Follow Me: Journeys to Priesthood

hearing God's called God's voice it's sort of unusual because he does it in not a very drastic and dramatic way his call is like a whisper I think we are all hungry for something deeper a call that'll take us to experience something of a transcendent if you will priesthood is a vocation a relationship of love with God and so when we are in a relationship of love we do not focus on ourselves the gift of Jesus to us is joy and that we bring people in to the excitement of living through the circumstances of their lives the joy is there the hope the Christ's gift that never ends and it's it's kind of deepened into a deep well and searching for more water when you're thirsty people want priests who can connect who can really relate to their own lives through their brokenness to their joy to their sufferings what does discernment mean what does vocation mean well discernment is sifting through sort of how God is moving in your heart and kind of sifting apart what isn't from God what's from the world what's from yourself what you want your authentic self wants is the same thing that God wants for you and he's trying to tell you that but he's a gentleman and he speaks in a whisper any waits and see you listen I found God's love I experienced God's love and relationship in the church and in young adult ministry and through those experiences I was getting a glimpse of who I was as a person God had made me and that that person was meant to do something of this nature with his life priesthood God has certainly given me a sense of beauty there's a lot of beauty in the arts in my life in particular with regards to music throughout my kind of young years and even now I try to keep playing the guitar and just enjoy that and let that be a way that God kind of communicates his peace to me when I was an actor I'd picture myself winning civil war or something like that it kind of landed in this place where it's like this feels likes just for me and it wasn't enough you're holding this kind of statuette you're going yeah but what how can I help people with this you know what is this doing for me studying to be a priest is not always easy there are deadlines and academics and all the obligations we have as individual persons with our families and relationships back home the st. John's they really do provide every opportunity to address that we have our four pillars of pastoral human academic and spiritual formations they do everything to provide us with the opportunity to explore every one of those different pillars of ourselves every person has a unique story every person has something to offer but what they really need is that imitation of love to be able to open and to be able to share I think it begins that having that openness other people that sort of magnanimity that that kind of encompasses a life of service so important works about good and holy priests that I want to be able to guide everybody else in this new task for the new organization it is an exciting time for the church and I think it's an exciting time to be impressed this evening we're fortunate to have Archbishop Gomez come and to celebrate Mass with the men and to spend time with them he's able to come to one day a go house about three times a year and it gives the men the opportunity to know him but it also gives him the opportunity to know them it is really amazing that there's so many priests are coming visit us so many great priests of comments a mass for us and to spend dinner with us we get to ask them questions about how their seminary life was and for them to give us words of wisdom and how to succeed is tremendous I had a really good time in my first college I loved it all but at the end of the day I knew there was something more something more than I wanted and so I came here because why I thought God was calling me this place gave me an opportunity to continue to discern to grow in my faith and to really ask myself where is God calling me and it completely support me here with that one day go house gives me this platform to minister to my home parish we're not secluded from the community we're there with everyday people getting to know everyday people succeed the joy that we have they see how excited we are to be here but the end of the day it's really great knowing that I have a place to come home to my brothers to support me that I can talk to that we're all here at juan diego house to discern the priesthood I think your heart if you follow your desires you start to go after things that make you happy and make you fulfill then that's part of the plan God wants you to get enjoyment out of the gifts he gives you so if he gives you a let ictal n't he wants you to enjoy it but he doesn't want to stop there there's something to be shared growing up I never went to Catholic schools I went to public school with my entire life and Here I am teaching at a Catholic school it was a beautiful beautiful gift for me often times ask myself why me why has God called me so imperfect so broken but yet God chooses me to be an instrument for these young men and women that is my vocation is to be a recipient of God's immense love it just propelled me to see myself in another light I love being a priest because I'm able to enter people's lives very quickly in a very deep way it's a great honor and a tremendous privilege well I've been a priest for over 50 years so I've kind of a little bit of experience I will say with the family we're young children have lost a parent and I sit with people who are going through the painful experience of divorce I just sit with a couple preparing for marriage i baptize a baby I'll celebrate an event the school with the kids whatever my talents and gifts are they're just graced and part of what I like to do is take care of this temple of the body that God's given me I think it's important to have a balance to reflect that in life and invite people to have that same kind of balance in their own spiritual emotional everyday life there's a special bond between seminarians of priests because we are preparing to serve the people it's really great to spend time with my brother seminarians who surf and priests to serve and bless us this day and keep us safe out there in the waves it's important to have fellowship with one another it's a crucial part of balance in the life of priests and reconnecting to that which holds us together having those kinds of friendships not just in disseminate but what guys are already priests is again it's that support system we can't do it on our own to know that I'm not alone doing it that these guys are going through the same stresses with the same joys to have you get to share that with each other makes us better people or complete people to have those other pieces other seminarians and everyone else around us nature and the beauty of creation is an incredibly important part of my spirituality we don't want to lose ourselves and these are character and these are personality been a glorious day any day of getting in the water I got to be a good day it's God's creation and really gives me kind of a perspective on life I was born and raised in Saigon Vietnam I was born into a family with deep Catholic roots coming here as an immigrant family in a single single-parent family and not knowing the language with all the other struggles that come with that the church community really provided us with some place to go for support community identity which was important for us I was born and raised in Mexico my father was a Labrador a campesino a farmer when I became a priest the perspective of controlling a was banished I would now lead by example and any humble tea I had to die to myself in order to to learn how to be humble to to learn who I was from the very beginning I have found my own journey and the journey of these men that they're finding it in the silence or they noise of the world and all the things that are happening around and sirens and noise and busyness of the world they're finding in the silence the voice of God sometimes we can think that you know God's gonna communicate his plan to me in it's it's gonna be a voice from heaven it's gonna be some you know big event that happens in my life it's very much a slow process of God speaking to you in in everyday just normal occurrences my hope for the world would be that every human being would be enabled to see his or her value in the eyes of God and be respected for that value my hope for the world is each never human being builds a community of love it is through love that we understand the deep meaning of what the world is just to have a community that recognizes the mission and really supports them the greatest gift is a gift of the human heart and if we can see that and see the face of Christ I think that's to do the solution to a lot of the problems in the world that we might begin to talk to one another across all of the barriers that seem to divide us that we may remember that there's no one in the world who's not to be loved of God you are loved by God in such a special way it allows you to be open to that love and to to be willing to make a difference with that kind of love if you're going to hear a call you've got to listen for a very subtle movement of your heart and still small voice of God don't calculate whether you would gain something but take courage courage is not the absence of fear courage is taking action despite filled you you

Channel: LA Vocations

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Keywords: Priest (Occupation), vocations, Los Angeles (City/Town/Village), California (US State), Actor (Profession), surfers, immigrant, Follow Me: Journeys to Priesthood

Id: ApEPnW0oRfE

Length: 13min 0sec (780 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 29 2013