Thoughts on Priesthood:

I'm starting to see more and more what a pivotal role the priest is in the world.  They are here to prepare us for the world to come.  They are to remind us amid of all the worldly allurements, e.g. honors, material good, wealth, prestige, worldly pleasure, and so on, that we are to be preparing for the world to come and to grow in love for our heavenly Father every single day.  The priest is the spiritual doctor in the confessional that rids you of sins that separates you from Father.  The priest is the one that feeds you and nourishes the soul through the Eucharist in Holy Mass.  The priest is the person that prepares you to see the Father when he calls you home through the Anointing of the Sick.  Without the priest we have no sacraments; we lose a crucial link to help us to win the race St. Paul talks about.  If we do not nurture and foster children, young adults, and men who are considering the priesthood, there will be a time when you truly need a priest and he will not be there to say the Mass or hear your Confession or, if you are sick or dying, give you the Anointing of the Sick or bring you Viaticum.  How blessed we are to have men in the Diocese of Sioux City that are answering the call and I am blessed to be joining the Marians and answering the call to God through our Lady, Mary.

Why I want to be a Priest:

It was what God wanted me to be.  At first I thought about being a priest as a child, however I wanted a family and kids.  So I turned down the notion of the priesthood, even though I can look back and see God was giving me signs.  It was not until I did my will and drove myself to the point where I had to ask God, "What was doing wrong?"  That's when God started calling me to the priesthood.  God picked me, God chose me.  Some people believe that they want to be a priest, but God will tell them in their hearts that no, He has a different calling in mind for them.  To others however, He says, "I want you to be a priest, be my steward, tend my sheep."  It was when I stopped doing my will and started doing His that my vocational call blossomed.  I want to be a priest is because that is what God wants and He knows this is what will make me happy and give me complete joy.  Now all I want is to make God happy through my obedience to Him.

Hobbies & Interests:

Sports, video games, cards, bird watching, hiking and history.

Tell us about your family as you grew up and when you started thinking about being a priest:

I am the oldest out of five kids, a brother and three sisters.  We were a "cultural Catholic" family.  We went to church on Sundays, prayed before meals, said the rosary and so on.  We have had some lows and we have had our highs in our family.  In those low times, we grew closer as a family.  Later in my life is also when my Mom and Dad started to deepen there faith by listening to Catholic Radio and be inspired by others like Father Don Calloway.  That is when I began to start taking my faith a little more seriously.  If I didn't have my family I don't really know where I would be today.

What inspires you about the priesthood?

That God has handpicked me to learn more about and study our faith through the eyes of philosophy and then to theology and see how God makes us as special beings.  I am also inspired by all that I have to learned about God through prayer and to have a deeper relationship with Him and our Blessed Mother Mary as well.  Finally, I am inspired by the Saints as role models of people that have accomplished what I desire to accomplish and are in heaven cheering us on.  Add this all up and it means that I get the opportunity, through the grace of God, to help bring God's people to love, serve, and die for Him through my vocation to His priesthood.

Who have been your hero's and what has been your influences?

Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Fr. Larry Richards, Fr. Donald Calloway, EWTN, Relevant Radio, Spirit Radio out of Omaha, NE, Jeff Cavins with "The Great Adventure" Bible study series, Scott Hahn, the Knights of Columbus, the Serra Club, the movie "Fishers of Men", and of course my Family.