Monterrey, N.L., July 2, 2016. On Saturday, July 2, three Legionaries of Christ received the order of the diaconate through the laying on of hands by the Archbishop of Monterrey, Mons. Rogelio Cabrera, at the parish of Our Lady of Fatima in San Pedro Garza García. The new deacons are Alejandro Páez Garza and Juan Pablo Nájera García, both from Monterrey; and Esteban Castellanos Bay, originally from Hermosillo.

At the beginning of the celebration, the Territorial Director of Monterrey, P. Emilio Díaz-Torre, L.C., thanked the archbishop for the gift he was making to the Church by ordaining these three legionaries as deacons. He also expressed his gratitude to the families of the ordinands for the support they have given their children over the years, which today allows them to ascend to the altar to be configured with Christ, who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. He also asked Our Mother of God to help them grow in their love for God and for the souls entrusted to them as pastors of God’s people and collaborators of priests and bishops.

Mons. Rogelio Cabrera reminded the young men ordained in his homily that with the laying on of hands they will be configured with Christ and, therefore, will become servants of God’s people, protectors of the poor and the sick. The deacons, he affirmed, are called to care for and watch over those who suffer the most. He asked them to be tireless, constant, and kind in their service. “Today the Church needs to transmit Christ; people want to see Christ. Manifest the beauty of Christ to the world, and He will give you and your families a hundredfold,” added Mons. Cabrera.

In the celebration, besides family and friends, the novices and humanists of the Legionaries studying in Villa de Santiago, diocesan priests, and other legionaries serving their ministry in Monterrey were present.

 

 

Who are the new deacons?

 

[gdlr_heading tag=”h2″ icon=”icon-heart” font_weight=”bold” ]Deacon Juan Pablo Nájera, L.C.[/gdlr_heading]

Brother Juan Pablo was born on December 9, 1983, in Monterrey, Nuevo León. After completing high school studies, he spent a year as a collaborator in 2002. Later, in 2003, he entered the novitiate of the Legionaries of Christ in Cheshire (USA), where he also studied Humanities. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a theology baccalaureate in Rome. He carried out his apostolic practices in Saltillo in vocational pastoral work. He will begin his ministry as an assistant in the Territorial Administration of Monterrey.

Regarding his vocational history, Juan Pablo shares that it has been like the “Game of his life”: the “game” works as follows: God puts everything on His part and asks me to trust. My act of trust is the point only I can score. It sounds very easy… it is not. Each day presents new challenges to trust in God. Considering that the most important act of faith is the one we must do today, we can call this game, “the game of faith.” As Lumen Fidei states, “Faith consists in the willingness to let oneself be transformed again and again by God’s call” (LF 13).
[gdlr_heading tag=”h2″ icon=”icon-heart” font_weight=”bold” ]Deacon Alejandro Páez Garza, L.C.[/gdlr_heading] Brother Alejandro was born in Monterrey, N.L., on February 18, 1985. He was a student at the Irish Institute of Monterrey. In 1997, he entered the Apostolic School of Monterrey, but after completing the summer introductory course, he was sent to Immaculate Conception Apostolic School in New Hampshire, USA. In 2002, he moved to Bad Münstereifel, Germany, where he spent two years in the novitiate and took his first religious vows. He then studied a year of humanistic studies in Salamanca, Spain. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome. He worked for four years at the École Apostolique de l’Immaculée Conception in France as a formator and studies prefect. In August 2010, he took his perpetual vows. Since 2011, he has been collaborating with the General Studies Prefecture and completed his license in philosophy and his bachelor’s in theology.

“I could say that I was born into the Regnum Christi. My parents have been members of the Movement since I can remember, and the Fathers and Consecrated Women have always come and gone to our house as family members… I cannot say that I have always wanted — to be a priest — because, like in all things, there are beautiful moments and not-so-beautiful moments. But I cannot deny that I have always known it. This is where God wants me. May the one who began the good work bring it to completion.”
[gdlr_heading tag=”h2″ icon=”icon-heart” font_weight=”bold” ]Deacon Esteban Castellanos Bay, L.C.[/gdlr_heading]

He was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, on December 14, 1984, and studied at the Irish Institute of Hermosillo. He joined the Regnum Christi in 1st year of high school, and for two years of his life, he was a collaborator in León, Gto. In 2005, he entered the Legionaries of Christ novitiate in Monterrey. He studied Humanities in Salamanca, Spain, and on August 10, he took his perpetual vows, returning to Rome to pursue his studies in Theology.

Regarding his vocation, he says: “The concern that God was probably calling me to be a priest had been with me since I was little, but I ignored it for a long time. No matter how much time passed, this concern never went away. Sometimes I thought about the testimonies of several priests who said that before consecrating themselves to God, they had everything in their lives but felt a great emptiness and decided to leave everything to become priests. I did not identify with them, nor did I feel that ‘emptiness.’ I enjoyed life and was happy at the same time.

I tried to forget about this vocation to be a legionary by distancing myself from the Regnum Christi, letting myself be carried more by the environment of the world, parties… But when I saw very dear people far from God, the desire to help them find that happiness they sought elsewhere but which is only in God was awakened in me.”