After the departure of Fr. Dennis, the parishioners at St. Robert wondered about who would be coming to takeover as pastor. Well, on Friday, August 31, this was revealed to the student body of St. Robert School as he lead the first school mass of the year; his name is Fr. Ray. Fr. Ray is originally from Chicago. He has had experience with many Archdioceses and was thinking about retiring until he came across St. Robert. When Fr. Ray transferred to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, they didn’t even know who he was, but after hearing about Fr. Ray’s background, the Archdiocese wanted Fr. Ray to be a priest at St. Robert and Holy Family.

Many kids wanted to know more about him after he gave his first, very enthusiastic homily. In Fr. Ray’s spare time, he enjoys biking (often for 20 miles), working out everyday at the JCC, hiking, jet skiing, water skiing, teaching juniors and seniors, and listening to music. He also likes to landscape a lot because he lives out in Lake Geneva and has a lot of land with which to work. He constructs huge man-made ponds, and he has planted over 800 pine trees that are now over 30 feet tall. Though this can be a fun task for him, it also is pretty hard on his body since he is having to lift up 20 pound stones to make walls as he landscapes. However, since he works out so much, his body can handle the challenge.

Fr. Ray does both weekday masses and weekend masses. When he was asked if he prefers one over the other, he said he liked both because they’re very different and enjoyable in their own ways, but if he had to pick one, weekday masses would win out because he feels that the kids are more interactive with the mass. Some students recall that during his first mass he gave out items, such as gum and chips to the students. He said he doesn’t do this regularly, but that day it was just to teach the students that mass is not only for the brain and spiritual life, but that it can also be physical.

In conclusion, Fr. Ray is an amazing priest with a vibrant personality. He is joyful all the time and is a good role model that lives out his faith in many ways through his various interests. He will always offer help to the students to get closer to God and become better people. St. Robert welcomes their new pastor as they already know that he will make St. Robert a better place for everyone in the community.