Joseph Blackburn

I was born and raised in Texas City, the third child of six. I began thinking about the priesthood from a very young age, but it was one "career" among many others at the time. I grew up going to Catholic school, but went to a Lutheran school in south Houston for high school and it was there that I began to take on my Catholic faith personally and really consider the priesthood as a vocation to give glory to God and to be an instrument in the salvation of souls. I entered the seminary immediately after high school for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, and towards the end of my philosophy education I began to consider the possibility of transferring to a more rural diocese where I could get to know the people and the priests more. I left the seminary for several months and then spent several months discerning with the Diocese of Victoria, living and working at Our Lady of the Gulf in Port Lavaca, since I had family roots through my mom's side of the family in Wharton and Louise. After several months in Port Lavaca, I was accepted as a seminarian for the diocese. I look forward to serving as a priest in our diocese in a few years.