Life as a seminarian is TERRIFIC and I'm incredibly excited for those days of ordination ahead of me. The NAC is also a very special place and I'm privileged to be able to study and pray in the shadow of St. Peter and his successor.”

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Feeling unfulfilled, I felt called to join a lay missionary organization of young people called FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, who lead college students in learning and living their faith through Bible studies and mentoring students. While spending two years serving the students at the University of Maryland, in College Park, I began to wonder if God was calling me to the priesthood. A spiritual director suggested that I continue my discernment at the seminary, and so I entered in September 2008. I'm currently 26 years old and starting my second-year at Mundelein Seminary in the Pre-theology program.
At Mundelein, I continue to see that the priest is, in many ways, a spiritual physician, not unlike the physician I originally envisioned myself. As a member of the ordination class of 2014, the beauty of the priesthood looms in the distance, but until then I look forward to growing in prayer as I imagine what it would be like to bring people to God and God to people in such an extraordinary way.”

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Due to my Mother being the church organist and pianist, I was highly involved in church through high school, though I always felt something was missing in my faith life. Once on my own in college I drifted away, thinking I didn’t need to attend church to be religious. In my late thirties, in a dating relationship with a Catholic woman, I started going back to church and through the Mass and instruction of Catholic friends I found a richness and fullness in the teachings of the Catholic Church that I felt was missing in my faith life previously. I went through RCIA and came into the Church at the Easter Vigil of 2002.

In 2004 I began to receive the first stirrings of a vocational call, bringing back many memories of my Grandmothers asking me as a child to consider becoming a Methodist minister. In addition, my parish priest, friends and co-workers asked me to consider the priesthood. I fought it for a while as I had a very secure and comfortable life, but eventually felt moved to participate in the INSEARCH Program to discern how I was being called to best serve the Lord and His Church. With the support of my family, friends, co-workers and parish, I entered the Seminary’s Pre-Theology program in the fall of 2007.

In the two years since entering Pre-Theology, all of my fears and trepidations about returning to school and leaving a financially comfortable life have disappeared and I am more at peace as I follow God’s will in my life. The more my life becomes simplified of earthly possessions, and the more focused I become on following God’s will, the happier I am. It is truly a blessing to be allowed to become the person God meant me to be, by following the path he has called me to. If
God continues to call me to the path to the priesthood, I will be ordained in May 2013 at the age of 53—which will be after I receive my AARP card for Senior citizen discounts! God can indeed use broken vessels to do his work on Earth.”

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Almost from the time when I came to the United States I was involved in the life of one of Chicago’s parishes, Holy Trinity Church. For many years I was an altar server and lector. I also became a coordinator for young adult ministry and involved myself in music ministry. My further involvement was participation in the lay ministry formation program offered by the Archdiocese of Chicago called Together In God’s Service. The program prepares lay men and women for professional and vocational involvement in the life of the Church and its Catholic schools.

Among various experiences of God’s presence in my life, young adult prayer group became an instrumental tool in my discernment to the ministry of priesthood. I entered Mundelein Seminary in fall of 2008 to pursue my goal. Currently I am in my second year of the Pre-Theology Program.

As a quick summary I would like to say that a calling to any ministry in the Church begins with a life of prayer and also surrounding oneself, as a support group, with people that truly want to follow Jesus in their lives.”

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In August 2007, I had the privilege to join the Casa Jesus Discernment Program for young Hispanic men, who feel the call to serve God’s people in this local Church of Chicago. After a year of cultural immersion and an intensive English learning program I entered the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary and since then I have been having the great opportunity to be part of St. Raymond de Penafort Catholic Church in Mt. Prospect. Currently, I am studying in my second year of Theology and I still have another two years of theological studies.

I firmly believe that God makes the call, the Church sends the one who is called, and then, the Seminary prepares him. Answering God’s call is a process that comes with countless blessings. Furthermore, I am totally sure that as we continue responding positively to the Lord, we come to understand that He equips us with His divine graces in order to remain faithful to our call. We are not alone. As a matter of fact, Jesus himself tells us that He is with us always, to the close of the age (Mt 28:20).

Finally, I would like to recall those peculiar words of our beloved John Paul II: “Non abbiate paura!” (Do not be afraid!). They have accompanied me throughout my formation up until this time. This phrase reminds me of the attitude that I am to face life and, ultimately, my vocation!”

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In my junior year of high school I was facing the question of where to go to college. The remains of St. Therese happened to be visiting the United States and were in our Archdiocese. It was at an event in her honor that I met the rector of the Archdiocesan College Seminary. He asked me if I ever thought of Seminary. I am not sure I ever answered his question, however, I do recall agreeing to receive information. Thus, it was added to my list of “potential possibilities,” although I did not rank it very high. I was accepted at the seminary and I began to think I might give it a chance, however the day before I was to enter, I decided not to. Rather I decided to put everything on hold and simply go to a public college. At the same time, I was working at the family business, a “Manufacturers Rep” of various construction supplies so I decided to continue there as well. This I did for two years.

