About

When I was in the 8th grade at St. Charles School, I began discerning my call to service in the Roman Catholic Church. I started thinking about the priesthood while on a retreat at the Diocese of Orlando spiritual retreat center at San Pedro with Fr. Tom Barrett, the pastor of my parish. While on the retreat, Fr. Tom was sharing his vocation story with all of the 8th grade students. He told us that he was moving up in the company where he worked. But, everything changed when he stopped into a church and began hearing the call from God. Upon hearing this, a seed was planted within me.

When I got to high school, the calling to the priesthood somewhat faded into my very hectic schedule. I became so involved with my studies and extracurricular activities that God’s whisper was a little too soft. Even though I was not able to distinguish God’s voice, I became increasingly involved with my spirituality throughout high school. I remained active in the Ministry of Altar Servers, even taking on the responsibility of coordinating the ministry, and became involved with the Choir, playing my trusty trombone.

After high school, I entered Valencia Community College and it seemed the calling had made a transformation. I always knew that I would be involved in the community by providing some kind of a service to my brothers and sisters in Christ. By the end of my freshmen year in college, I began thinking about becoming a police officer, continuing that call to service. But, God made sure I got the right information.

During the Lenten season of 2008, my calling was reaffirmed through the voice of a very inspirational Augustinian priest who was giving a retreat at St. Charles. The weekend before the retreat began, Fr. Michael Sullivan called me out of the congregation at the 7:30am Sunday Mass and asked me if I had ever contemplated the priesthood. Of course, my answer was yes, which I gave somewhat reluctantly. However, ever since this moment, I have not been able to stop thinking about the possibility of God’s call for me to be a Roman Catholic priest.

On Palm Sunday, my vocation was made very clear to me. Upon completing my prayers for the evening, an overwhelming feeling came over me and I knew exactly what I had to do. The next morning, I contacted Fr. Tom and asked him what it all meant. He told me that I should get in contact with Fr. Miguel, the Diocesan Vocations Director, to talk about this experience. I emailed Fr. Miguel, set an appointment, and began my application to be accepted as a seminarian. On June 11, 2008, my application was accepted. On August 7, 2008, I entered St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami.

In August 2009, I began my second year of seminary formation. As I continue on this journey, I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and messages of support and encouragement!! God Bless!!

Article Archives

Here are some links to some newspaper articles that I was interviewed for concerning Vocations. One of which came from when I was in 8th Grade. I happened to stumble across that one a few months back. Enjoy!!

The Florida Catholic Diocese of Orlando Edition