May 13, 2009
Four to be ordained to priesthood; three hail from foreign countries
By Denver Catholic register
On May 16, Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., will ordain four men to the priesthood to serve the Denver Archdiocese. Three of the men attended Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary. One attended St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. Two of the men are from Mexico, one is from Colombia and one is from the United States.
Carlos Wilson Bello Ayala
Age: 36
Where born and reared: Bogota, Colombia
Seminary: Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary
Q: Describe your educational and professional background before entering formation.
A: I did my primary studies in a public school in town. When I was 12 I entered a Catholic Salesian school, the Don Bosco Center, where along with the regular studies of high school and basic lessons on the faith, I also gained technical knowledge in carpentry. When I was 18, my attention turned to science and I went to a public university where I studied for five years and got a degree in chemistry as a teacher. I taught chemistry to high school students in preparation for the state exam in my country; it was short term because immediately I entered a pre-seminary group.
Q: What first interested you in the priesthood?
A: The possibility to evangelize, that is, to announce the Gospel as a missionary in precarious situations in my country.
Q: When did you first feel called to the priesthood?
A: I never considered the possibility of being a priest until I began to participate in Neocatechumenal Way (a Vatican approved, parish-based catechumenate) communities. Although I was raised in a Catholic family and studied some years in a Catholic school, I left the Church once I started my professional education. When I got my degree, I found my life was meaningless. In the middle of that frustration, my parents invited me to a catechesis of the Neocatechumenal Way. There I rediscovered the treasures of my baptism and my way of seeing life turned to a different direction. After three and a half years of meeting regularly with my community, I began to consider that the Lord was perhaps calling me to a vocation that I had not expected. In a retreat with my community, after an exhortation and appeal from my catechists for vocations, I stood up, offering myself as an instrument of the Lord for evangelization.
Q: What ultimately led you to enter the seminary?
A: After I accepted that call from the Lord I started to attend a Neocatechumenal Way vocational group. They encouraged me to keep going to the community and to do two things: go to Mass and pray the rosary every day. After a while I realized that in obeying I was gaining spiritual strength and my relationships with people began to change. I was at peace and experiencing a happiness that I never had before. I was then sent to a special retreat in Medellin where there is a Redemptoris Mater Seminary. I was again asked if I was willing to go to any part of the world to evangelize. My answer was yes and I was sent to the seminary of Denver.
Q: Where did you find support for your call to the priesthood?
A: First in the community in which I found this vocation and then in my parents. I also found support in the catechists who initiated me in the community. Most of the people who were around me at that time supported me, prayed for me and encouraged me.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about the priesthood?
A: To help people to know the love of God in their lives, to administer the sacraments and to bring a word of consolation.
Q: What do you find most daunting about the priesthood?
A: To learn about a new parish and different people from those at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Boulder, where I served as a deacon. It is also going to be a big change because I will have a different role from the one of deacon to priest.
Q: What has been your favorite class or aspect of seminary life?
A: My favorite aspect has been the life of the seminary itself. Although there have been difficult moments, I have learned a new way of life. I have experienced the importance of having genuine Christian relationships, that is, communion among my brothers, formators and teachers. All the aspects of the seminary such as prayer, studies, physical works, and others have provided me with tools for my ministry. I will take with me this Christian way of life I learned at Redemptoris Mater Seminary.
Q: What is your favorite pastime?
A: I like many sports; soccer is my favorite. Woodworking and other manual works are enjoyable too, as well as spiritual reading, primarily the lives of the saints.
Q: Is there a particular talent or gift you feel you bring to the Church as a whole?
A: I play the flute and I like carpentry.
Q: In today’s world, a call to celibacy is seen as radical, if not impossible. How have you reconciled the priesthood’s call to celibacy with this challenging cultural perspective?
A: I also thought that celibacy was impossible, but in this time of seminary life the Lord has revealed to me something of this reality. I have experienced that my ultimate end is not to have children or a wife, but that my fulfillment is in knowing the Lord and desiring to do his will. This experience has given me happiness and peace.
Q: If you have been on mission as part of your formation thus far, share where you went and what you learned from that experience.
A: I was sent to an island in the Caribbean—Turks and Caicos—with another seminarian and two priests. This chain of islands has a British background; therefore, the Anglican Church is more prominent. I was on the island of Providenciales for one year, on the island of Grand Turk for one year and in a parish in Peoria, Ill., last year. The experience that struck me the most was in the islands. The people who attend Mass are mostly immigrants; some are from the Dominican Republic, many are from Haiti and a few are from English-speaking countries like Canada, the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, etc. There are three different Masses on Sunday: in English, Creole (Haitian native tongue) and Spanish. We also prepared children to receive the sacraments so we gave catechism classes once a week in English. I learned a lot in practical training from the priests and also learned things that I never expected, like helping in the different aspects of the mission parish, which sometimes included cooking, sweeping and mopping the church.
Q: Can you recall a particular moment when you have been called to give testimony to your faith, or more particularly, to your vocation to the priesthood?
