I Always Had a Spot Here.
He Came Because of St. Mary’s
Jonathan “JZ” Zabolio ‘28 didn’t come to St. Mary’s by accident. He grew up hearing about it. Stories about Aggie Awakening. Stories about his parents’ time here. Stories about something that mattered, even if he didn’t fully understand it yet.
When it came time to choose a college, Texas A&M was near the top of his list. Part of that came from growing up in an Aggie family, surrounded by shared experiences he had only heard about. There was a sense of wanting to step into something that had already shaped the people closest to him.
“I felt called to go to A&M because of the Catholic center,” he told us on a phone call with him and his mother, JoAnna Breen Zabolio ‘90.
He had heard about Awakening for years. His parents had gone. His sister had gone. They would talk about it, but never in a way that gave it away.
So when he arrived, there was a sense that he was stepping into something that had been handed on, even if he still had to experience it for himself.
JZ (left) with friends in the narthex of the New Church.
JZ speaks to the retreaters at Aggie Awakening.
What He Found
He had grown up around the sacraments. JoAnna and his Dad Jody made sure of that. So, when he got to St. Mary’s, he began to notice a certain rhythm. Daily Mass with friends. Time in the chapel between classes. Sunday Mass, followed by time together afterward.
Over time, he found his place within that rhythm. He began leading a small group in John 15, serving at the altar, and working behind the scenes as part of the maintenance crew. None of it felt separate. It was just part of being here.
The friendships he formed here felt different. They carried a depth he hadn’t experienced before. Because he got involved early, he saw people graduate, stay connected, and continue walking together in their faith. It gave him a sense that this wasn’t something that ends when college ends.
It was something that continued.
What Was Already Here
Years before JZ arrived, his mother JoAnna Breen Zabolio was here.
Class of 1990. Marketing major. She became involved at St. Mary’s during the second semester of her freshman year through the Newman Club and Awakening. She made Awakening 15 and went on to staff many more.
During that time, her friend Joanne was asked by their pastor, Fr. Leon Strieder, to help put together a retreat for eighth grade confirmation students at his parish in Sealy, Texas. Joanne invited JoAnna to be part of it.
They put together the first retreat. Then another.
At some point, it became clear that what they were doing needed a name. A friend of theirs, Pat Sullivan, suggested SMYRT, the St. Mary’s Youth Retreat Team. The name stuck.
What began as a simple invitation to help with one retreat became something that continues today.
Looking back, JoAnna points less to what they built and more to what happened in her.
JoAnna Breen and Vu Tran at Aggie Awakening. Theme: “Partying in Different Countries”
Fr. Leon Strieder (on the right right) with students at Aggie Awakening.
“I always had a spot here.”
JZ had known about the brick for a long time.
His parents placed it when he was born. It was something they did for each of their children, a quiet way of staying connected to St. Mary’s. Over the years, they would come back for games, go to Mass, and walk through the courtyard. The bricks were always there.
He laughs about pointing it out to friends when they walk out of the chapel. But then he notices something more.
“I always had a spot here.”
Before he chose Texas A&M University.
Before daily Mass became part of his routine.
Before late nights on the maintenance crew setting up for the largest OCIA class St. Mary’s has ever seen.
The brick was already here.
And because of the generosity of so many Aggie Catholics who came before him, St. Mary’s was ready to receive him.
JoAnna said it simply, reflecting on what connects her story and her son’s.
St. Mary’s continues to stand in the heart of Aggieland, forming students who will carry their faith into marriage, parenthood, parishes, workplaces, and someday bring their own children back.
St. Mary’s was there for JoAnna.
St. Mary’s is here for JZ.
And by God’s grace, it will be here for the next generation too.
Every student who walks through the doors of St. Mary’s brings their own questions and hopes. JZ’s story shows what happens when those questions meet the living presence of Christ and a place that walks with him.
