Deaconal Ordination of Fr. Ricardo Arriola, LC
The Friday, June 15th, Mons. Francisco Moreno Barrón, Archbishop of Tijuana, ordained Ricardo Arriola, LC, as a deacon at the Holy Spirit Parish in Tijuana, Baja California.
He was accompanied in this special moment of his life by his family, friends, students, staff of the Cumbres Institute of Tijuana, and members of Regnum Christi from Baja California. The celebration also included some diocesan priests and Legionaries of Christ.
At the beginning of the deacon ordination rite, his superior, Fr. Hernán Jiménez Barrera, LC, invited the future deacon to present himself before the assembly to proceed with the laying on of hands by Mons. Moreno Barrón.
“How much Jesus loves you, that having shared His priesthood with all the people of God in baptism and with some men taken from among men and set apart to serve Him in things pertaining to God, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, He has called you to be part of His ministerial priesthood in the order of deacons, so that we can see how great God’s love has been for you, and how that love of God in Christ Jesus has continued to manifest itself up to this moment when you are about to receive the diaconate,” expressed the Archbishop.
He emphasized that: “Receiving the sacrament, the order of the diaconate, is a special calling, which also requires a special response, through this diaconate. In exercising the diaconate, you will respond to God’s love, to Jesus’ love as Jesus Himself asks us in the Gospel: ‘remain in my love,’ and how we remain in His love is by keeping His commandments, living your vocation to the fullest as a deacon, you will be responding to God’s love, to Jesus’ love, but the diaconate has a very special nuance, every baptized person must live their vocation to love, and that love is expressed in service, but the deacon takes on a special awareness and commitment to love by serving the people of God. As a deacon, you are called to have the privilege of serving in the community and the Church in the name of Christ Jesus Himself.”
A moving moment of the ordination rite was the Litany of the Saints and the laying on of hands by the archbishop.
The vesting of the deaconal stole and dalmatic was carried out by Fathers Hernán Jiménez and Gabriel del Valle, LL.CC.
At the end of the celebration, Fr. Juan Manuel Puente, LC, Rocío Treviño, local director of Regnum Christi in Baja California, and David Ruelas, a consecrated lay member of Regnum Christi, invited those present to pray a prayer for the Legionaries and members of Regnum Christi, to always remember that they are part of a larger and more beautiful reality, of a family that encompasses the entire Regnum Christi movement within the Church.
Fr. Ricardo Arriola Alcántara, LC
He was born in Tijuana, Baja California. He is the second of a family of four children. He joined the Legion of Christ on September 15, 2003. He completed his novitiate in Monterrey and made his first vows on September 15, 2005. He studied a year of classical humanities in Salamanca, Spain, and then a year of philosophy in Rome, at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. In March 2007, he began collaborating in vocations promotion in the State of Mexico, the Bajío area, and Quintana Roo. That same year, he started his apostolic practices as a vocations promoter in Torreón and Durango. He made his perpetual profession on September 15, 2011. That same year, he returned to Rome to complete his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. From 2012 to 2014, he collaborated in the Italy territorial secretariat, while studying for a master’s degree in Philosophy with a specialization in Anthropology. From 2014 to 2017, he worked in the general direction while completing his bachelor’s in Theology. He is currently responsible for vocations promotion at the Student Center in Mexico.
