Meet Our Graduating Seminarians

I have always wanted to be a priest and even "played priest" as a kid. My vocation journey is as simple as that; however, finding that God is calling me to the diocesan priesthood was not so easy. That was made clear through the example of many great diocesan priests and these past four years of discernment.

God called me to the seminary by asking me to make a simple act of trust. While visiting Jesus in adoration, He simply looked at me, loved me, and asked me to trust Him. Ever since that moment, He has never disappointed me in any act of trust I have made.

God called me through prayer, particularly the Eucharist, to come follow him and lead souls to heaven.

I was an adult convert who was studying to be a Baptist pastor. Once the Lord showed me the truth of His Church during my studies, He eventually called to me to seriously consider the priesthood.

To put it into a few words, God was very persistent and always pursuing my heart. I always loved watching the priest and the servers during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but I really started feeling an attraction towards the priesthood when I was about thirteen years old. From there, it really never left the back of my head.

God has spoken to me over the years in gentle, subtle ways through a strong and consistent desire. These movements from God attract me to pour my life into the Christlike, self-gifting ministry of the priesthood that was inspired to me from good and holy priests.

Throughout my time at IHM I've been gifted with a great opportunity to encounter the person of Christ, both in the work of the day and in the extraordinary moments that I have been able to experience... My time here has allowed me to learn in a deeply human way the interplay between my own limitations and the great grandeur and mercy of God.

od called me to IHMS first, through a desire to be close to him in silent relational prayer and the sacraments. Secondly, through the mediation on the Holy Scriptures. Lastly, through the voice of the Church.

I am here at the Seminary because I feel the Lord's call to surrender my life for the service of His Church. Through praying the Rosary and attending Daily Mass, I first encountered this call from the Lord to give my life for the conversion of souls

After I graduated and was taking classes at a local technical college in Green Bay, I was invited by my parish priest to serve Masses for our parish live stream as the COVID pandemic was just getting started. It was in this time that I began to see the Lord putting the desire on my heart to serve His church and the impact I was having on our parish community.

My journey to seminary started when I was young at a Catholic grade school, when my brother said he wanted to be a priest first. Since then, other close friends have joined me in my discernment of joining seminary. Many young priests, the sacraments, my prayer life, other mentors, and the prayers of family and friends have guided me here.

My time at IHMS... has truly taught me that God is never outdone in generosity. God has called me to a deeper union and relationship with Him throughout my life, but I was not always responsive to His calling. At IHMS, I am confident I am where the Lord is inviting me to conform myself to Him and become the man and priest that He has created me to be.

My call began as a young altar server. Being close to the liturgy and inspired by the priests I served with planted a seed in me. In high school, God opened doors--moving parishes, "Come and See" weekends, and the encouragement of parishioners and family--that helped me see seminary as His call.

God has drawn me to seminary by allowing seminary to feel like home in my heart. I love my family and I love being home, as it is a sense of security and peace, yet as the Lord has drawn me to the priesthood He has allowed seminary to be that place of peace. My heart rests more in the Lord when I am at seminary than when I am home with my family.

One Thursday night, kneeling in Adoration before the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, I begged Him for peace. In the silence of my heart, I asked: "Lord, what do You want me to do to have peace?" And in that same silence, I heard Him speak: "priesthood."... I rejected that call for almost three years, but the more I resisted His voice, the more I realized that nothing in this world could satisfy my heart except Him. In the silence of my heart before the Eucharist, I heard His invitation again: "Come, follow Me."

In prayer, I began to realize that all the periods of my life when I felt closest to God and most free to give myself and serve others were the times when I most wanted to be a priest and love in that way. It was clear to me then that I needed to enter seminary.

Throughout high school, I went on retreats in my diocese and got to know our seminarians... This put the thought of the priesthood on my mind as a possible calling. After graduating high school, I did not know where the Lord was calling me, so I went to college and ended up going to the Seek conference, where I felt called to enter the seminary. During one of the times in adoration, I was wrestling with making the decision when someone from my group asked if he could pray for me. While he was praying for me, a wave of peace and calm came over me, and I decided to enter the seminary.

Throughout high school, I often thought about entering the seminary, but I resisted the call for as long as I could. However, when I finally took the step to visit IHM Seminary, I immediately knew; it felt like home. The Lord called me through gentle movements of the heart.

The Lord called me out of secular college after a year at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. It was during a retreat with my Newman center that I realized how unhappy I was with the life I was living, even though on the surface I had accomplished everything I thought I wanted... I spent a year working for my diocese discerning what the Lord was calling me to and entered seminary after that year.

I began considering entering seminary the Spring of my Junior year of high school. I had filled out almost the entire application but by the time Fall came around, I decided I did not want to enter seminary anymore. However, I continued interacting with seminarians because my older brother, now Deacon Nicholas Waddell, was also in seminary and I was attracted by the joy of the seminarians. The Fall of my Freshmen year of college, I went to Franciscan University and by December I was again considering seminary. I began reading "The Priest Is Not His Own" by Fulton Sheen in January and after reading a chapter and a half of the book I knew I had to enter seminary.

I have always been Catholic and had a deep appreciation for the priesthood. But the Lord knew I needed some time to grow in many areas that He deemed required some lived experience before seminary. Eventually I got a Bachelor of Science Degree in Wildlife Ecology and a minor in Biology and was working in that field for a few years when He called me to apply. Though Winona may not have been the Diocese I was born in, it has become a home and is filled with people I desire to support and walk with.

My journey has been quite an awesome time of learning, prayer, and fun. I have grown in my faith and even like to read now. God just told me he wanted me to become a priest, and I responded with trust.