Meet Our Brothers on the Path to the Priesthood

I was raised Catholic in Loretto, Pennsylvania, a town with a rich Catholic heritage. There are many religious communities in the area. While I was in grade school, I was blessed to have postulants from the local province of Franciscan TORs as my teachers’ aids. These men had a big impact on my life, especially through their Nights of Worship, held at the local university. At these Nights of Worship, I encountered praise and worship for the first time. I even witnessed miracles, such as the Holy Spirit growing out one of a person’s legs, which was shorter than the other one. This really gave me a solid faith and made me realize that the Eucharist is actually Jesus. But I was still living for myself and I was on and off when it came to following the Lord. Then in college, my cousins invited me to a praise and worship Bible study, which happened to be run by the same friars. There, I experienced that I belong with God. I decided to live my life for Him on the spot. At that point I still had planned on getting married. But as the year progressed, I became more open to the possibility of a priestly vocation, especially through the witness of the Franciscan Friars. I also began to desire to be consecrated totally to God. One night, I had a prayer experience in which I believe the Lord Jesus told me that He was calling me to be a priest. This made me feel the most joyful I had ever felt. After that, my spiritual director told me I should discern whether the Lord was calling me to the diocesan or religious priesthood. When the Franciscans who had been so influential in my life moved down to Phoenix, Arizona to begin a mission to Native Americans, I figured that they were one of the communities I should discern with. I went to visit them, and again experienced one of the most joyful times of my life. I visited again and developed a love for the Natives in addition to feeling at home there. I did a few more years of school and then joined these same friars, who had been named the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit. I love being part of this community and, God willing, I hope to make solemn vows and be ordained a priest.

I was born in Napa Valley, California as the seventh of seven straight sons my parents had in a row. After me, we welcomed my beautiful sister into the world. So my dad likes to say that he had all girls…except for the first seven! Besides a great sense of humor, I received a strong faith and a great education in the teachings of the Church through my family and schooling. 

The love of God broke into my life and heart in a deeper and more personal way, however, when I attended a prayer group led by the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit in the summer of 2016. I had moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 2011, and was attending the University of Dallas at the time. The prayer group was on the Gila River Indian Reservation at St. John the Baptist parish. 

It happened like this: The Friars asked me what I wanted prayers for. I told them I wanted whatever the Holy Spirit wanted to give me. Right when they started praying, the Holy Spirit gifted me with a new and powerful experience of God’s personal love for me. In response to this great gift, I began to seek God through prayer and fasting. The Lord continued to bless my willingness to push through discomfort to worship and seek Him. I eventually decided that I wanted to spend my life sharing the love of God as his instrument. I realized that the adventures of a life led by the Holy Spirit are more exciting and fulfilling than anything else. 

After finishing college and working for two years, I discerned more intentionally with the Friars and was impressed with their relatability, fire, and mission. God has blessed my time as a Franciscan Friar of the Holy Spirit more than any other time in my life, and I am so excited to pursue final vows and the priesthood with them.

I was raised in Mckinney, TX, went to church on Sundays, and was a half decent kid who really liked baseball, cars, and other things besides the celibate priesthood.  My Catholic education growing up formed me well, but it was all just facts and information to regurgitate for a grade just like any other class.  As I was finishing high school going onto Texas A&M University, I was debating what my major would be, and by the end of my freshman year I had decided it would be in partying.  A year later, by some miracle after being left high and dry emotionally and spiritually I was just desperate enough to go back to confession and make a new start.  Immediately after receiving the mercy of the sacrament the Lord gifted me with the grace of a vocation, and I wanted nothing more than to serve him.  Being the Gen Z’er that I am, I romantically found the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit on the internet when “vocation shopping,” and was immediately hooked.  The zeal and devotion of these men who I would actually want to be friends with was inspirational on my visits before entering.  I entered and received the religious name “Damien” in December 2021 after St. Damien of Molokai, who was the leper priest to Native Americans in Hawaii and if I become half the man he was, I’d be happy to call myself a priest.