Student and Novice Bios

Rich Andre, CSP – Third Theology

Vocation Story:  I never thought about being a priest until I was 27 years old. I had been working very happily as an optical engineer.  (No, optical engineers do not work at LensCrafters.)  Then, while singing with the Diocesan Choir at an ordination, I had a "lightning bolt" experience.  

My sister, who belongs to the St. Thomas More Newman Center, first suggested I talk with the Newman Center priests, the Paulists. I don't take advice from my sister, so I didn't talk with the Paulists for three years. My sister is having the last laugh now, since I was assigned to the Newman Center for my pastoral year. (I guess the Holy Spirit was speaking through my sister. Imagine that!) I'm growing in my vocation to the Paulists every day. It just keeps getting better and better. 

 

 

Craig Campbell - First Year Theology

Vocation Story: I lived in seven different metro areas throughout my childhood and young adult life. I have had a lot of experience with different people and environments. I am a cradle Catholic and have never seriously drifted away from the Church, and attended 11 out of 12 years of Catholic School. I went to West Virginia University, where the Paulist Fathers performed the campus ministry, and graduated with a B.S. in Journalism. I worked in TV news for four years, attended graduate school, and worked other jobs to make ends meet. My paternal uncle is a parish priest in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and my father's first cousin is a Daughter of Charity (Baden Province), so serving the Church is a family tradition. I have always had the thought of becoming a priest, but the call intensified about three years ago. The Paulist Fathers were always my first choice when it came to communities.

 

 

Rene Constanza, CSP - Pastoral Year

Vocation Story: I started discerning the call to the priesthood while being principal of a Diocesan high school. This role drew me closer to God and deepened my understanding of the beauty of my Catholic faith. A good spiritual director, a lot of prayer, and a day retreat at a Trappist Monastery helped put things into perspective. Coincidentally, while on that journey of faith, I was introduced to the Paulist Fathers by a vocation magazine and got to know more about this missionary society through our website. The Paulist charisms of evangelization, reconciliation, and ecumenism, together with my discernment retreat weekend in Washington, DC and my experience of the vivid expression of fraternal support in the community, helped in cementing my decision to be collaborator and part of the Paulist family in giving the Word a voice in today’s culture.

 

 

Jay Duller - Novice

Vocation Story: I had never really considered a vocation to the priesthood for most of my life. However, I realized that my involvement in different young adult ministries I have been a part of have lent some evidence that I have a lot of energy to give to the church. One day a very good friend and very good Paulist seminarian said to me, “Haven’t you thought about the things you have done in your life and how that tells you that you have a vocation to the priesthood?” At that moment, my life really did flash before me and I did see how I put my faith as a priority. So for me, the call to priesthood is like God whispering something to me and as a novice I’m attempting to clearly understand what He is saying.

 

Tom Gibbons, CSP – Pastoral Year

Vocation Story: Priesthood had been tapping me on the shoulder for a very long time.  In many ways I had been discerning even when I wasn't officially discerning: dating, working as a web designer, paying a mortgage, going to church, etc.  But then at some point it became time and the Paulists have been a great fit; they're a very down-to-Earth bunch of guys who are committed to serving God in this world through a variety of creative and dynamic ways. I'm very happy to be a part of this community.

 

 

Jimmy Hsu – First Year Theology

Vocation Story: I first considered the priesthood after going to a youth retreat in 8th grade. It was always on my mind as I went though my high school years. When I entered The University of Texas in Austin, I met the Paulist Fathers, who serve at the campus ministry at Austin. I became active in campus ministry and got to know the Paulists well. The priests became my mentors and continued to encourage my discernment for priesthood. As I was graduating, I felt that I wanted to apply to enter the seminary. With encouragement from the Paulists in Austin, I chose to apply for the Paulist novitiate. I have found my novitiate to be very rewarding and hope that I continue to be guided through this path.

 

 

Anthony Francis Rosado - First Year Theology

Vocation Story: I was vacationing one year when I encountered travelers from an evangelical faith, people who had once belonged to the Catholic Church. Not only did seeing their faith make me reexamine my own, but their distrust of our Church actually made me interested to learn about what we really believe. The more I learned about our Church, the more I realized the richness of our faith; I then began to believe that I was called to dedicate my life to it. At that point, I started to see my music as an evangelical tool, hoping that through my art, I could help people come to faith. Eventually even music could not accomplish all that I wanted it to, and I started to discern a call to the priesthood where I might be able to use every possible angle at once to awaken faith – music, preaching, and sacrament.

I did struggle to offer God my artistic identity under obedience to a religious community; perhaps it was partly selfish of me to search for a community where art would not be sacrificed. Yet after searching various religious communities, I encountered the Paulists and discovered their mission of evangelization and ecumenism. I recalled that it was through such spirit-filled worship and Christian dialogue back in New York that the Lord guided me toward Him. The Paulists spoke to my experience, and in doing so, they reinforced my own sense of mission. I believe that the Paulists, above all, truly reach out to the whole nationwide Church, and that the community's openness to my gifts places me in the greatest service to God's people.

 

Clark Sample – Novice

Vocation Story: I grew up in the Catholic Church from birth, and attended Catholic education all the way through high school. My relationship with God was never on the top of the list of the most important things in my life, and when I arrived at college religion became somewhat of a trivial afterthought. After pursuing (and to some degree attaining) the secular definition of happiness, something deep within me was telling me that there was something more to life. While on this search for meaning I "stumbled" across the faith of my youth and began to see the richness of it that I had seemed to overlook. Trying to follow Jesus Christ has been such a rewarding journey, and I look forward to the certain unknown that awaits. Upon discovering my faith, I began to realize that I wanted to dedicate my life completely to God by whichever way made most sense. As time progressed, the vocation of religious life overshadowed that of marriage, but I had no idea how to go about becoming a priest or joining a religious community. When I learned that the Paulist Fathers ran St. Austin's Parish (in Austin, Texas), the first church I started attending at the beginning of my faith journey, I looked them up on the internet. The Paulist missions of Evangelization, Reconciliation and Ecumenism were the exact ways I felt best suited to serve the Church and our world. After a vocation discernment retreat the next plausible step in my life was to apply to the Paulists, and several months later, here I am.

P.S. I am very thankful for my Catholic education because it provided a good foundation to fall back on when I accepted the faith as my own.

 

 

Dat Tran, CSP – Third Theology

Vocation Story: As the youngest of six siblings and one of four boys in a very religious family, it would have been impossible for me not to think about the possibility of becoming a priest growing up. The seed was planted but it didn't grow until I was in college. At UC Berkeley, I met the Paulist Fathers who fostered and nurtured my faith to maturity. When it was time to discern my future after college, it surprised me that I was not thinking which law schools I wanted to attend, but whether it would be law school or religious life. Ultimately, my love for the Church and attraction to evangelization and reconciliation in the modern world led me to enter the Paulist Novitiate in Fall 2004. God willing, I hope to be ordained in May 2011.

 

Home   |   Locations  |   News   |  Evangelization   |   Ecumenism   |   Reconciliation   |   Young Adults   |   Audio   |   Video   |   Vocations   |   Contact

© Copyright 2010 Missionary Society of St. Paul

Site design by Symmetrical Design