B.A. Speech Communication, Loras College Dubuque, IA
M.A. Theology, St. Mary’s University San Antonio, TX
Married to my wife Marjorie and we have three daughters who are all married. We currently have seven grandchildren with the eighth due in July of this year.

I had sixteen years of Catholic education and after graduating from college I taught Speech Communication at Western Dubuque High School for 5 years. You would think that after all of that Catholic education I would have had a very strong Catholic faith. While I did have a fairly good understanding of what it meant to be Catholic, I can’t say that I actively practiced my faith, especially after graduating from college. There was even a time when I stopped practicing my Catholic faith all together.

After making a Christian Experience Weekend (CEW) retreat, I had an epiphany. I knew my faith, I didn’t own it. I had it all in my head but it never moved to my heart. I heard the words, I could recite the prayers, I could recite all the commandments, fasted on all the right days even if it didn’t really make any sense to me. What I didn’t have was a good root system: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” (MT 13:3-8). St. Jerome once said that knowledge of Scripture is knowledge of Jesus. The reverse would also be true and with a lack of knowledge of Scripture, it is impossible to have deep roots.

Following that retreat weekend, I began my quest to take ownership of my faith. I first read the Bible from the beginning, Genesis 1:1 to the end with Revelations 22:21. Then I went to Bible classes and began my life long study of the depths and meaning of all that the Scriptures offered. It was at this time that I began my ministry in the Catholic Church at Nativity parish in Dubuque, Iowa. I started as a youth minister and then Director of Religious Education (K-12). I eventually became Director of Adult Faith Formation at St. Helen Catholic Church in Georgetown, TX where I taught Bible study classes, taught Rite of Christian Initiation (RCIA) classes for anyone who was interested in learning more about the Catholic faith or wanted to become a Catholic. I am also certified as a Spiritual Director by the Diocese of Austin, TX.

I retired from full time ministry as of June 30, 2016. I still teach classes and I am currently doing Spiritual Direction 3 days a month at St. Helen’s. Our purpose, from birth to death, is to be with God in heaven. We walk every day on the Kingdom road with Jesus by our side, encouraging us, teaching us and leading us just as he did with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. He opened the Scripture for them so that they could know and believe and at the end of the day, when they sat down for the night and were preparing to eat, Jesus took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them to eat. (Lk 24:29) At the end of the day, will we be aware of Jesus presence? Will we be able to recognize Him when we come to the table and share the bread; blessed, broken and shared?