I was born and raised in a beautiful family of five in Millington, NJ. Every night for supper we held hands before we ate as my dad led us in a prayer of thanksgiving. At the age of ten I was baptized in our local Presbyterian Church. I loved the stories of God and his people in the Bible and dreamed some day of being a hero and rescuing people from their misery.

All the success that I achieved at home and in high school seemed to evaporate over night as I found myself eight hours away at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. My first months in college filled me with fear of failure, grief of losing my childhood and guilt of my selfishness and pride. I questioned if life has any worth if everything will come to end and die. What's the use of living unless there is something beyond death? unless someone has risen from the dead?

In desperation, on my 19th birthday on December 19, 1988 I gave my total, unconditional surrender to Jesus Christ as my Savior and my Lord. Unknowingly led by the Holy Spirit, I began to take long walks, examining my conscience and begging God for forgiveness and help. Prayer and studies in religion and anthropology led me to study abroad for two years in Ecuador.

When the U.S. declared war on Iraq for the first time in January of 1991, I thought the world was going to end real soon. I told my parents that I am dropping out of college to radically live the gospel among the poor in Latin America. One night on my way back to my host's house I saw a man pushing a pick up truck all alone. Trying to be a Good Samaritan, I helped him push until the undercover cops came and beat us up on the streets of Quito with the back of their rifles. Then the police came and threw us in the trunk of their car and into jail. Little did I know that the man had stolen the pick up truck.

For three nights and two days in jail I had plenty of time to think and pray. Thanks to my host family I was able to get out just in time. I realized that I did not only need Jesus and the Bible to be a good Christian, I also needed his body and bride, the Church. There are many reasons why I joined the Catholic Church.

1. I read the whole Bible which tells the story of salvation from the beginning all the way up to the time of the apostles, and then what? "Then comes the long history of the Catholic Church." I reasoned if God has promised to never leave his people (Mt.28:20), why should I?
2. I had always longed for the unity of all of us Christians as one Church. Why not start with the beginning with Catholics from all races, languages and nations united together as one under the successor of St. Peter and the Apostles?
3. I was longing too to be with God and sense his presence here and now and not just then and there in heaven. Such longing drew me deeper and deeper into the beauty of Catholic art, devotions and the Holy Mass.
4. I needed teachers to form me and heroes for me to imitate and emulate. Who could quench such thirst in me to radically live the gospel? After jail, I devoured all my religion courses, catechism classes, retreats, spiritual direction and books on the lives of the saints at the Catholic University in Quito.
5. Finally, I was lonely. Jesus promised that he would not leave us as orphans but would send the Holy Spirit to form us into one family of faith and fellowship (Jn.14:15-21). In April of 1991 while reading the Acts of the Apostles, I felt the power of the Holy Spirit personally fill me with a strong, sobering, intoxicating joy and zeal to live and die for Jesus. By far, more than any other reason, it was the Holy Spirit that led me to seek and find my family and home that I had been longing and praying for so long: the Catholic Church.

Upon receiving my first communion and confirmation in Quito, I hoped to join the Jesuits in Ecuador. My godfather and mentor, Fr. Richard Schneck, SJ, persuaded me to graduate from Bowdoin College first and then join the Jesuits from his province in California. For the next three years, I traveled and lived in Maine, East L.A., Mexico, N.J. and Alabama and worked with the campus ministry, the Jesuits, my local parish and Trinitarians. Every step along the way, the Lord was there forming me and preparing me well for his work to be done.

Finally in 1996 he opened the doors for me to join, the Brothers of the Beloved Disciple in San Antonio, Texas. Co-founded by Fr. George Montague, SM, and Fr. Bob Hogan, BBD, the vision and charism of our community is found at the foot of the cross where Jesus hands over his mother and Holy Spirit to the disciple whom he loved. Our calling is to be a reminder of the full role of the Holy Spirit and our Blessed Mother in the ordinary life of the Church. I am currently serving as the parochial vicar at St. Mary Magdalen Parish near downtown San Antonio. What a tremendous gift from the Lord!

In all honestly, at first I did not want to be a priest and do "all that sacramental stuff." I wanted to be like St. Francis, a simple religious brother living among the poor. Why did I become a priest?

1. As a Catholic school P.E. coach, the highlight of each day was worshipping God in the holy mass and leading people in prayer at meetings.
2. I dreamed of preaching and teaching the faith and longed to study theology.
3. I loved our Church (who saved me) and saw an urgent need in her for zealous priests.
4. I realized from experience and study that the sacraments were the Lord's gifts of grace flow through his body, the Church, and in particular through his priests.
5. I read "Our Lady's Beloved Sons" and other private revelations in which our Blessed Mother calls forth for an army of holy priests.
6. My new heroes became St. John Vianney and St. Padre Pio as well as Fr. George and Fr. Bob: holy, charismatic souls with the heart of a pastor. "the harvest is plenty, the labors are few." Who was I to refuse?

Needless to say, it became obvious to me that God was calling me to be a priest.

What joy I experienced when I finally accepted my call to be a priest, a joy that has not left me. On the vigil of Pentecost, May 29, 2004, the Lord ordained me as one of his priests. What joy! Jesus has come that his joy may be ours and our joy may be to the full (Jn.15:11). You are part of my joy. I have been a priest for five years. It is truly a joy and a tremendous blessing in my life to serve our Lord and his holy Church as one of his servant priests. I testify that nothing is impossible for God. God can work through anyone, even me.

You, who are reading and reaping any and all fruits from my testimony, fill me with joy. May our lives not be in vain but joined together by the Holy Spirit as one in Christ to be an acceptable offering to God, our Father. Yes, "may the Lord accept this sacrifice from the priests' hands for our good and the good of all his Church." Alleluia. Amen.