Despite being successful in classes and growing in my faith, I could not beat alcoholism on my own. I hit rock bottom and sought healing from a rehab program. A priest came to the rehab program and heard my confession, after which he asked me if I had ever considered seminary. I was surprised, and the seed of my vocation was planted.

After college, I was offered a great job in the defense industry, but I needed a higher level security clearance. I was denied the clearance, meaning that my planned career path was impossible. Everything I had worked so hard to achieve came crashing down. Normally, this would have devastated me, but I felt at peace. I trusted that God closed that door for a reason, and I asked Him what he wanted.

Around this time, my diocese had a “called by name” initiative which encouraged people to send in the names of those who may have a calling to the priesthood. I received a letter saying that someone had submitted my name. I called the diocesan vocations office, learned more, and was encouraged to meet with a spiritual director on a regular basis.

The moment I received clarity about my call to the priesthood, I was attending a Star Trek convention, a lifelong dream. In the car driving back to my hotel, I was thanking God for all the blessings of my life and sharing with him as I would with a friend. I had been afraid that my desire to be a priest was just another manifestation of my ambition, that maybe I wanted to do it because I would be good at it and it would be a good “career path for me.”

In a moment of clarity, I realized that wasn’t true and that those doubts were not of God, but were, opposite to what I had believed, the result of pride. That moment of clarity was the culmination of careful discernment and prayer. I knew that this calling was of God and continued to pursue priesthood with my home diocese.

It is my chief desire to give my life entirely to God to use as He sees fit. I feel God calling me to serve in my home diocese, the Diocese of Trenton. I desire to be a priest to help fight against the secularism that is taking over our world. I desire to journey with people, suffer with them, offer the sacraments, and share with them how to have God be part of their lives. It is through our brokenness that the Lord seeks us. I have been led to my vocation through my brokenness and God’s healing power.