Seminarians for the archdiocese of kingston

I was born in Kingston but moved in the country-side near Gananoque at a young age.  Growing up I played all kinds of sports: hockey, soccer, football and rugby.  Right now, I am big into running and biking.  I have worked all sorts of jobs, from dairy farming to being an army reservist for four years.  I have also attended Queen’s University and graduated as a chemical engineer.  I worked in the Albertan oil and gas industry for two years as an engineer until I felt God calling me to a different vocation.  After much time of prayer and time spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament, our Lord has given me the courage to accept His invitation to enter the seminary in order to discern further the priesthood.

The seminary allows me to discern the Lord’s will for my life but also to build up a strong relationship with God the Father, and with His Son, Jesus.  The seminary’s priestly formation is focused on four pillars:  intellectual – the academics, spiritual – the prayer life, pastoral – the priestly identity, and human – developing strong interpersonal abilities.  All of these aspects of formation are there to ensure that once I am ordained, God-willing, I will be equipped to serve you, the people of God. 

Please pray for me as I continue my discernment on the path to the holy priesthood.

I was born in North York in the GTA. I moved around the GTA quite a bit, hitting Scarborough, Pickering, North York, and Mississauga. I moved to Kingston, to study Mechanical Engineering at Queen's. Once I completed my degree I worked as a contract engineer for a tech start-up here in Kingston. At a young age, I received a call from the Lord in a very humorous way (ask me about it sometime!). That call, stayed in my heart, and I never stopped thinking about it. As I started work as an engineer, I also started seriously discerning the Lord's call! Soon I was certain that the Lord wanted me to further discern the priesthood in the seminary. So with His grace, I applied!

I hope that the seminary will help me to further discern the Lord's will for me and to grow in holiness and mission! I am incredibly excited to see what the Lord has in store for me, He has never disappointed me in the past, and He always promises the best! Please pray for me as I continue discernment on my path to the priesthood.

Verso L'alto!"

I was born in Chicoutimi, QC into a vibrant family. We moved to Belleville when I was four and have been there ever since. We would go to Mass on Sunday’s and pray before bed, but my faith was not much more than that; I knew He was real, but I didn’t feel like He really cared about me. In turn, the idea of my becoming a priest was not even a question—plus, everyone gets married and only old people are priests, I thought. But those ideas started to change while on a retreat in grade nine. 

While I was in prayer, I had a beautiful experience where I felt as though a warm blanket was covering me and God was watching over me. I felt as though God cared for me, knew me, and loved me; and I wanted to share that with others. That same year, my heart was struck again. My parish priest shared his vocation story during his homily. He explained that he made the decision of becoming a priest in order to lay down his life for the community. While he was speaking, I no longer saw “just an old man”, but a warrior, a leader, a general sacrificing himself for his people. I no longer saw “just an old man”, I saw Christ. I no longer saw the priesthood as something boring and plain, but as something beautiful and attractive. I came to see a more balanced view of both the married life and Holy Orders. 

A couple of years after high school, I had to make a decision about what I wanted to do the upcoming year. After some thought and prayer, I decided on the seminary since I felt like it was the best place for me to answer the questions that I had: “Do I want to be a priest?” And “Is God calling me to be a priest?”. So here I am, “discerning”—as it is called—in the seminary; listening to His Voice, and to where He is leading me. 

I would be grateful for your prayers as I continue through formation for the priesthood.