Parish: St. Agnes Parish, Green Bay
Birthday: September 11
Seminary: Assigned to a Parish
Seminary Address: St. Mary Parish
4805 Sportsman Drive
De Pere, WI 54115

Which saint should people invoke for your vocation?
St. Anthony of Padua. He has been instrumental in my coming back to the faith
and my discernment to the priesthood. Not to mention, he has interceded in
helping me to find lost objects.

Coffee or tea?
I really do not drink either. I am not usually one for hot drinks,
but a nice, sweet iced tea can hit the spot.

If Jesus drove a vehicle during his public ministry, what
would it be?
This is difficult to imagine, but I think it would be something big
enough to carry the rest of the apostles as well, so maybe a bus.
What is your ideal way to spend the Lord’s Day?
At this point in life, my ideal way of spending the Lord’s Day
is pretty basic. It would, of course, begin with attending Mass
early in the morning. My mother and I have a tradition of going
to breakfast afterward at a local restaurant. Enjoying some golf
later in the day would be a lot of fun and, in the colder months,
so would playing card or board games with friends or family.

If you could celebrate Mass anywhere in the world, where
would you and why?
If it were possible, I would love to celebrate Mass at the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre. At every Mass, we make present again
the sacrifice that Jesus made for all of us — the sacrifice he
made on the cross. When we receive Jesus in the Eucharist,
we are being deeply united to him and his resurrection. To have
the privilege of re-presenting Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection
in the same physical space where these events historically
happened would be an unbelievable experience of a lifetime.

What spiritual book or author has most influenced your
journey of discipleship?
During our Kairos Year, we were gifted a book called “Spiritual
Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits” by Dan Burke. Burke
gives a brief overview and introduction to the main principles
of the rules of discernment as set forth by St. Ignatius of
Loyola. At the time it was given to us, I was still having difficulty
discerning what the next step in my formation was supposed to
be. However, in reading this book, things became much clearer.
I became more convinced that God was calling me to continue
on into seminary. Another interesting connection I have is with
one of the people Burke gives credit to in the book’s preface. He
says that one of the priests he owes a great deal to in his studies
is Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMV. This past summer, I had the great
privilege of attending the Institute for Priestly Formation (IPF) in
Oklahoma. One of the priests that taught us over the course of
our time there was Fr. Gallagher himself.

How is the Eucharist meant to foster unity in the Church?
As it is often quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church
(CCC), “The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian
life.’” There can be many reasons why people gather together
and form groups and communities. Some of the more usual
ways are through family relations, professional associations,
and friendships of all sorts. One of the more profound reasons
people come together is because of similar, deeply held beliefs
and worldviews, and few things can pull people together like a
common goal.
As Catholics, Jesus is the one who calls us into communion and
to be one, as he and the Father are one. To that end, Jesus
left his Church the seven sacraments. While all the sacraments
are direct encounters with the divine life of God, the Eucharist
is called the “Sacrament of Sacraments” since all of them “are
bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it” (CCC,
#1324-1327). Since the Eucharist has this binding and unifying
effect within the sacramental life of the Church, why should
we expect it to have any less of an effect amongst us who are
members of the Church?
God is the loving unity of the three divine persons of the Trinity.
When we meditate on the real presence of Jesus at Adoration,
when we jointly participate in the Mass with the Eucharist at its
center, and when we receive that Eucharist at Communion, we
enter into that same Trinitarian life of unity and love.