Priestly vocation, as Saint John Paul II told us, is a gift and a mystery. Just like a puzzle, you can only contemplate the whole image once you’ve assembled all the pieces. That’s why it’s difficult to describe it in a few words. However, it is also true that sometimes, a few brushstrokes are enough to perceive the beauty of a work of art.

This is how I like to contemplate God’s call in my life: as a work of art. He is the author, the one who gives shape, He is the one who calls. The first brushstroke was made on November 5, 1992, in Guadalajara, Mexico, when I saw the light of day for the first time. I am the youngest of three children and, as I sometimes say, the first to leave home. As a child, I liked to sing, dance, play soccer, and even then, I showed a certain interest in the spiritual, thanks to the upbringing I received at home. For my parents, Sunday is sacred, the Lord’s day, a day to go to Mass and to be with family. Right there, within the family, the seed of faith took its first roots in my heart.

I was always very competitive, dreaming of having great success in my life, being a great singer, a good businessman, having a lot of money, the best girlfriend, etc. At age 12, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but one thing I was sure of: I wanted success, the best, and for that, I wouldn’t settle for little. On the other hand, I was always very romantic and always looking for the best girl, so until that moment, priesthood had never caught my attention.

However, when I was in my second year of secondary school, my older brother invited me to the Holy Week Missions, and there, I had the opportunity to get to know the Regnum Christi Movement. It was a new and very enriching experience for me because from that moment, I began to fall more and more in love with Christ. It was then that I first thought about the possibility of becoming a priest. A Legionary brother invited me, along with a friend, to experience life in the novitiate in Monterrey, and although I was a bit confused, I wanted to give it a try. But my parents didn’t give me permission to go because they considered I was still too young to follow that path. I, for my part, took my parents’ decision as God’s will or as the perfect excuse not to think more about the priesthood; anyway, I had already made the attempt. A few days later, I received terrible news: the Legionary brothers and my friend had a car accident while heading to Monterrey; that same day, my friend lost his life. This event was deeply engraved in my heart.

My life continued, and I began high school, which I enjoyed very much, forming new friendships. By then, I no longer thought about vocation; I liked this new stage of my life and was enjoying it to the fullest. I had a wonderful family, was in a good high school, and was doing well. Now I was starting to think big! I would surely finish high school, go abroad to study, and start pursuing the success I had always dreamed of. But something changed the plans. When I was in my second year of high school, my father fell ill with a heart condition; the doctors deemed it necessary to perform surgery and had to prepare him for it. On the other hand, my family’s financial situation was not very good, which made things even more complicated. Until that moment, my life had always been fine; I had never found myself in a situation like this. I was afraid, and my inner world was a whirlwind. What will happen to my dad? Will I lose him? What will happen to my family? And ultimately, what does God want with this painful situation He is allowing?

A few days later, Holy Week began, and like every year, I went on missions with my brother. When I left for the town where we would serve, I met a friend just before boarding the bus; only now, his appearance was different because he had entered the seminary. We exchanged a few words and said goodbye. But that wasn’t all; inside, the ashes of my vocation stirred, and the flame that would never go out was ignited. For this reason, these missions had a special color; God wanted to bring out something great from it. It was during Holy Thursday, during the night adoration of Christ in the Eucharist, when I thought it was the right moment to talk to God about everything that was happening to me. I arrived at the chapel, I was alone, in the dark, with a few candles, I started to talk and cry; God was guiding me by the hand until I finally asked Him:

What do you want from me, Lord? And in my heart, the Lord’s voice resonated, inviting me to surrender to Him, to leave everything in His hands, and to follow Him on the path of priesthood.

That same night, I made the decision to go and have a vocational experience. But it wouldn’t be easy to tell my parents, especially given what they were going through. So I waited a few months for things to improve; thank God, my dad recovered well from the surgery, and He was putting everything in order. When I told my parents, they found it a bit hard to accept, but in the end, they supported me. Everything was ready; I had already spoken with a priest, and with his help, I prepared myself for a whole year to enter the Legionaries of Christ novitiate.

However, in the end, not everything was so easy; as the departure date approached, new opportunities or problems arose. On one hand, thanks to a scholarship, I could study in the United States, and on the other hand, I had met a wonderful girl I fell in love with. This was really strange to me—why were these opportunities appearing now? The priest had told me it wouldn’t be so easy, and that temptations come at the end, but I thought, this is too much. Over time, I have discovered that in reality, God wanted my decision to be free, not driven solely by feelings; He was asking me to make a fundamental choice.

It has been 12 years since I entered the Legion of Christ, and I do not regret it. Since I entered the novitiate, my life changed completely; I discovered the beauty of following Jesus in religious life. Some ask me if I am happy, or if it’s difficult for me to live in chastity, poverty, and obedience. I think I would be naive to say it’s easy. Like everything in life, it has its sacrifices, but I have experienced that God does not leave you alone and that you can always count on His help. After all, as the author of the work did at the beginning, He is the one who started the first stroke, and once He made that initial brushstroke, He will not abandon His work until it is fulfilled. Moreover, I have never experienced such peace and joy as I have since I began this path. It’s true that difficulties always come, but once, a priest told me something very wise: when those difficulties come, remember the moment of the call, and there you will find the strength to continue, because that is where the foundation of my vocation lies: in the voice of Christ inviting me to follow Him more closely.