A: When I was assigned as a deacon to preach at Mass I was afraid of two things: that people would not understand me because of my accent and what I was to say—the truth the Church teaches may offend certain liberal audiences you can sometimes find in the Church. It was a real challenge in which I was called to faith: the Lord brought me here for a mission and this is the reason I am here. In my first homilies there were few reactions that were encouraging. Some people really made an effort to understand the message and some were grateful, after a while I gained confidence in speaking. I have felt the Lord putting the words in my mouth with strength and many people have been grateful to hear the good news. At that moment I understood that the Lord is the one who is doing this work despite my incapability.
Mauricio Bermudez Hernandez
Age: 29
Where born and reared: Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
Seminary: St. John Vianney Theological Seminary
Q: Describe your educational and professional background before entering formation.
A: I have a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. I studied at the Universidad Popular Autonoma de Puebla in Puebla. I got my degree in 2003.
Q: What first interested you in the priesthood?
A: Confession. I always went to Catholic schools; I remember that every Friday a priest went to my school to hear confessions. He was one of the most compassionate and loving priests I have ever met in my life. He was a great confessor. Every time I went to confession I really experienced the love and forgiveness of God. I hope that God will give me the grace of being a great confessor, too.
Q: When did you first feel called to the priesthood?
A: I started thinking of the priesthood when I was a kid, probably about 10 years old, but it wasn’t until I was 16 that I seriously thought about it. I entered the seminary when I was 18.
Q: What ultimately led you to enter the seminary?
A: God’s love.
Q: Where did you find support for your call to the priesthood?
A: First with a priest friend of mine who took me seriously and never put my vocation down. Later, my family. For them at first it was hard, but after I joined the seminary and they saw how happy I was they supported (and still support) my vocation. My best friends gave me full support as well.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about the priesthood?
A: To celebrate Mass and to hear confessions. I can’t wait to be an instrument of God’s love celebrating the sacraments.
Q: What do you find most daunting about the priesthood?
A: The demands of people. Sometimes people forget that we are not perfect and that we make mistakes. However, I also trust that God moves hearts and things will work fine.
Q: What has been your favorite class or aspect of seminary life or diaconate?
A: Liturgy. I love liturgy.
Q: What is your favorite pastime?
A: Watching movies, cooking and spending time with friends.
Q: Is there a particular talent or gift you feel you bring to the Church as a whole?
A: I’m a great cook—at least it’s what people tell me! I love art; every once in a while I draw and do art projects. However, right now I do not have much time for that.
Q: In today’s world, a call to celibacy is seen as radical, if not impossible. How have you reconciled the priesthood’s call to celibacy with this challenging cultural perspective?
A: It’s interesting that people ask me that question very often. I always say that to be celibate is not impossible. It’s hard—but not impossible. It requires a lot of prayer and keeping in mind the commitment I made with God and his Church. Our culture tells us that money and sex are the only things that can make us happy. If that were the case, then there is no way I would be happy at all because I have neither. However, I can assure you that I’m really happy and fulfilled with my life.
Q: Can you recall a particular moment when you have been called to give testimony to your faith, or more particularly, to your vocation to the priesthood?
A: I have given talks about my vocation several times. I remember one question I got in particular. A guy, about 16 or 17, asked me if I was ever afraid of saying yes to God’s call. I told him that actually I was. But I also told him that once I realized the joy God brought to my life fear was not there anymore. Sometimes people forget that when God calls us it’s because he is inviting us to live a greater life—he is calling us to live in intimacy with him and nothing is greater than that. How could anyone have fear when God is with us? After I told him that, this guy had a huge smile and about a year later he joined a religious community. That was the best recognition I have had in my life.
José de Jesús García Pedreguera
Age: 35
Where born and reared: Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico
Seminary: Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary
Q: Describe your education and professional background before entering formation.
A: Degree in pharmacy, Universidad Veracruzana (Mexico), 1996
Q: What first interested you in the priesthood?
A: I never thought about being a priest. I had a different plan for my life that was not the same plan that the Lord had for me. However, after entering the Neocatechumenal Way (a Vatican approved parish-based catechumenate), I was touched by the zeal of many priests sharing the good news and giving their lives for it. I was touched by our Holy Father John Paul II who was full of eagerness, passion and love for God and the people, and ready to do God’s will.
Q: When did you first feel called to the priesthood?
A: I discovered my vocation to the priesthood in the Catholic Church in a Christian community of the Neocatechumenal Way. I felt this call in 1993, in a meeting with all the youths of the Neocatechumenal Way in Mexico. This was in preparation for World Youth Day in Denver with the Holy Father John Paul II. But I did not answer the Lord because I had another plan for my life and I was full of fear. However, through this community the Lord pursued me, and in 1997 when the Holy Father John Paul II came to Mexico, I heard him say, “Do not be afraid to open your heart to Christ.” I could not say no to the call of God and the need to give my life for the announcement of the Gospel. So in another meeting with the youths of the communities I decided to follow the Lord.
