Tell us a bit about your first thoughts of a vocation to the priesthood.
Looking back, I can see that God began a series of invitations to the priesthood when I was about seven years old at Mass. I wanted the large host at Communion, and I knew I would have to be a priest to have it. Interestingly enough, this experience happened at St. Paul on the Lake, which will be my first assignment after ordination. In college, some people said I should consider priesthood, and I felt a call again as, through teaching, I began to see the value of each person more clearly. Each person is unrepeatable, chosen by God, has an inner life to discover, is worth giving to and receiving from. I saw this very clearly in certain students in particular. I felt a call from Jesus again to lay down my life for the kids, for the Church.
What do you think is the greatest challenge facing the Church today? What do you see as the solution to that challenge?
We have many challenges, but God is victorious and if we persevere with Him, we will be victorious too. One way to group some of the challenges is to say that we are not good at discerning the difference between good and evil. Evil tends to hide itself in fear, lies, discouragement, anxiety, until it is in control and then uses force and intimidation to manipulate. We are currently not good at discerning evil, especially when it is trying to hide, but I think this is changing.
What saint has been your greatest inspiration and why?
That’s tough. I would say St. JPII because through Theology of the Body, he has given us a vocabulary for and a deep personal understanding of masculinity and femininity. Living God’s will here opens us up to acting freely in our person, living the spousal meaning of the body in the freedom of the gift and life in the Spirit. St. Patrick is pretty good, too. God just converted a country through him…
How do you hope to answer the call of the New Evangelization in your priestly ministry?
Well, I hope that when speaking about God at funerals, baptisms, weddings, etc, there is an apologetic sense — defending why what we do is good and true — and an evangelical sense — a calling to a deeper relation with God — in what I say. I believe families are an important guidepost in Unleash the Gospel and hope to contribute there.