Parish: St. Thomas More Parish, Appleton
Birthday: January 10
Seminary: St. John Vianney College Seminary
Address: 2115 Summit Avenue
Mail #5024
St. Paul, MN 55105

Which saint should people invoke for your vocation?
St. Lawrence of Brindisi. He was the patron of my high school. The Collect
prayer for his feast day asks that God grant us the wisdom to know his will and
the courage to carry it out.

Coffee or tea?
There is something special about enjoying a morning cup of
coffee with family.

If Jesus drove a vehicle during his public ministry, what
would it be?
Considering he was a carpenter by trade, I can see Jesus having
a pickup truck to transport materials to job sites.
What is your ideal way to spend the Lord’s Day?
Brunch after Mass and a good book are a recipe for a perfect
Sunday afternoon. I like going to an early Mass to start the day
off oriented towards the Lord, then devoting time to family and
friends. When I’m home, my family has a favorite brunch spot.
After that, I like to read something that I’m not studying for class.

If you could celebrate Mass anywhere in the world, where
would you and why?
I hope to one day celebrate Mass in the St. Lawrence Seminary
High School Chapel. That space is where I fell in love with the
Sacred Liturgy and came to know our Eucharistic Lord in a real
way. There are more glamorous locations where I would love to
celebrate Mass, but this one holds a special place in my heart. It
is where the Lord taught me how to pray with and in his Church,
and it is hard to think of any pilgrimage site or cathedral that
would be more special for me.

What spiritual book or author has most influenced your
journey of discipleship?
Both the fiction and nonfiction of C.S. Lewis have deeply
influenced my faith journey. His writings have especially shaped
my prayer life. In his novel, “The Screwtape Letters,” Lewis helps
teach what the enemy’s voice sounds like in prayer: accusatory
and fearmongering. While reading it, I began to notice when
this voice was speaking to me and learned not to listen to
it, but to run into the arms of my loving Father. Lewis’ other
writings, especially “The Great Divorce” and “The Chronicles of
Narnia” series illustrate the movement of grace in our lives.
The characters in these stories are constantly led into deeper
conversion. This is not only in the major “road to Damascus”
moments, but by a constant challenge to draw closer to God
by letting go of small attachments. These stories helped me
see that sanctification is not about dramatic penances and
ascetic practices, but in preferring Christ and his Kingdom to
everything else.

How is the Eucharist meant to foster unity in the Church?
When I was at the National Eucharistic Congress in July, I was
struck by the unity of the Church. Surrounded by 50,000+ people
from across the country, the unity of our diversity was beautiful.
Although we came from different states, cultural backgrounds,
ethnic groups, and liturgical traditions, we were united by our
love for the Eucharistic Lord. It is the same Jesus that we all
came to worship and to receive, and by receiving him, we were
brought even closer together.
When we receive Holy Communion, we are united to Christ in his
body which is the Church. This is the peace and unity that only
Christ can give. We do not obliterate all differences between the
members of the body, nor do we simply “tolerate” each other.
Instead, we all come together, knowing that we are sinners,
knowing that we are “not worthy to receive” him, and receive
him nonetheless because he longs to give himself to us.
On the altar, we give the Lord our hearts, hungry for
transformation. What he gives us in return is himself, that we
might feed on him and be transformed. This transformation
empowers us to love one another authentically; we can see
one another as other and will the other’s good. With our eyes
focused on the Eucharist, we see the mystery of the Body of
Christ which is the Church.