I was blessed to receive a Catholic education from kindergarten to high school, but it was not until my freshman year of college that I first encountered Jesus Christ. I knew my life had to change. Soon after, my spiritual life began to deepen through prayer, and learning from the positive example of various male role models I had met during college, I began to consider whether the Lord might be calling me to the priesthood. Through lots of prayer, patience, and perseverance, the Lord gently extended to me the invitation to follow after Him and apply to seminary.

Steven Michael Kirk I was born into a Protestant family in Kentucky in 2000. In 2006, my mother converted to Catholicism. Around that time, I began to be exposed to the spiritual fatherhood of the priests at my childhood parish in Georgia. I fell in love with altar serving in 2010, and with that calling on my heart having never gone away, I applied to seminary in Tyler after achieving an undergraduate degree in liberal arts and sciences in 2023.

Fr. Carmen Mele, O.P., (Padre Carmelo) is a bilingual preacher who hails from Chicago, IL. He recently finished a tenure of nine years as director of the lay ministry formation program for the Diocese of Fort Worth. Thirty-seven years ordained, he has served as a parish priest, a missionary, a diocesan promoter of peace and justice, and a catechist. He lives in St. Albert the Great priory in Irving, Texas on the campus of the University of Dallas and is currently assigned to assist Holy Cross Catholic Parish and St. Anthony in Dallas.

Familia! We continue our journey in Italy and know we are praying for your intentions as a group. We are also enjoying God’s creation and history. Seguimos nuestro recorrido por Italia y sepan de nuestras oraciones por ustedes todos los días. Estamos disfrutando la creacion de Dios y la historia!​

We are going on our Third day in Italy and we have seen so much beauty. It would be impossible to post all here. We have seen many sites, here are some for you to enjoy. I prayed for our Holy Cross and St. Anthony community intentions at the Holy sites. Hemos visto bastantes lugares bellos y estamos en nuestro tercer dia. Oramos por sus intenciones de Holy Cross y St. Anthony. Bendiciones! Reflection: To see so much beauty encourages me to also seek God and imitate perfection which can only be achieved by abiding by Christ. Al ver tanta belleza me motiva a tratar de buscar la perfección la cual solo se puede conseguir al aferrarse a Cristo.