A colleague at work, Paul Carswell, invited me to go to lunch with him. He was a deeply committed evangelical Protestant familiar with the Bible, and he knew I was a Catholic. I was a little apprehensive because I thought that he was going to ask me why I believed in thoseparticularly Catholic beliefs such […]

We recently had an evening of recollection at St. Mary’s Seminary & University, led by Fr. Carter Griffin, the rector of the St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington, D.C. These evenings and days of recollection in the seminary are great opportunities to retreat with Jesus into the wilderness to pray and commune with our […]

The words Quo Vadis (i.e. where are you going?) have constantly stirred a burning desire in my heart since I first came across them nine years ago. I ask myself that every morning: “Dan, where are you going today?” If discernment is a daily endeavor, then it requires a daily “yes” to our Lord. In […]

When I entered seminary five months ago, as a requirement I had to start making a daily holy hour, the concept of which had been completely unfamiliar to me. I had spent time in Adoration in the past, but very infrequently, allowing me to ignore the fact that I am prone to an extremely distracted […]

Greetings my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. I have the privilege of being a member of the Church family, where I am embraced by your love and the love of God. I want to share with you how happy I am as a disciple of Christ. When I receive Christ in the Eucharist, I […]

On a walk with a young man discerning a call to the priesthood, I asked him what he considers to be the thing that is holding him back from becoming a seminarian. In a response which left me at a loss for words, he responded to me, “I fear devoting my whole life to something […]

During the Advent and Christmas season, we often hear the word ‘Emmanuel’ when speaking about Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew quotes Isaiah about the coming of the Savior: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23). Beyond being […]

“Hey, have you talked to any seminarians today?” This is how many of the conversations started during the Mount St. Mary’s Seminary evangelization mission trip to West Virginia University. Over thirty seminarians took a few days out of their fall break this October to go talk to college students about Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church, […]

They say that you don’t fully appreciate something until it’s gone. Perhaps, you’ve experienced this before when you’ve run out of gas in your car, or money in your bank account, or crabs at a crabfeast, or maybe there was someone important in your life who isn’t present anymore. This lack or absence leaves a […]

This Summer I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the Institute of Priestly Formation held each summer at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. The IPF program gives the seminarians time to be with the Lord on a personal level and deepens their desire for prayer. During the second week of the program, I participated […]