Testimonials

One of the most important experiences of my life was being in a household at Franciscan University. Having those intentional relationships with my brothers and learning how to build intentional relationships has carried me through some of the most difficult parts of my life.

A desire for more relationships like that, but with those who shared my calling to the legal profession, inspired me to found the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Kansas City in 2006 and then, in 2015, the Catholic Bar Association, the first national organization of Catholic legal professionals.

The need wasn’t just for community. It’s become increasingly hard for Catholics to practice both their faith and the law, and it was apparent to me that something needed to be done to give Catholic attorneys a community and a voice. Since its founding, the Catholic Bar Association has become that voice.

That’s how I ended up in Washington in 2019, speaking at a Senate press conference. Justice Amy Coney Barrett had been nominated to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and was facing extreme attacks because of her Catholic faith. A group of senators invited me to join them in speaking out against what was really an attack on all Catholic legal professionals. That day crystallized for me why the Lord had called me to this work.

I wouldn’t have been there, though, without Franciscan University. Not just because of my time in households, but because it was there that I learned to listen to the Holy Spirit. I think that’s why Franciscan is so successful at raising leaders willing to engage the culture. Because we’re empowered by the Holy Spirit and that empowerment gives us strength. It gives us the ability to not just hear God’s call, but to say yes to it—to take a leap of faith and be the radical disciples we’re called to be.