Hello! My name is Fr. Samson, and I am the new priest at Holy Redeemer. Fr. Kevin invited me to write a few words of introduction, and so I wanted to share with you a little about myself.
Born in Dallas, Texas, I grew up in Grand Forks, North Dakota,
where I attended grade school. My family moved to St. Louis in 1999. My mother, Suz, is originally from St. Louis—St. Margaret of Scotland parish, to be more exact. My father, Rick, is the director of the Graduate Medical School at St. Louis Uni- versity and president of the American Physiologi- cal Society. My first summer job as a teenager was working in his lab cleaning rat cages and numbering test tubes! I have a twin brother, Henry, who teaches at De Smet High School.
After completing St. Clement grade school (our home parish, in Des Peres), I attended St. Louis University High School, graduating in 2005.
There, I ran Cross Country and Track and Field (400m and 800m), and I developed a love for languages that would determine the course of my future studies and, indeed, my vocation. After SLUH, I entered Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, where I studied philosophy and classical lan- guages.
Upon graduating from the college seminary, I was sent to Rome to undertake advanced theological studies, living at the Pontifical North American College seminary. During my 9 years in Italy and the Vatican, I obtained a Bachelors in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, a License in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and then a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Gregorian. I wrote my thesis on Exodus 11 (Moses and Pharaoh’s bickering be- fore the final plague in Egypt) and my disserta- tion on Matthew 5:48 (“Be perfect as your Heav- enly Father is perfect”). For these programs, I had to learn four modern European and four an- cient languages, and I was blessed to be able to spend a whole semester studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where and when I came to love the Holy Land.
I was ordained a priest for St. Louis in 2013, and my primary job has been teaching as an Associ- ate Professor of Biblical Theology at the seminaryin Shrewsbury, where I teach New Testament, ancient languages, and a three-week course on biblical archaeology in the Holy Land, for our transitional deacons. I absolutely love being a priest, and a teacher!
My favorite saints are St. John Vianney (patron of parish priests) and Blessed Fra Angelico OP (famous Italian painter from the 1400s), and my Confirmation Saint, Juan Masias OP (a holy, mira- cle-working porter for the Dominicans of Lima, Peru in the 1600s). I love running and playing ultimate frisbee, going on hikes with friends and saying Mass in awesome outdoor locations, play- ing boardgames (especially Wingspan), reading about biblical archaeology, listening to Audio- books, talking about Star Wars, being with my three nephews, taking rosary walks, playing golf with dad, and praying with mom. I heard the call to the priesthood when I was 7 years old, after serving Mass at our parish, St. Michael’s, in Grand Forks.
I am delighted to be here with you, and I look forward to trying my best to carry out my priestly duty, in the words of St. John Vianney: to show you the way to heaven!