My parents are Catholic, but they do not practice their faith. While they always provided a stable and loving home for me, they never intended to form me in the Catholic faith. It was only at the urging of my grandparents that I was baptized. My parents felt that I should be able to choose my own religion when I was old enough, and did not want to impose any set of beliefs on me. But the more I was exposed to the Catholic faith through the example of my grandparents, the more I wanted to learn about it myself. I asked my parents to be enrolled in CCD, and to make my first Penance and first Holy Communion. They were supportive. Interestingly enough, even as a small child, I seemed to intuit that there was a special connection between the priest and the Eucharist. I remember equating my desire to go to Mass with wanting to see the priest. I had been taught that the priest is the one who brings us Jesus and that is still the best way of describing my desire for priesthood. I desire to bring Jesus to people and to bring people to Jesus as a priest.

Having gone to public schools in Cranston my whole life, I was never given the opportunity to learn about my faith in an academic context. To make up for this, my grandparents would buy me children's missals and catechisms to help me learn about the faith on my own. I am deeply indebted to their guidance and their faith.

The more I became interested in the faith, the more involved I wanted to become in my parish. My pastor during middle school and high school was extremely supportive of my interest in priesthood and my first job was as a sacristan at my home parish, unlocking the church and setting up for Mass every weekend. This experience enabled me to get a "behind the scenes" look at the lives of the priests of my parish. I realized that the priest did a great deal more than just say Mass on Sunday. I also learned that these men were normal, down-to-earth, and truly happy with their vocation. The wonderful relationships that I formed with them only confirmed the desires I had been experiencing throughout my childhood and adolescence.

In high school, I enjoyed being involved in many different activities and making friends much more than my academics! I was elected president of my class at Cranston High School East and continued to enjoy a normal high school social life. Some my closest friendships-with both males and females-were born during high school. While my friends (few of whom were practicing any faith) often did not understand what I experienced as a call to the priesthood, they were nonetheless supportive, and I can't imagine my life without them, even now. I felt very much the desire to be a husband and father. I entertained the idea of working with a new-found talent for computer technology, but still the idea of priesthood remained most prevalent. To the outward eye, I was an average high school student, but inside I couldn't help but hear God calling me to a life-changing vocation. I made the decision to apply to Our Lady of Providence Seminary after my graduation from high school. I was accepted and began college as a seminarian of the Diocese of Providence in the Fall of 2001.

The time that I spent at Our Lady of Providence seminary afforded me the opportunity to get in touch with my strengths and weaknesses, with my talents and with my shortcomings. The key to any form of vocation discernment is always honest introspection. While that is not always enjoyable, it certainly ends up being the best way to trace God's action in our lives, even in the midst of our brokenness. The community was great, and while it changed every year, we formed a unique group of guys from very different backgrounds, but who all shared the same goal: to discover what God wanted of each of us. The daily schedule of prayer, mass, community time and free time was a perfect balance which afforded us an opportunity to discern God's will for our lives in the context of a joyful and supportive community. The time I spent there was invaluable.

Bishop Tobin assigned me in May of last year to continue my studies at Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. While moving to a different state and adjusting to a much larger community has had its challenges, overall, the experience has been more than rewarding. My resolve to serve the Church as a priest has never been stronger.

In prayer most recently, I have been considering the image of Christ washing the feet of his disciples as the perfect image of priesthood. Christ stoops down to the floor, to the feet of his disciples-where their bodies meet the earth, where they are most human. The priest is called to minister to God's people not only in their joys, but often where they are most raw and human, in the wake of death, loss, and in grip of human weakness. He washes away what makes then unclean; he allows Christ to heal them through himself. As Cardinal O'Malley of Boston has said, after the Last Supper, the disciples were no longer arguing over who would get the best seat in the house, but over who would get the towel first. I can only pray that I may kneel one day at the feet of my brothers and sisters as a priest of Jesus Christ.