Growing up, I did not practice the faith on my own. I did not have a personal relationship with Christ. The faith was only practiced because it was a part of my culture. For me, being Catholic involved attending Sunday Mass and praying a Rosary during the novena. Being raised in a Hispanic culture, there were also Hispanic traditions that my parents wanted my brothers and me to understand. For example, during my early life, I learned and took part in traditions like Las Posadas before Christmas or the celebrations of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Despite the many traditions and opportunities for prayer, I never took my faith seriously. I loved my cultural background and the traditions I grew up in, but I never paid attention or reflected on the liturgies. Also influenced by the secular society, I even found myself questioning my faith and even God.
One person who influenced my faith journey was my mother. Around the summer after my sophomore year of high school, my mother asked my brothers and me to attend a retreat hosted by the Missionaries of Charity. I was hesitant, but she did not take “no” for an answer. So, I attended the retreat. I was not very open to the Holy Spirit the first few days. But on the last day, I experienced a profound encounter with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. As I sat in front of the Blessed Sacrament, I began to offer the Lord all of my struggles, difficulties, and pains, and I felt the Lord giving me His Heart in return. I felt His love, and it transformed my life.
After the retreat, I began volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity. It was also there that I began to reflect more on my purpose in life. After an invitation from one of the Missionaries of Charity sisters, I began to consider the question of seminary more deeply. But at the same time, I kept running away from it.
I enjoyed my academics in school, so I began looking at other schools and programs and thinking I could store the idea of the priesthood until I fulfilled my goals and dreams. But I felt the Lord drawing me closer each time I tried to run further away.
One day, the vocation director invited me to visit Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona, Minnesota. I accepted the invitation and went with a group to Winona. I fell in love with the seminary's community life and the men's joy as they followed the Lord in discerning their vocation. Within that weekend, I attended a Holy Hour at the Winona Cathedral, led by Bishop John Quinn. As I prayed with the Lord present in the Most Blessed Sacrament, I saw two statues, one of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and one of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with their hands extended. At that moment, I felt the Lord saying, “Trust in Me.” I knew the Lord and the Blessed Mother would accompany me in my discernment.
Following that weekend, I began the application process. In the fall of 2017, I entered the seminary, where I first attended Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona, MN. My time in Winona was a formative and grace-filled experience. When I began applying to Sacred Heart, I will always remember the words that the [now former] vocation director told me: “The Immaculate Heart will form you to be a man, so that the Sacred Heart can form you to be His priest.”
SHMS's mission is to form priests according to the Heart of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd. The formators at SHMS indeed formed me to be a priest after the Sacred Heart. It truly meant a lot in my discernment and formation to know of the great examples of fatherhood and holiness from the formators at SHMS. It is also a blessing to journey with great men striving for holiness. Formation is a lifelong process. Yet, through the academics, the prayer, the accompaniment, and especially the Eucharist, I know my heart is being formed after the Most Sacred Heart of Christ.
Please pray that men who may be feeling a call to the seminary may open their hearts to dive into that discernment. Discerning the priesthood may come with challenges, obstacles, and even fear. But the Lord invites the men to trust in Him. And Our Lady extends her mantle to guide the men in their journey. Through your prayers and support, men will have the courage to say “yes” to allow the Sacred Heart to form them to be priests after His own Heart.