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Parish: St. Bernard Parish, Green Bay
Birthday: December 30
Seminary: St. Francis de Sales Seminary
3257 S. Lake Dr.
St. Francis, WI 53235
What kind of music do you like to listen to?
I have a great nostalgia for the music that my dad and grandpa Jerry liked and played
around me growing up. That means I like a lot of pre-2000’s country.
What is your favorite liturgical season and why?
Fun fact: Lent ends at sundown on Holy Thursday, beginning the great Paschal Triduum.
It is my favorite liturgical season because in a singular liturgy, we commemorate the
Institution of the Eucharist, Christ's Passion, and His glorious Resurrection at the Easter
Vigil.
What is one small thing that almost always makes your day better?
I have a two-year-old niece and a one-and-a-half-year-old goddaughter. By the nature
of me being in seminary formation and one of them living in New York, the reality is
that I rarely get to see either of these two goofballs in person. Thankfully, this is often
remedied by modern technology which allows for their parents to send me pictures of
them in action.
What advice would you give to a young man discerning a priestly
vocation?
Praised be Jesus Christ! Now lose “discerning” from your vocabulary. As has been aptly
noted by others wiser than myself, “Ever since discernment has become a buzzword
in the Church today, no one has made a decision.” If you believe that God might be
inviting you to this vocation, trust that call and let the Church discern with you from
there. So often, we are afraid that we are going to “get it wrong” or “miss God’s voice”
(I may be speaking from experience here). Reject that lie and hear John Paul II urging
you, “Be not afraid.”
Our diocesan patron saint, St. Francis Xavier, is also the patron
saint of missions. How do you seek to live as a missionary disciple?
When it comes to missionary discipleship, the Holy Spirit seems to always convict me
with a quote from Mother Teresa: [1.1][1.2] “Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta.
Find the sick, the suffering and the lonely right there where you are. In your own
homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools. You can find
Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go,
you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society, completely
forgotten, completely left alone.” Sometimes the hardest person to love is the
person suffering right next to me. It requires me to be vulnerable and meet them where
they are. My time can be the most valuable thing I give them. While I will likely spend
my entire priesthood in the Diocese of Green Bay, faithful service to those put in my
charge can bear eternal fruit far beyond one place.
Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical is entitled Magnifica Humanitas (literally
‘Magnificent Humanity’). For you, what does it mean to be human?
Once again, praised be Jesus Christ for Pope Leo writing his first encyclical on the
magnificence of humanity. It is a topic that is very timely and necessary for contemplation
amidst the current state of worldly affairs. From the beginning of time, man
has occupied a unique and special place in the hierarchy of beings. The Church teaches,
“Of all visible creatures, only man is able to know and love his creator. He is the
only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake” (CCC 356). Furthermore,
“Being in the image of God, the human individual possesses the dignity of a person,
who is not just something, but someone” (CCC 357). The dignity of man is affirmed
incalculably by the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. When God became Man and made His
dwelling among us, He came to open up a life that would be fitting to the dignity of
man; eternal life with God. He came to show us that we could live in that deep and
abiding friendship and intimacy with the Holy Trinity. This involves rejecting sin and
putting on His life of grace. In baptism, we experience what St. Paul promises that,
“If we die with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Rm 6:8). As St.
Athanasius says, “The Son of God became man so that we might become God.” To
be human means to configure one's life to Jesus in all things.
