"Christ and I were having eye contact for the first time"

Amazing conversion and vocational call story:

I didn’t always hear Jesus calling me to the priesthood. When I was growing up, I attended Catholic schools with my three brothers. Finally, in 6th grade, my family couldn’t afford Catholic school anymore, so I went to Forsythe Middle School in Ann Arbor. I made new friends. To win favor with the new crowd of guys, I gave myself to much the world had to offer. Rebelling against my parents. Cheating. Stealing, and other immoral choices. While I was playing hockey and wrestling, I was a jock with an attitude – to me my opponent was a bug and I was a big shoe. I wasn’t entirely happy with my life; I had the ‘I steal these smokes for you, you get those smokes for me’ kind of friendships. Between the 6th and 8th grade, I abandoned internally the faith my parents generously gave me. Externally I performed the motions, went to church, tried to behave, etc. My experience of priests was minimal, mostly seeing them at Mass and then seeing them disappear. That changed the summer after 8th grade, when my parents signed me up with Christ the King Catholic Church for a youth conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville, in Ohio. This is a conference that facilitates a real living encounter with Jesus. When I played hockey, I loved expressing my strength and power by knocking the daylights out of the other team, making others cry – but not me. So, naturally, at the procession of the Eucharist, I didn’t get why people were crying or smiling. I was a totem pole and 3,000 teens praising and worshiping Jesus seemed strange. The worship band was playing Mercy is Falling and the priest was nearing my row, monstrance in hand. I can only describe it like Christ and I were having eye contact for the first time. It felt as if the floodgates had been opened, and his love and mercy were pouring into my heart. The reality of his love was overwhelming to me; my heart just melted before his eucharistic presence. In this moment, with people praying over and around me, I was crying like a newborn baby, when a girl leaned over and whispered “Jesus loves you” in my ear. I decisively gave him my heart and life at that moment. At Mass the next day, the bishop invited men to consider the call to priesthood, and it was at this time that I first heard Jesus say “priesthood.” Father Ed Fride has been an amazing model of joy-filled priesthood for me. My family is incredibly supportive of my decision. They are very excited about my vocation. My grandparents consider it a great blessing to have a member of their family become a priest, and they’re grateful that I’m responding to the call of the Lord. Most eagerly, I anticipate my ordination so I can celebrate the Eucharist. I have a hunger for ministering to the people of God. I look forward to being a spiritual father for them. I desire that every member of Christ’s body has, and develops, an active relationship with Jesus; bring it into their day to day lives. Catholics are invited to rise and become courageous followers of Jesus. As priests, it is our mission to preach this. There are some big challenges facing the church today. Only 25 percent to 30 percent of Catholics believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. That calls for a massive re-evangelization. What I mean is, there are baptized Catholics who have received the sacraments, but are not evangelized. Some who go to Mass are not “aware” of what or who is given in Mass. Many do not have an experiential knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Additionally, there are the unbaptized who still need to hear the Good News. One of my professors said a relativistic culture is evangelizing people better than Catholicism right now. Materialism and radical skepticism are wedging themselves into the heads of people sitting in the pew, threatening to steal hearts from Jesus Christ. What is the game plan to fix this? The Holy Spirit. He is the agent of all evangelization. People need to see Jesus in us. That’s how to build the church, by bringing the word of God to those who have not heard. Proclaiming the Gospel is my first duty as a priest. The challenge for priests today is the new evangelization. Priests are faced with the domestic secularization of an ever-changing culture and seemingly insurmountable pastoral responsibilities. I cannot face this unless I allow myself to be re-evangelized. I can’t preach effectively without more of the Spirit filling me with his love. My life still includes being an athlete. At the seminary, I played football. I love any kind of sport that I’m capable of doing – some boxing, baseball, rock-climbing, even weightlifting competitions. And I just love being outdoors whenever possible. The risen Jesus has already won the victory over darkness. A recent example of Christ’s justice comes to mind. A group of seminarians take the Gospel to the streets of downtown Detroit. One day, a man prayed in an alley, “Lord, if you exist, send someone to tell me about you.” That night he ran into six of us. We shared the Gospel with him, prayed with him and he gave his heart to the Lord. That’s what I call justice: giving to God what belongs to him, that is, our hearts. Even as I’m about to become a priest, I don’t always “feel” Jesus’ presence. Sure, there are seasons of the desert. When that happens, you’re operating on “raw faith,” sustained by the Holy Spirit. For me, it is a time to surrender. Jesus just invites me to give myself to him, relying only on His help. There has been some hardship on the way to priesthood. Still, I am constantly strengthened at the cross, by the true love of Jesus Christ. Every time I go to Mass, the manifestation of true love is made available to me with such accessibility. What a great gift that is, which turns hardship into an opportunity to engage in yielding to God. And it’s just one of Jesus’ gifts I hope to share with all of you.