Hometown: Berea, OH
Year in Formation: Temporarily Professed – 2nd Year in Vows
High School: Saint Ignatius High School (Cleveland, OH), 2017
College: University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN), 2021
College Major: American Studies and Philosophy
Patron Saint: Saint Florian because he is the patron saint of firefighters, and both my grandfather and father were firefighters.
Favorite Movie: Casablanca, The Manchurian Candidate, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Smokey and the Bandit
Favorite Books: Come Be My Lightby Mother Teresa, The End of the Affair by Graham Greene, American Pastoralby Philip Roth, Man’s Search for Meaningby Viktor Frankl
Favorite Music: Bobby Darin, Frankie Valli, Gary Lewis, Whitney Houston
Hobbies: Reading, watching movies, walking, and listening to music
Ways that you resonate with the Holy Cross charism, “Educators in the Faith”: I have a longing to share my faith and the hope that it brings me with others. The Holy Cross charism affirms that those in Holy Cross are called to explicitly share the faith through the activity of education in both formal and informal settings. Those in Holy Cross are not simply meant to live a witness to the Gospel that will hopefully inspire others to do likewise, but we are called to teach the faith and live the faith in a school/academic setting so as to inspire young men and women to go and do likewise at a time when our young people are being challenged by a multitude of external forces to flock from and not to living a radically Christian life.
One aspect of Holy Cross spirituality that speaks to you the most and why: The aspect of Holy Cross spirituality that resonates most with me is the Cross as Our Only Hope. This aspect is the highest affirmation that the Christian faith is not one of gloom, despair, and inexplicable suffering, but a faith which endures those three and holds fast to the Cross of Christ to be led into the joy, glory, and triumph of the Resurrection, which we who hope in the Cross know to follow soon after the agony of the Crucifixion. This aspect of Holy Cross offers a unique and provocative perspective in our modern world that seeks to avoid or minimize suffering and discomfort at all costs. Recognizing the Cross as our only hope allows those in Holy Cross to stand in a hopeful witness to the love and presence of Christ in the world, even or especially amid great suffering.
Favorite Quote: “Wash the plate not because it is dirty nor because you are told to wash it, but because you love the person who will use it next.” – St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata
Favorite Bl. Basil or St. André Quote: “I am nothing…only a tool in the hands of Providence, a lowly instrument at the service of St. Joseph.” – St. André Bessette