Dylan is originally from Mandeville, LA and entered college at UL-Lafayette in the fall of 2016. The following summer, he went on his first mission trip to Alakanuk, Alaska with College Missions Company in 2017. There, he had a deep conversion as a Catholic, and it was on this trip that he came to know and love Jesus Christ. He learned how to express his love and joy for Christ in spreading the Gospel to the people there, and in the community of his fellow missionaries. Dylan had an affinity for working with the teens on this trip and showed how far everyday joy and kindness could go to helping people know Christ, and welcoming them into the Church.
After the mission to Alakanuk, Dylan returned to UL for his sophomore year and began discerning his vocation. He was involved in a men’s discernment group at Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic Church and Student Center. Eventually, he applied to seminary, and in the spring of 2018, was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Lafayette. He is sponsored by Our Lady of Wisdom, and attends St. Joseph Abbey and Seminary College in Covington, LA.
That summer, he returned for a second mission trip to Kotlik, another small village on Yukon River in western Alaska. He served there for two weeks before returning home and entering his first semester of seminary at St. Joseph’s. Dylan wrote about his time in Kotlik for our summer newsletter, saying:
“This truly beautiful mission gave me affirmation regarding the vocation I am pursuing as I head into my first semester of seminary. The opportunities God gave me allowed me to also live out Pope Benedict XVI’s words, ‘You were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.’ I was able to overcome my comfort and achieve the greatness God was calling me to throughout my time in Alaska.”
Thank you for reading, and please keep Dylan in your prayers! Stay tuned each month for new clips about former missionaries using the growth they experienced on mission to serve Jesus Christ and His Church in ways they hadn’t imagined themselves doing before.
God bless!
"You were not made for comfort; you were made for greatness."
- Pope Benedict XVI