&uot;

Now, Arnold, who was ordained June 10 at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Memphis, will be serving as associate pastor of St. Louis Church in Memphis.

And at 9 a.m. Sunday, he will say Mass at Assumption Catholic Church on Morgantown Road. &uot;I grew up in that parish,&uot; he said. &uot;I served as an altar boy there.&uot;

Arnold is a 1970 graduate of Cathedral High School and is the son of Mary May Carter and Herbert N. Arnold Sr.

Arnold said he might be a little nervous to say Mass at his home church — but that will probably help. &uot;I need a little bit of that nervous energy,&uot; he said.

&uot;I used to dread stuff like this,&uot; he said of speaking in front of an audience.

Arnold said he was more nervous at the second Mass he presided over – it was his first wedding, and it was the wedding of a close friend.

&uot;I think the Holy Spirit took over,&uot; he said.

When he begins work at St. Louis, Arnold said he is most looking forward to working with the parishioners and &uot;just coming to a better understanding of what God wants me to do.&uot;