Hometown: Fayetteville, WV
Year in Formation: Temporarily Professed – 4th Year in Vows
High School: Oak Hill High School (Oak Hill, WV), 2012
College: University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN), 2016
College Major: Theology and Italian Studies
Graduate School: University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN), 2018
Graduate Degree: M.A. in Theology
Previous Jobs: High School Theology Teacher at Cardinal Ritter High School in Indianapolis, IN
Patron Saint: St. John Bosco, St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Favorite Movie: The Shawshank Redemption, Knives Out, The Prestige
Favorite Books: He Leadeth Me by Walter Ciszek, S.J., A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
Favorite Music: Ripe, Mumford and Sons, Rend Collective
Hobbies: Improv comedy, frisbee and soccer, spikeball
Most Memorably Prayer/Liturgy you have Attended: Easter Sunday liturgy on St. Peter’s Piazza in Rome, when the sun came out at the moment of consecration
Place of Pilgrimage you Most Want to Visit and why: The Holy Land because it shows that the Incarnation is not mere myth but history
Favorite Way to Pray: Lectio Divina
Favorite Devotion: Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
What drew you to Holy Cross: I admired Holy Cross priests, and I am passionate about educating in the faith. I love the way that Holy Cross is committed to praying together, and I love the humble beginnings of being sent to country parishes in the wake of the French Revolution. I find deep meaning in helping a post-Christian society repair the rubble of past rebellions.
Your Vocation Story: As a 12th grade altar server, a visiting priest prophesied to the whole assembly that I would become a priest. Naturally, I ran in the other direction, studying chemistry and charting a course for marriage. Over time, I came to realize that no human love could satisfy the desire in my heart to give Jesus every part of me and to receive his long-suffering love. I felt called to celibacy through a series of clouds in the sky; to celebrating the Mass, through a daily Eucharistic holy hour; and to Holy Cross, through the holy priests, providential circumstances, and savvy vocations directors. The religious priesthood joins my love of the Sacraments with my desire to empty myself and be filled with God. God has richly blessed me through Holy Cross; all praise and glory to him for all that has befallen me.
Ways that you resonate with the Holy Cross charism, “Educators in the Faith”: Faith is not unreasonable. Too often, people take the word “faith” to mean something akin to a myth, or something sub-rational.I believe it is my mission as a disciple of Jesus Christ to help people make the harrowing journey from childish faith to mature faith. This happens effectively in parishes, in classrooms, on the playing field, and over the dinner table, and I believe that Holy Cross extends Christ’s mission in all these ways and more. I want to be a part of it!
One aspect of Holy Cross spirituality that speaks to you the most and why: The aspect of Holy Cross spirituality that speaks most to me is belief in Divine Providence. When Bl. Basil Moreau heard that many of the religious he had been sending on mission to the United States were dying of disease, his council advised him to stop sending men. After a moment of prayer, Moreau stated that God had done too much for the Congregation in the United States not to see that work to completion. I am here because Bl. Basil Moreau believed in God’s Providence more than he feared death. I hope also to care more for the service of God than for my own health and life.
Favorite Verse: “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,” (Philippians 2:5-7)
Favorite Quote: “A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one.” – St. Philip Neri
Favorite Bl. Basil or St. André Quote: “Jesus is the prisoner of the tabernacle. We must let him out of the tabernacle and set him loose in our hearts and in the world!” – Blessed Basil Moreau (sort of)
How can visitors to this page pray for you? Pray for humility and gentleness, and that I might imitate the charity found in Christ.