He said his mom often reminds him that his vocation began when he was very young. After his family would get home from Mass, as a child, he would sit his family down in the living room and he would “celebrate Mass.”

As he got older, that early impulse faded into the background until he was at college at Texas A&M University. He walked the Camino de Santiago the summer after his sophomore year and even asked God for a sign, which didn’t come. However, he did feel a slow, steady opening of his heart.

“During the wedding of two close friends at St. Mary’s Catholic Center, I very clearly heard God say to me, ‘This isn’t for you.’ What surprised me most was the peace that came with it. I didn’t feel loss so much as clarity,” Deacon Haberberger said.

He said he looks forward to spending his life close to the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and reconciliation, and helping people encounter the Lord there in a real, personal way.