SEMINARY
St. Francis de Sales Seminary
3257 S. Lake Drive
St. Francis, WI 53235-3702

Are there any books that you love so much that you
have read them twice (or more)?

”The Great Divorce” by C.S. Lewis is a book that always has a place on my
shelf, and it has been a yearly read for me each Lent.

When you find yourself with a “free night,” what is
something you are likely to do?

My free nights often are determined by where I happen to be at that moment.
During the formation year, those nights are often filled
with different things like visiting fellow seminarians,
reading, or working on a draft of a book.

What do you remember from your First Communion?

I remember clearly dressing in my suit, not really knowing
why I needed to dress nicer than I usually did. But the
moment I remember most was Fr. Robert Rhyner coming
to speak with each of us individually before the Mass.
He jokingly asked me if I needed to go to confession
again since I had my First Reconciliation yesterday. The
feeling of total love and contentment I had receiving our
Lord for the first time is a grace I have only now begun
to recognize and appreciate.

Where is one of your favorite places to pray, and
what makes it special to you?
I have always had a habit of sneaking over to Christ the King Chapel in the
dead of night or at least when it is dark outside. When
the chapel is lit only by the sanctuary lamp, it creates a
feeling of privacy with Jesus, which is very important for
my personal prayer life. The sensation is the same when I
go to the sacrament of confession; prayer then becomes
a place where I can be open in a particular way with Jesus
and take as much time for prayer as I want.

What role has the Eucharist played in your discernment
of the priesthood?

The Eucharist is everything. Without
it, my discernment would have been mechanical, like any
other job. The Eucharist is what changes the priesthood
from primarily being about a choice made by the man who
seeks to be ordained to being more about Jesus and his
call to the man. It focuses my discernment on the role of
the priest as someone who brings Jesus to others, who is
a servant of the people of God, and who loves the Church
above all else. Adoration is one way to spend time with
the Eucharist that has been a key part of my discernment.
While speaking with Jesus in the tabernacle is important,
there is something special about doing that same thing
face to face with him. For me, when Jesus is on the altar,
I can speak to him face to face, and the presence he
has becomes much more palpable. In seeing him in the
Eucharist, I can hear his voice clearly.

If there was one thing you could communicate to
the faithful about the importance and role of the
Eucharist in our Catholic faith, what would it be?

Without the priesthood, we do not have the Eucharist;
without the Eucharist, we do not have the Church. It
is easy to take the Eucharist and the priest’s role for
granted, not because we have any desire to, but because
having ready access to the Eucharist is all many Catholics
today and I have ever known. I remember when I was
in quarantine during the pandemic, and each morning
when a priest would bring me the Eucharist, it was the
most memorable moment that day. I began to better
understand the saints we read about who had such a
hunger for Jesus. That is why the Eucharist was such a
strong symbol in the heart of a parish. It’s part of the call
that Jesus offers a man to give up his entire life to bring
to people the only thing that can truly satisfy, himself. To
be fully alive as a Catholic it seems to me, is to desire the
Eucharist so strongly we’re willing to go to Mass even
when it’s inconvenient, to make a Holy Hour even in the
dead of night, or to be willing to bring Jesus to those
who cannot leave their homes or too sick to come see
him. The Eucharist is not merely bread or just a symbol.
It is the God of the universe who desperately wants to
meet you.

Which saint should people invoke for your vocation
and why?

This year, please invoke the intercession
of Blessed Carlo Acutis; his devotion to the Eucharist
through documenting miracles is something I wish to
emulate.