Father Tipton — Our New Priest-in-Residence Starting on June 25, 2026 — Greets Basilica Parishioners

“I shall pass this way but once, if there is any good I can do, let me do it without delay, for I shall not pass this way again.”

In this season of transition, those words from the movie The Bells of St. Mary’s keep returning to my thoughts. I have long appreciated these words, but the gift of each moment feels especially heightened when change is near.

Change has been a familiar reality for me. I grew up in a military family with five siblings, moving every few years. We had the great privilege of living in multiple states and internationally in Europe for most of my childhood, and then ultimately returning to the NOVA area when I was a junior in high school. I attended Christendom College, where I earned a degree in Theology and Philosophy in 2012. Immediately afterward, I became a seminarian for our diocese and studied at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. My first summer assignment—in the summer of 2013—was at St. Mary’s, when Father Kleinmann was the pastor. It is a joy to return to St. Mary’s, now as the Basilica.

After my ordination in 2018, I was first assigned as Parochial Vicar at St. Leo the Great in Fairfax. During the pandemic, I was reassigned to serve as Chaplain at St. John Paul the Great High School, where I have been for the last six years. The lessons I have learned from each of these assignments have only deepened my love for Our Lord and the gift of the priesthood

Times of change can bring challenges, but they also provide us both the opportunity to be open to the good present elsewhere and to share the goodness of God in the service we can do for each other without delay in the time that we have.  I look forward to seeing the good that has increased at St. Mary’s since 2013 and walking with you as I study Canon Law at CUA. Please pray for my studies and let’s not delay in sharing the great goodness of God with all His children in Alexandria!