The Azores are a territory of the Portuguese and therefore are rich with European culture. I remember many of my relatives saying to me that I would be a priest someday. As a young boy I manifested visible signs of attraction to the faith that we so normally and regularly celebrated. As a little boy I would feel as though the priest was able to do magical things and I can remember thinking that he could even make me fly. I also remember being asked as a young boy to help lead the rosary that we prayed together a part of our various traditions throughout the year. I never knew that the attraction to the religious life was rare until I became older and saw that my siblings and cousins didn't necessarily share my same sentiments. This led to a gradual progression of people telling me that I was to be a priest and I increasingly began to deny and reject the idea with age.

By the time I was in the fourth grade my associate pastor approached me to become an altar server. I agreed to do so and quickly became accustomed to serving mass regularly, almost every Sunday. During these years I also got involved with Little League and street hockey. These events carried on into middle school where I continued to attend Mass on Sundays with my family and serve. As I reflect back I could see that my interest was growing weaker in my desire to serve Mass much longer and the other activities such as sports and school related events became much popular. When I reached high school I think that I had gradually stopped attending Mass and eventually got caught up in the vastness of what is high school. I was very much involved in extracurricular activities and student run events. I would say that there was no part of high school that I was not a part of or took advantage of. My involvement in many of the school related activities allowed me to come in contact with many people and great friendships were fostered from that experience.

I had a positive experience of high school that will forever be part of who I am. In fact I remain in contact with many of my friends from high school to this day. I would say that the experience of high school has provided me with many skills that I may bring with me into future ministry.

During high school I the idea of priesthood was not on my mind that often. It seems as though I was preparing myself for the world of business. I was looking forward to attending College and getting a degree that would allow me to be very successful and happy in the future. I decided that I would put my love for languages to use since I took Spanish and French in high school and could already speak Portuguese. Therefore I decided to go for International Business. As an added bonus I thought that I would someday travel the world as part of my business experience. So I applied to Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts thinking that I would love to finally be on my own and on my way to success and happiness. After the first few months of College I realized that I was far from feeling comfortable or happy. I was no longer in my small community of Bristol with my family that has been so close. Needless to say a little homesickness had kicked in and I realized that the class that I was supposed to major in was my worst class. I figured out that perhaps I was not really cut out for this type of work and a reevaluation was needed.

In the midst of my confusion I decided to do what I was normally accustomed to doing since I was a boy and that was to pray the rosary. I did this with hopes that it would bring me a bit closer to home. I would eventually never end up staying on campus for the weekends and I would return home to be with my family. Yet every Sunday night I would need to return for the week. It was then that I decided that I would attend Mass on campus. This was the first time I had ever attended a Catholic school and so the experience of Mass and school was a new concept for me. It was in the Mass that I found myself feeling like I was home and that I should return more often to Mass on Sundays. At this point my weekly Mass attendance had become very rare. Therefore I found my way back to Church on Sundays almost out of necessity in order to make it through the week. During Mass I would try to reflect on what I was supposed to be doing with my life since the whole business idea was working out and I was not enjoying my experience at the college. It was then that the idea of priesthood came back to me. It almost seemed too obvious that this I perhaps where I should focus my life. So I decided that if I was ever to find out I was to act soon. So I left Merrimack after one semester and entered Rhode Island for the second semester.

I returned to my parish and spoke with my pastor and inquired what I should do. He put me in touch with the vocation recruiter. I came to Our Lady of Providence Seminary to speak with Father Taillon and he encouraged me to attend an overnight retreat to see if in fact seminary was where God was calling me to be. So I agreed and I remember that the Bishop and auxiliary Bishop gave an excellent retreat. Yet at the same time I strongly questioned whether or not this was truly for me. I found that I was nothing like the other men on that retreat. I felt as though the others were on a different playing field than I was. I was very confused by this so I decided to just spend the time in prayer in front of the Eucharist during the retreat. During this prayer I felt very comfortable, despite the obvious awkwardness that I had felt throughout the rest of the weekend. I left the retreat with a sense that I left something behind. Thought about it and I saw that I had left there the same way I entered and yet the time there was not like anything I had experienced before. So I decided to give it a try, perhaps God was showing me the direction I need to go in by offering me a change.

I entered the seminary my sophomore year of college. I am now in my first year of Theological studies at the North American College in Rome. All of my fears before I entered were taken away and my experience of seminary has been truly an ongoing growth and development in my love for Christ and His Church. I truly believe that God has called me to be here now in seminary. Certainly my experience is unique but I can honestly look back and say that God was there the whole time guiding me and gently directing me towards this road. As I am about to finish my first year of studies in Rome I can continue to say that God has generously blessed me and my vocation. I had the opportunity to meet John Paul II and then to witness the election of the Current Pope and successor to St. Peter. Our Lord calls may types of people and I am glad that I did not back away from the call when I thought I was not like the others he may have been calling. I have begun to trust that he will not lead me where I cannot go. I can only recall the verses from the prophet! Jeremiah 1:5-10