I grew up in a very strong Catholic Polish family. The ethos of our family was very much
orientated towards faith formation. And then you add to this that I grew up in a neighborhood
that was – we grew up in the center of a neighborhood that had a Benedictine parish,
and a Benedictine monastery of sisters. So it was all around me. And you have religious,
all the time asking you the question, “Did you ever think you might have a vocation,
did you ever think of joining us”. That was always there. And so I think the seed
was planted. First of all, I do think our vocation is a
gift from God and our environment nurtures that from different ways. I had this strong
interest, you could say burning heart, that I think I might want to do this with my life.
I dated very seriously for several years, but that just didn’t feel right as we looked
towards getting married. Something in me said – I’m really alive when I have several
friends, or when I can love really broadly. And I love the community gathered and the
faith sharing. And so I was beginning to realize that the things that I really enjoyed were
what religious life was ideally, and that scared me. But over time, I made a time of
retreat and some quieter time and God was very, very gentle with me and it’s always
been a very free journey, but it was more coming to realize this is really who I am,
and I’m alive in that journey.
And as I went through my senior year of high school, I kept thinking about that question
of − prayerfully thinking about what is it that I'm supposed to do, how am I supposed
to make a difference with my life? So I felt a call to explore religious life.
To give your whole life over to a commitment is a big decision.
But when I Think about all the call stories in scripture, as the angel Gabriel appears
to Mary, she says, “Fear not, be not afraid”, in the Advent season, it’s “Fear not.”
I really do think that an authentic call has a little bit of fear and trepidation in it.
And we're really stepping into who we're really called to be, and I think there needs to be a little of that
Are you willing to bring Christ to these people and to these places? That really is what I
look at and energized me to say I can do that. And say, this fits me well, and I feel at
home here. The prayer, the community life, working with the other brothers and priests
really fit what I liked and said, "This has to be part of God's call for me."
The great part about religious life is it’s at least ten years of a journey from the first
time you think about religious life, until you take perpetual vows. So there’s a lot
of time to really see how it fits and see how you resonate.
So by the time I came to make perpetual vows, I think I had a much richer appreciation of
what the vocation was about. It was a following of Christ, it was in a community of men who
were dedicated to forming leaders, educating for faith.
This whole thing about Mary's mission and bringing Jesus to others through the work
and the ministry we're doing, that is really where I said this is it, so after four or
five years I said I wanted to make my vows permanent.
By the time I took perpetual vows, it was realizing – in each step, it’s been true
that it’s already happened inside of me. It’s just externally acknowledging and celebrating
where my relationship with my sisters and with God has already gone.