Parish: St. Raphael Parish, Oshkosh
Birthday: November 6
Seminary: St. Francis de Sales Seminary
Seminary Address: 3257 S. Lake Drive, St. Francis, WI 53235-3702

Which saint should people invoke for your vocation?
St. Teresa of Ávila. In her writings, she describes friendship with Christ as a
communion of wills, so please ask that I may grow in true friendship with Christ
as I prepare to be his priest.

Coffee or tea?
I prefer coffee because it helps me to wake up better than tea.

If Jesus drove a vehicle during his public ministry, what
would it be?
Jesus would have driven a Honda Accord given to him by the
Father so that he can say, “I came not in my own Accord but in
my Father’s” (cf. John 8:42).

What is your ideal way to spend the Lord’s Day?
In addition to attending Mass and spending time with the Lord
in personal prayer, my ideal way to spend the Lord’s Day would
include doing some reading, visiting with or calling my family
and friends, and taking a walk when the weather permits it.

If you could celebrate Mass anywhere in the world, where
would you and why?
Once during a retreat, the retreat master told us stories from
visiting the Holy Land many times. We got to hear how he had
the opportunity to celebrate Mass at important sites in the Holy
Land. If I could, I would love to celebrate Mass at the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre, the church built on the site where Jesus
was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead. Celebrating Mass
at this site would be a great gift of being in the same place
where the mystery that we celebrate happened in history.

What spiritual book or author has most influenced your
journey of discipleship?
“Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe has greatly influenced
my journey of discipleship. This book goes through various
attitudes that can inhibit one from living the freedom of being
a child of God. Through it, I learned how to allow the Lord to
love me as I am while balancing that with the desire to grow
in holiness. It touches upon fundamental themes of receiving
God’s love in the reality of one’s life and responding generously to
him through faith, hope, and love in all circumstances. Through
this book, the Lord taught me that, with his grace, there is no
circumstance in which I cannot find interior freedom; it comes
from opening myself to relationship with the Lord no matter
what the outward circumstances are, especially when they are
difficult. I have found focusing on the relationship the Lord has
with me and is always inviting me into brings profound peace. It
allows me to live in the freedom the Lord wants for me.

How is the Eucharist meant to foster unity in the Church?
The Eucharist by its every nature is meant to foster unity. The
Eucharist fosters union between Jesus and the person who
receives him worthily. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church
puts it, “Holy Communion augments our union with Christ. The
principle fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is
an intimate union with Christ Jesus” (#1391). Holy Communion
unites the communicant to Christ and to others who receive the
same Christ.
St. Paul expresses this truth beautifully by saying, “Because
there is one bread, we who are many, are one body for we all
partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17). Unfortunately, we
do not always remember our profound union with one another
through Jesus in the Eucharist, so we can experience divisions
in the Church.
The invitation for all of us is to realize how deeply we are united
in the Eucharist and foster that unity. The Church prays at Mass
that the unifying effect of the Eucharist may be fully realized
in us. For example, in Eucharistic Prayer III, the Church prays,
“Grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your
Son and filled with his Holy Spirit may become one body, one
spirit in Christ.” We should join this prayer of the Church at Mass
and examine how we can foster unity in the Church personally.