I am the son of Doug and Denise; the younger brother of Jason and Emma; and the older brother of Anna, Meredith, Elise, and Michael. My dad is a retired detective for the City of Cincinnati, and he formerly owned Bridgetown Hardware and Paint where I worked in high school. My mom was a police dispatcher; then, she took time away to raise us crazy kids; and now, she works as a teacher’s aid for Three Rivers Local Schools. Jason is married, has three kids, and works as a police officer for the City of Cincinnati. Emma was married last year, is pregnant with her first child, and teaches at Seton High School. Anna is a nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital. Meredith is studying psychology at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Elise is in cosmetology school at Diamond Oaks. And Michael is a freshman at Elder High School. We are a Westside family through and through. I was baptized at St. Bernard Taylor Creek, and I went to grade school at Our Lady of the Visitation. I went to Elder High School and graduated in 2013.
I first heard the Lord inviting me to the priesthood between high school and college. My family was always very faithful to the Lord, but I lost my way a little through high school. I believed in the Lord and His Church, but my faith was not a living reality. So when my sister Emma signed me up for a retreat as I was preparing for college, I was not too excited. That retreat, though, was one of the best things to ever happen to me. It was there that I heard the Gospel and its demands for the first time in their clarity: Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, must be the center of our lives. And it was there during adoration that I first encountered the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist—not simply as a doctrine but as a living Person. Out of the blue, without ever having thought about a vocation before, I prayed, ‘Lord, I see the beauty of the priesthood: I want to be a priest if it is Your will.’ This prayer was a seed which continued to grow throughout college.
God has given me amazing priests and mentors all along the way. I think first of my parents and siblings who taught me—often despite my resistance—how to love. I think of two young priests, Fr. Anthony Brausch and Fr. Kyle Schnippel, who were assigned to Visitation as I was growing up. I think of my first spiritual director, Fr. Anthony Giambrone, OP, and all my other spiritual directors through college and seminary who have been incredibly helpful and formative. I think of my cousin, Fr. Jeremy Miller, who was ordained a priest for the diocese of Toledo in 2013, and his guidance and candid advice have been crucial. And I think of my professors at the University of Notre Dame, where I graduated in 2017, who were especially formative. It was at Notre Dame that I first began really discerning the call to the priesthood I heard in 2013, and their rich education in the beauty of the Catholic faith fanned the flame of my faith and my vocation.
I am most looking forward to living totally for the Church. What a gift to offer Jesus to the Father in the sacrifice of the Mass and what a responsibility to imitate what I celebrate in a life of self-giving love. Life at the altar and from the altar will be a tremendous mystery and a continual mission.
My favorite devotion is Eucharistic adoration. Nothing comes close to the inexhaustible silence of His love.
I love hunting for used books at St. Vincent de Paul, climbing trees, and playing soccer and ping-pong.
Jesus is proposing something to you right now. Beg Him to see. Life with Him in the Church is the most beautiful adventure.
