From Salamanca, Daniel de Tezanos Pinto (22 years old), a former student of Everest School, from the 2013 generation, shares with us this testimony of his current life, his vocation, and how his discernment process was. In his second and final year of novitiate, Daniel – who also teaches catechism to children at a parish – is preparing to consecrate himself to God through the religious vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity.
I am the fifth of six siblings, born and raised until age 10 in Viña del Mar (Chile). Later, we moved to Santiago, and that’s when I entered the Everest School.
Like many families at the school, we spent summers in Cachagua and the South, traveled occasionally, went on outings, shared many family meals, played sports with my brothers and friends, attended parties, weddings, etc… An incredible life full of unforgettable moments. Now I am 22 years old and doing my second and final year of novitiate in Spain, where I am preparing to consecrate myself to God through the religious vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity.
In the novitiate, we dedicate ourselves to studying everything that allows us to know Christ better (Christology, New Testament, Spirituality, Latin, Greek) and especially long periods of prayer, silence, work, and a bit of apostolate (I teach catechism at a parish to children preparing for First Communion).
All this while deepening the calling I have felt from God to follow Him more closely. It is in that silence and prayer that I see how God is acting in my life, and where I have found the reasons why I am here, since I still believe it was a miracle that I decided to follow my vocation.
How the vocational inquietude began
My family, especially my mom, has always participated in the Regnum Christi movement. I started going to the Club NET in Viña, and since then I haven’t stopped progressing through the other stages (ECYD, RC, Collaborator, and the Legion). It’s worth noting that between ages 14 and 17, I drifted away a bit from everything, which I suppose is normal at that age… In the end, that “distance” helped me because in third grade of high school, when we were preparing for confirmation, I had many doubts about the faith, and that’s when I realized that if I confirmed myself, everything depended on me and not on my parents or the school.
Seeking an answer, I decided to attend the Thursday Eucharistic Hour at the Mission Center, and it was there that I perceived that Christ was there for me and wanted me to accompany Him at that hour. After that experience with Christ, my life took a turn; I think it was when I woke up after those teenage years. I found joy in prayer, and shortly after, at another Eucharistic Hour, I thought about the priestly vocation. At first, I was very scared; perhaps I had thought about it before, but never seriously like that day.
In a couple of weeks, we had the course retreat, and I took the opportunity to have spiritual direction for the first time with a Legionary of Christ, Fr. Javier Ayala LC, who accompanied me and continued to do so throughout this process and has been fundamental in helping me discern what God wanted for me, always with great freedom. Although I believe I was the one who tested the brother’s patience because, over four years, in one week I would say: “This time I am sure that God is calling me; I will tell my parents today.” And the next week, I would say: “I think God wants me to be a psychologist and follow that, but in marriage and working in the Movement or something like that.”
Those four years were a back-and-forth within me, but I perceived that God kept insisting and was guiding me along a path of generosity through Regnum Christi, where I started attending Mass almost every day, the Encounter with Christ, I never missed the Thursday Eucharistic Hours, the apostolates, such as giving food and accompanying the poor living in La Vega, evangelization missions, house repairs; I also supported the Cruzadas project and was part of the youth section council of Regnum Christi in La Dehesa.
Spending a year in Barcelona
After finishing high school, I was still very undecided about what career to pursue (architecture or psychology) or becoming a priest, and I had recently ended a relationship (months in which I completely set aside the vocational question). During that time, I decided to spend a year as a collaborator of Regnum Christi, to give myself some time and also to do what I liked most: apostolate, trying that more of giving myself to others. I went to Barcelona, and it was a very special year, during which I experienced many things, four of which I would like to highlight:
1st María, the Mother who always leads you to Her Son along the path of peace. I made two pilgrimages to Fátima and one to Medjugorje, in which my primary intention was always to find out what God wanted for my life, and Mary helped me understand that when one is at peace and calm, it comes from God.
2nd The Legion, perhaps I knew the movement well, but not how a Legionary lives. What impacted me most about them was religious life in community. That aspect captivated me completely because I understood that to be a good priest, it is necessary to always be supported by God, in prayer and in brothers… the Church that we all form because we cannot do it alone.
3rd During that year, I met another Legionary who helped me a lot, but not with words, rather with his testimony. It’s Fr. Mark Thelen LC, with whom I worked all that year. Until the end of the year, I never told him about my vocational doubts, and when I did, he said he already suspected.
4th Experiencing that when you fully dedicate yourself to God, He gives you much more, and the joy of helping those in need and bringing Christ to others is unmatched in the world.
But that inner struggle with the fears I had of “leaving everything” continued, and after finishing the year as a collaborator, I started studying psychology. I really liked the career, and I returned to the same life I had before, but doing a bit more apostolate. I filled myself with activities and didn’t think about vocation. Until during winter break, I went to the Cruzadas, which were incredible, and then to Cachagua with my friends.
That contrast, I believe, affected me, and around the 4th day, I went to Mass because I needed time to be with God, and that’s when I started thinking deeply about the priesthood again… About two months later, talking with a university professor, in a very natural and spontaneous conversation, “it hit me.” The professor told me I had to stop doing many things because I would do poorly in university, and at that moment, I thought that if I left something, I would leave everything—except Mass, apostolate, the Movement, and the 40 Everest students I was guiding spiritually, the youth council, and other things.
That night, I went to Mass, and the Gospel said: “Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt 10:38-39), and it was during that Mass that I told God yes. After a few weeks, I told my family, and gradually, the word spread. The incredible thing was seeing that one of my first fears disappeared quickly because all I received were congratulations, encouragement, and kind words. People I thought wouldn’t support me supported me from the very first moment, and I understood that the Lord would not leave me alone in this.
“To live the faith better, I believe that living charity well is essential”
They asked me what message I would leave to young people with vocational doubts and how to improve their relationship with God, and I answer both questions with the same:
I believe that to improve our relationship with God, we must avoid three dangers above all: laziness, incoherence, and fear. Many tell me they believe in God, but in their own way. For me, that’s laziness because if we only did what we liked, we wouldn’t get anywhere. In life, there are moments when we have to demand of our will. If we only do what we like, we end up living in that incoherence between what we believe and other acts, because we would be carried away by what “satisfies” us the most, and God, to reach His merciful love, also asks us to pass through the cross, through what costs us… and to be coherent, we must overcome the fears within ourselves, those fears that lead us to stop doing what God asks and to trust fully in Him, to live what Christ and His Church command us.
And to live the faith better, I believe that living charity well is essential. A concern I always had was seeing many Chilean young people doing social work that goes no further than material things. For my discernment process, it was fundamental to always try to see Christ in others because He is present in the poor, and more than once, during missions or on the streets of La Vega, I was asked if I was a priest or seminarian. I always remember a lady who told me: “You should be a priest,” and I had only seen her that night (now I see her as Christ calling me through her). Also because Christ tells us that when we visit, clothe, and give drink to our neighbor, we are visiting, clothing, and giving drink to Him… and in those acts of love for others, God will manifest His will to us through His grace.
I want to thank my parents and my brothers, whose example and closeness have always helped me; and everyone who accompanied me in my discernment process, as many people supported, advised, or gave me a good testimony as a priest, vowed religious, or consecrated person. I also ask for prayers for all young people following their vocation, so that Mary helps them say yes, as she did in her life, and for those of us already here, so that we remain faithful to God in our vocation.
