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

Parish
St. Raphael Parish,
Oshkosh

Birthday
November 6

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

I have read “Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe at least two times,
and it has helped me grow in my relationship with God
and with others.

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

I am likely to spend that time with people around me, either by having
conversations or playing games.

What do you remember from your First Communion?

I received my First Communion the same day that I got
confirmed when I was in 7th grade. I do not remember much
from that day except having a joy of being fully initiated in
the Catholic faith and that the new communicants got to
be the first ones to receive holy Communion.

Where is one of your favorite places to pray, and
what makes it special to you?

There is a little chapel in
the back of St. Raphael the Archangel Parish in Oshkosh
that has the Blessed Sacrament in it. I love praying there
because it is very small and intimate. There is very little
distance between the chairs and the tabernacle. Another
thing that makes it special is that it’s the place where
I have prayed over a long period of time (since high
school in 2014). Being back in that chapel sometimes
helps me to notice how my relationship with the Lord
has grown over the years.

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

The Eucharist was an important factor
in my discernment of the priesthood. When I was a junior
in high school, I had an experience after receiving the
Eucharist that was very important in my discernment. I had
just received holy Communion and when I was praying, it
was then that I realized how much Jesus loves me — that
he gives himself to me without reserve in the Eucharist.
The experience of that love is what gave me a desire to
give my whole life to Christ and to serve him in whatever
way he would like. After that, the priesthood came to
mind, and I felt open to it in a way that I was not before.
Over time, the experience of Christ’s self-giving love in the
Eucharist keeps strengthening the sense that he wants me
to serve him through the priesthood. In addition, it was
from spending time with Jesus in the Eucharist in adoration
that the sense that he is calling me to the priesthood grew.

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?

The Eucharist is such a profound gift of God’s love. In
the Eucharist, Christ unites us to him — thus making
us holy — and wants to be with us on the journey of
life. The Eucharist is so crucial in the Christian life that
Christ himself said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son
of man and drink his blood, you have no life within you.”
Therefore, we should attend Mass regularly in addition
to Sunday Mass and receive Christ in the Eucharist
frequently and devoutly. The more we do that, the more
his life in us will grow so we can become the saints that
we are called to be.
The Eucharist is also such an important gift because
through it Christ wants to be with us on the journey of
life. Once when speaking about the real presence of
Jesus in the Eucharist, a priest said that the Eucharist is
Jesus’ way of keeping the promise that he will be with
us always until the end of the world. Just as Jesus was
present with the apostles during his earthly life, he wants
to be present to us in the Eucharist. His real presence
in the Eucharist is an invitation to us to be with him.
We should respond generously to that invitation by
spending time with him in adoration (or in front of the
tabernacle).

Which saint should people invoke for your vocation
and why?

The Blessed Mother. As I enter seminary, I
want to continue growing in my love for Jesus and in
discipleship. I want the Blessed Mother’s help in that
endeavor.