MOTHER SETON COUNCIL 6724

            My discernment process for the Diocesan Priesthood seriously began after my four year enlistment in the United States Navy ended in May of 1996.  I am the oldest of five children to Thomas and Bonnie Cummings.  I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic school up until my junior year in High School.  I was an altar server for about five years.  As a family we would attend mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation.

            During my four years of military service, I did not openly practice my Catholic faith.  I did not attend Sunday mass every Sunday like I did when I was younger.  There were several reasons some not in my control but other reasons that was under my control.  After I exited the US Navy, I was not actively practicing my faith.  My father taught Confirmation to the tenth graders at my home parish of Nativity Catholic Church in Brandon, Florida.  Towards the end of the summer of 1996, my dad invited me to teach alongside him that upcoming school year.  I can still remember our conversation.  I was not a teacher and did not know much about my Catholic faith.  A second reason dealt with the fact that I was not actively practicing my Catholic faith.  How could I teach the teenagers how to live a Catholic life if I was not walking the journey as well?  I thought that I had some convincing arguments.  However, my dad responded the following:  ?If you teach Confirmation with me you will learn more about the faith and maybe draw closer to a personal relationship with Christ.?  My dad did not let me off the hook so easily.  This had to be the catalyst that got my present vocation journey started, although I would not know this until several years later.

            I taught Confirmation to the tenth graders at my home parish for five years and volunteered with Life Teen for four years.  It was working with the teenagers that I really started to feel a call to the priesthood. 

            I was about twenty-nine years old when I started the application process to the seminary for the Diocese of Saint Petersburg.  I was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Saint Petersburg in the spring of 2001.  I entered the Pre-Theology program at Saint John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, Florida in August of 2001.  The following year I was studying Theology at Saint Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida where I have been since August of 2002.  I will be ordained for the Diocese of Saint Petersburg on Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Judes.