The College Seminary kept in contact with me since the time I was accepted. I finally approached Father Presta in 2003 acknowledging that I was ready “to stop putting it off.” I graduated from St. Joseph College Seminary at Loyola University in 2006 with a BA in Philosophy and from there I came to Mundelein Seminary. I was ordained a deacon this past October. It has been quite a journey (once I stopped standing in the way,) a journey of a lifetime from which I have no regrets.

Some call it coincidence, I believe it to be providence; my home parish is St. John Vianney, the patron of priests, and I am a member of the ordination class for the “Year of the Priest.” Pope Benedict XVI has held up the Curé as a model for priests, for “he taught his parishioners primarily by the witness of his life. It was from his example that they learned to pray.” It is my hope and prayer that in the future, they can say as much of me, if only I don’t stand in the way!”

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During college, I worked at the City of Chicago’s 911 Center as an intern in the Office of Emergency Management. I then began to explore an interest in medicine and started working as a cardiac arrest researcher in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Later, I expanded my research involvement to the study of sepsis, a
severe system-wide immune response to bacterial infection. Graduating from the University of Chicago in 2008 with a concentration in biological sciences, immunology, and psychology, I was confident of a future career as a physician. After college I worked as a research coordinator in the Medical ICU at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

I had often thought about a vocation to priesthood, but dismissed it in favor of married life. However, my but discernment to the priesthood began to build after graduating from college. I sometimes think God may have ‘turned up the volume’ on my call because I wasn’t listening. The climax of this volume change occurred in January 2009, while I was alone at Mass at St. Mary of the Angels parish in Chicago. I was sitting in this enormous, beautiful church by myself listening to the homily. It was a cold night and the heaters were struggling to keep the church warm. All of a sudden, I experienced the most overpowering feeling of my life. I was filled - body and soul - with the desire to become a priest. In that moment, I could not see myself doing anything else with my life. All my other goals - marriage, getting into medical school, and becoming a doctor - paled in comparison to the thought of serving the people of God in the priesthood.

This feeling repeated itself several times in the following months, enough to begin formal discernment with Fr. Joe Noonan. After talking with several priests and spending many hours in prayer, I applied to Mundelein Seminary and I was accepted to begin the pre-theology program the August, 2009. It is humbling to be in the seminary, studying for the Archdiocese of Chicago. My discernment is ongoing and I pray for guidance from the Lord in my vocation every day. It is critical to approach every situation and begin every day with an open, listening heart. To do otherwise would limit my response to God’s continual outpouring of grace.”

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Although at the time I entered seminary I remained uncertain as to how I was supposed to live out my call to the priesthood. The seminary formation program, alongside the opportunity I had to spend time with a Cistercian Community, helped me gain the clarity I needed to better understand God’s invitation to His priesthood. During the time I have been in seminary, three Chicago parish priests have had an influence on me and have helped me understand what it means to be priest: Fr. Bill Zavaski, my pastor, Fr. Ed Upton, and Fr. Ron Lewinski. I hope and pray that God grants me the graces to serve the good people of the Archdiocese of Chicago with the same zeal, love, and compassion as these three priests!

One thing God has taught me through the time I have been discerning priesthood, and in formation at the seminary, is that it takes a community to form a young man into the priest God is calling him to be. It was through the examples provided by priests, I have known over the years, that encouraged me to think about priesthood. It was also through the support and prayers of so many people I have come to know while in seminary, alongside the support of my family, that have given me the strength to make the sacrifice necessary to commit to becoming one of Christ’s Priests. The road to the priesthood is truly one that opens the mind and heart to the power of Christ’s Sacred Heart! “

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I was born and raised in the Chicagoland area. I lived in a household filled with a spirit of public service. My father is the retired fire chief of my hometown and my mother a nurse who helps run a clinic. My older brother, Joseph, is devoting his life to serving Chicago as a firefighter. As a student at St. Albert the Great, St. Laurence H.S. and Marquette University, I developed an interest in history, government, and public service. Upon graduation, I packed one bag and moved to Washington, D.C. landing on my friends’ couch to follow my dream of a career in service to our nation. I was content with my life in government until the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Washington in April 2009, profoundly impacted my life.

As men discerning can attest, it is often difficult to share our Catholic faith in our respective workplaces. When the Holy Father visited Washington, Catholics were coming out of the woodwork and people were proud to share their Catholic faith. That week, my life was filled with the Holy Spirit and I began to ask myself what was I doing to make a positive impact on the lives of others? This experience resulted in a deepening of my prayer life, daily Mass attendance and active participation in my parish. Overtime, there was something drawing me to the idea of becoming a priest. I thought I was just a regular guy living the ordinary and was confused by why God would be calling me to priesthood. I ignored the call until another priest said to me, “You should go to the seminary and become a priest.” This time I listened.

I look at my discernment as running a long race. Those who successfully train for marathons are not focused on running 26.2 miles all at once, but are focused on their daily running routine. If you are in the process of discernment, focus on developing your relationship with Jesus Christ one day at a time. Pray the rosary, attend Mass daily, find and meet with a spiritual director, and attend discernment events hosted by Fr. Noonan’s office. Taking this daily approach will take the stress out the discernment process and will give you the clarity of what God is calling you to do. You are in my prayers daily.

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