Alma Mater: Franciscan '19
Year Professed: Professed vows May 27, 2023, and looking towards ordination in 2028.
Inspirational Bible Verse: Ruth 1:16-17: But Ruth said, “Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if even death parts me from you.”
Faith Journey: My journey of faith began with my parents' conversion back when I was 6 or 7. My father encountered Christ through the Scriptures on an airplane and decided to turn our lives around dramatically by making our family's primary conviction love of Christ. With relocation to Bucks County (suburb of Philly), our family grew, albeit slowly, towards a committed and faithful practice of Catholicism. My first personal encounter with Christ happened at some point when I was in high school on a retreat and with the help of some great role models in my life, I came to see that a life apart from the heart of God was not worth living. I attended Franciscan University with no plans of entering religious life and found myself surprised to be discerning priesthood come my senior year. While things in the eyes of the world were going well for me, I guess I came to see that I wanted to be the Lord's undividedly, and it was His alone that I wished to be. In "throwing away" my life for Christ, I found peace and joy in the direction I was going. I began discerning in the diocesan setting which was great but ultimately not for me. Eventually I came to consider religious life and settled on entering the TOR Franciscans. Although extremely difficult and trying at times, I have come to see that the Lord is blessing me beyond measure here in formation. Coming back to Franciscan was always a dream of mine only to come true sooner than I expected. This life is great and beyond what I could have hoped for – after all, I still get to stay up late and watch Country Westerns, only this time I get to do it with brothers.
