Today, January 2, I entered religious life in the year 1972 at St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, IL. 42 years ago, wow! My mom, dad and Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary drove me to the abbey, I arrived at 7:15 P.M. The photo above was vesture day (the day we received the habit - August 10) l-r Dad, Mom, me, Nonnie Edie (grandmother) Pam my sister. A big thank you goes to my mom and dad for supporting my call to serve the Lord as a religious. Special thanks to all my teachers, the Benedictine Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, the Carmelite friars of the Most Pure Heart of Mary, the Franciscan friars of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Marists, Sisters of St. Joseph, School Sisters of Notre Dame, Mercy Sisters, Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters, Sisters of Providence, the Brothers of the Christians Schools, the Jesuits and the Benedictine monks. What a blessing it has been to serve the church for the first 20 years as a monk and 22 years as a Franciscan friar. Thank you God for blessing me with the care of youth, fire chaplain, and caring for those who are living with HIV/AIDS; God has been so good to me. God placed special people along my journey and continues to do so to make me a better person, thank you to all my family and friends who walk with me, I am me because of you! I thank my parents for giving me a wonderful childhood with lots of love and a good Catholic education. Religious life is awesome, never a dull moment, full of inspiration, and centered on fraternal life graced with prayer, and ministry. It’s a journey that is always centered on falling in love with God each moment, each day. Thank you Jesus, Mary and St. Francis!
