Formation Stage

Propaedeutic Year

Home Parish

St. Irenaeus, Cypress

Seminary

St. John’s Seminary

Favorite Saint(s)

St. Judas Thaddeus, as a thank you for interceding during my birth. St. Michael, for always keeping watch and sending angels down to make sure I kept myself out of trouble.

Favorite Marian Apparition(s)

Our Lady of Lourdes. Though I have never been to France. I would visit the site and pray. She encouraged people to begin praying and return to God. Something that I started doing after finding out about her. A spring with healing waters would be a nice plus as well. My favorite devotion is the Rosary. I’m attempting to learn the prayers in spanish.

Favorite Book or Movie

The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz. WWII biography about a group of Polish Officers who once they were freed by the Russians, turned around and were accused of being Nazi conspirators. The story is about this one officer and a few others escaping Siberia and making it back to freedom.

Favorite Hobby

Swimming or reading a good book. Sci-Fi/Fantasy or Fiction Novels.

Background

What are some of the factors that led to your decision to enter the seminary and discern the question of a vocation to the priesthood?

I’ve always had a gentle push from God, I would probably say he gave me a jolt one day where everything he had been saying came to clarity. Breaking down I finally agreed to do what he wanted me to do. The path has never been so clear.

Who are some of the people who influenced your decision to enter the seminary? What is it about them that assisted you?

My mother’s willingness to approve of my decision weighed heavily. Finding out that she had once discerned to be a nun, I found it easier to tell her as she would know what I was going through. Having the approval of my friends and family only made the decision a bit easier.

Describe the moment that you knew you wanted to take the next steps to become a priest?

Watching my father hurt, and knowing his time here was on a clock, I wish I had made the decision and told him before his passing. My eyes were opened beforehand, but I never mentioned it to him. I know he’d be proud of me.