Hometown: New Palestine, IN
Year in Formation: Temporarily Professed – 3rd Year in Vows
High School: Cathedral High School (Indianapolis, IN), 2014
College: Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), 2018
College Major: General Management
Previous Jobs: Business Development Representative for my COI
Patron Saint: St. John Paul II is my patron saint because of the hope and inspiration he brought my family and the Polish people. He united Poland through the Catholic faith to overthrow the Communist government.
Favorite Movie: Casablanca, Good Will Hunting, The Greatest Showman
Favorite Music: Lauren Daigle, The Knocks, Holiday87, DOE
Hobbies: Cooking, baking bread (especially sourdough), healthy living, weightlifting, camping, drinking good coffee, being outdoors
Place of pilgrimage you want most to visit: The Camino because of the journey of the pilgrim that requires backpacking from town to town on the way to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
Most memorable prayer or liturgy you have attended: Mass in the Catacombs of St. Callixtus in Rome where many of the early Church martyrs would have been buried.
Your Vocation Story: Since childhood, I have been attracted to the priesthood. I looked up to the pastor at my home parish as a role model. Despite this fact, I persisted in my will for my life throughout high school and college. It was not until I found myself frustrated and lacking fulfillment in my work as a salesman at a tech company that compelled me to pray to God and ask that God’s will be accomplished in me realizing that He ultimately knows what is best for me (Isaiah 55:8-9; Jeremiah 29:11-13). In time, I crossed paths with Holy Cross religious at a Catholic conference in town. One conversation led to another until the Holy Spirit prompted me to apply and enter formation in the midst of the pandemic. Despite my initial interest in priesthood, I discovered a “call within a call” during my pastoral year at St. Joseph parish in South Bend and switched societies from religious priesthood to religious brotherhood. As a teacher at the parish, I felt I related to parishioners and my students as Brother. The witness of other Holy Cross Brothers and the “uncomplicated witness” nature of the vocation also invited me to enter a new state of life that continues to be just as mysterious as it is fruitful and fulfilling.
Favorite way to pray: Contemplative prayer, especially in nature or when making bread
Favorite Devotion: Divine Mercy Image & Chaplet
Favorite line or passage from Scripture: “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am contant with weakness, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” -2 Corinthians 12:9-10
One aspect of Holy Cross spirituality that speaks to you the most and why: The life and spirituality of St. André Bessette speaks most to me in Holy Cross. I first witnessed the work God called him to do by seeing all of the canes and crutches around St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal during a pilgrimage in high school. He was a humble man that God used to heal people physically and spiritually, despite his poor health. He avoided publicity, but whenever he was asked about his work, he gave all of the credit to God through the intercession of St. Joseph. St. André Bessette’s life not only sparked my curiosity about the Congregation of Holy Cross but also the life of St. Joseph.
Favorite Quote: “IN the designs of Providence, there are no mere coincidences” – St. Pope John Paul II after his life was spared from an assassination attempt.
Favorite Bl. Basil or St. André Quote: “Thank the Good Lord for testing your faith through adversity. If this happens to you, you are lucky indeed. If people could appreciate the true value of suffering, they would call for it on their knees… The slightest earthly suffering is rewarded a thousand times over in heaven. If people only realized this, they would fall to their knees and ask to be tried.” – St. André Bessette