Parish: St. John the Baptist Parish, Howard Birthday: June 18 Seminary & Address: St. Francis de Sales Seminary 3257 S. Lake Drive St. Francis, WI 53235-3702
Which saint should people invoke for your vocation? St. Paul. I am going to read his letters more intently and learn about his vision for authentic Christian discipleship. St. Paul, pray for us!
Coffee or tea? Depends on how I am feeling. Morning — coffee. Afternoon — cappuccino. Night — chamomile tea.
If Jesus drove a vehicle during his public ministry, what would it be? A Subaru Outback. It is rugged, dependable, and it gets good gas mileage (so he could get around those desert roads). What is your ideal way to spend the Lord’s Day? The best Sunday I have experienced was in Creighton, Nebraska, this summer. After 9 a.m. Mass, some friends and I spent the afternoon walking around the sandbars of the Niobrara River, fishing, and throwing around a Frisbee. If you tack on to that some burgers on the grill and an ice-cold Arnold Palmer, you got yourself a beautiful Sunday.
If you could celebrate Mass anywhere in the world, where would you and why? A couple places come to mind. St. John the Baptist in Howard is my home parish, so that’s an easy one. Holy Name of Jesus Carmel and Catholic Youth Expeditions’ (CYE) St. Joseph Formation Center are both awesome places to pray, so celebrating there would be great. I first heard the call to priesthood at the University of Arizona Newman Center in Tucson, so offering thanksgiving there will have to happen at some point. Most importantly, though, it would be a joy to celebrate with family and friends who have helped form me into the man I am today.
What spiritual book or author has most influenced your journey of discipleship? An important book in my journey of discipleship was “The Seven Storey Mountain” by Thomas Merton. Bishop Barron once mentioned his affinity for the book in a YouTube video and after college, finding myself jobless with plenty of time, I picked it up from the public library and began reading. Merton was secular man who, after finishing his degree in English, discovered the Catholic faith, converted, and eventually became a Trappist Monk at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. “Seven Storey Mountain,” his autobiography, was an account of and a reflection on that journey of conversion. In addition to beautiful prose, Merton offered an introduction to monastic life and the prospect of handing oneself over totally to a life with God. I already perceived a call to the priesthood but now a subtler, deeper call flowered in my heart — to be holy, to be given, to be taken captive by grace. I found that I desired those things! It moved me to want to be with God, and I’m thankful for that.
How is the Eucharist meant to foster unity in the Church? What fosters unity on a team? Care for one another and commitment to a common goal, I would say. When those criteria are met, a team will overcome even the most intense differences. The Eucharist sacramentally aids us in fulfilling both these criteria. For one, Adoration and devoted reception of the Blessed Sacrament turn us into one body in Christ. We know from Scripture that encounters with God make us like God (see Exodus 34:29; Matthew 17:2; Acts 9:40). How much more is this the case when our God comes before us as the Bread from Heaven (John 6:51) and then enters the tabernacle of our very flesh? “God became man that man might become God,” says St. Athanasius. Indeed, Jesus wants to deify us and form us into his body (1 Corinthians 10:17), and in his body we become a community of love (Acts 4:32-35). Secondly, the Eucharist points us to the same goal: heaven. In Mass we already partake in the heavenly liturgy for which we are destined, but we do not yet share in it fully. It is an eternal reality in the midst of time, reminding us that we are pilgrims in this world (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1344). We are people journeying somewhere! As a result, we are a people facing the same direction — a people unified in vision and in our plea for mercy: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).