Fr. Rick was born in Jamaica, but raised in Ottawa, Canada. He is one of four boys from a single-parent family.
During his high school years, he re-discovered his faith through a powerful experience of the Eucharist, and of Confession. At that time, he had also felt a call to the priesthood, but didn’t feel ready or capable of such a daunting vocation. So, after high school Fr. Rick decided to pursue a passion for film and move to Toronto, where he completed a B.F.A. in Film Studies at Ryerson University.
After graduating from Ryerson, he worked for a year doing contract positions in the film industry before finding full time work as Head Sacristan of his home parish, St. Michael’s Cathedral. It was while working at the Cathedral that Fr. Rick began to experience the call to priesthood again. After being identified in the “Call by Name” program in 2008, he went to a “Come and See” weekend at the seminary and then entered formation in 2010. He completed his seminary studies in 2015 and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Toronto on May 9 of that year.
He spent his first three of years of priesthood at St. Patrick’s Parish in Markham as an associate pastor; and just finished two years at Merciful Redeemer in Mississauga, also as an associate pastor.