Q: What ultimately led you to enter the seminary?
A: The help of my community in Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico, who prayed for me to discern my call. And my time with the Way’s vocational group of my city. It was through my community and the vocational group that I saw God was calling me to enter the seminary.
Q: Where did you find support for your call to the priesthood?
A: A great support for my vocation is my brothers and sisters of my Neocatechumenal Way communities in Mexico (San Felipe Neri Parish) and Denver (St. Thomas More Parish). I also find a great help through my seminary rector, Father Florián Martín Calama; my vice rector, Father Federico Colautti; and my brother seminarians from Redemptoris Mater Seminary.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about the priesthood?
A: What I am most looking forward to is to do the will of God in my first assignment as a priest; to help in the parish and to celebrate the sacraments.
Q: What do you find most daunting about the priesthood?
A: The responsibility that God is entrusting to me. But I am sure God will give me the strength and wisdom to carry out this responsibility that comes with the call he is giving me.
Q: What has been your favorite class or aspect of seminary life or diaconate?
A: My favorite classes have been those on the Scriptures and the sacraments, which help in one’s life as a priest. I am also grateful for my time helping at St. Joseph Parish in Denver with Father Jorge De Los Santos from whom I learned many things about parish life and the zeal to serve the people. And I am thankful to all the parishioners of St. Joseph for their prayers and support.
Q: What is your favorite pastime?
A: Playing soccer, reading books and listening to music.
Q: Is there a particular talent or gift you feel you bring to the Church as a whole?
A: I think the fact that I am bilingual. The Lord may use me to reach both communities, Spanish and English speaking.
Q: If you have been on mission as part of your formation thus far, share where you went and what you learned from that experience.
A: I spent two and half years in Oregon and Washington State and six months in Hawaii. It was a great time in which God showed me his mercy, providence and that he is the one leading the mission.
Joseph Toledo
Age: 29
Where born and reared: Bridgeport, Conn.
Seminary: Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary
Q: Describe your educational and professional background before entering formation.
A: I graduated from Kolbe Cathedral High School in June 1999 and entered Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Denver that fall.
Q: What first interested you in the priesthood?
A: Seeing the pastor in my parish. As a young child I was fascinated with all the movements he made and wanted to copy everything he did. Also Pope John Paul II, who was traveling despite his old age and illness, was an important sign to me.
Q: When did you first feel called to the priesthood?
A: I first felt called to the priesthood in Loreto, Italy, in 1995. I attended a pilgrimage with my Neocatechumenal Way community to see Pope John Paul II. Kiko Arguello (an initiator of the Way), during a youth meeting after the Mass with the Holy Father, made a vocational call and I found myself answering the call. In 1993, when the Holy Father was in Denver for World Youth Day, he kept repeating “Be not afraid.” At 13 I was not exactly sure what that meant, but later I understood that he was telling me to have courage and not fear the will of God for my life.
Q: What ultimately led you to enter the seminary?
A: The help of a Neocatechumenal Way vocational group that I was a part of after the 1995 Youth Day in Italy. Through that group and the priest that was leading it I saw that God was calling me to enter the seminary. My Neocatechumenal Way community in Bridgeport was also a great help for me in discerning my call.
Q: Where did you find support for your call to the priesthood?
A: In my Neocatechumenal Way community at St. Raphael’s in Bridgeport, Conn. It helped me to understand myself better. The community also provided me a place where I could go when I was having difficulties or doubts about my call to the priesthood.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about the priesthood?
A: I am most looking forward to celebrating the holy Eucharist and hearing confessions.
Q: What do you find most daunting about the priesthood?
A: The responsibility. But I know that God will give me the strength to accept the great responsibility that comes with the call God is giving me.
Q: What has been your favorite class or aspect of seminary life or diaconate?
A: My favorite aspect of the diaconate was working in the parish of Our Lady of Fatima, especially helping in RCIA, preparing the children for first confession, Eucharist, and the youth for confirmation. I also enjoyed very much visiting the sick and bringing them Communion.
Q: What is your favorite pastime?
A: There is not much time in the seminary for pastimes but my favorites these last months have been going for a walk around the John Paul II Center and going to the mountains.
Q: In today’s world, a call to celibacy is seen as radical, if not impossible. How have you reconciled the priesthood’s call to celibacy with this challenging cultural perspective?
A: I have reconciled it by constantly leaning on God for help and support. The first thing I have to realize is that celibacy is a gift from God and not something that is dependent on my strength or on my ability.
Q: If you have been on mission as part of your formation thus far, share where you went and what you learned from that experience.
A: I spent six months in Georgia and two and half years in Minnesota and Arkansas. During that time I learned that having a vocation is serious because people out in the world are really suffering and are in need of priests.
Q: Can you recall a particular moment when you have been called to give testimony to your faith, or more particularly, to your vocation to the priesthood?
A: Frequently when I am in the airport and wearing my clerics people will approach me with questions, which I try to answer. This is another way for me to see the doubts and difficulties that people struggle with in these times.
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