Walking Lord, I want to live walking!

A psalm I used to repeat during my years of formation constantly comes to mind: “I will run in the way of your commandments when you have enlarged my heart” (Psalm 119:32). Being aware of my own limits and fears and, at the same time, witnessing God’s presence in my life, encourages me to trust in Him and to follow Him, asking Him to make me more capable each day of the mission He has entrusted to me.

I remember that since I was a child, I felt a great desire to be a priest inside me. This desire gradually matured thanks to the environment in which I grew up and everything I received from my family and in Regnum Christi.

I studied at Cumbres de Aguascalientes. I remember with much gratitude my teachers and classmates, but above all the gift of being able to have Christ Eucharist so close right there in the school, even being able to receive Him every day. I recognize that the friendship that has been developing with Christ Eucharist since then has been a firm arm guiding me in my vocation. Since I was a boy, I received Net magazines and was excited to look at the lives of saints presented in the magazines, to see those men, their lives, their dedication to God and others. Later, I participated in ECyD, although not constantly, and then in the Kingdom. I enjoyed participating in apostolates and Holy Week missions. In 2003, when I was in third year of secondary school, my two sisters consecrated themselves. I remember this marked me deeply and strongly reminded me of my vocational restlessness, although I also tried to set it aside and even reject it. During high school, I faced this issue more serenely. In Holy Week 2007, I went on a retreat at the Monterrey Novitiate. After finishing that retreat, I left convinced that I had to return there, taking the successive steps to respond to God. I saw that this was my place, what God wanted from me, and I also wanted it, but fear paralyzed me and pushed me to wait. That same year, in the summer, just after finishing high school, I went to the candidate program in Monterrey and decided to enter the Novitiate.

During my years of formation, I have been discovering God’s plan for me and, most surprisingly, discovering God’s plan for others through me, as I have been able to experience God’s action and grace working in others through the priest and Regnum Christi. I completed my two years of Novitiate in Monterrey, where I also made my first profession and a year of Humanities. In 2010, I went to Rome to study philosophy for two years, then I went to Brazil, where I did my apostolic practices. I remember this period of practices with special affection and gratitude. I spent three years in São Paulo, first in Arujá as a novice assistant and then in São Paulo city, supporting the territorial secretariat. Working shoulder to shoulder with my brothers, helping them at the beginning of their vocation, was a very special task that allowed me to get to know them and accompany them. In August 2015, after completing my apostolic practices, I renewed my vows and returned to Rome to study theology.

I believe that each stage of my formation has had its particular moments of grace, blessings, joy, and testing. Also, whenever I finished one stage and started another, I experienced a certain sadness for what was “left behind” and fear of facing what lies ahead. On the other hand, I have also experienced a growing joy, a joy that is purified and strengthened in following Christ and in giving to others. That is why I say: Walking Lord, I want to live walking! These last three years of my formation in Rome have been very special. Besides studying theology, God has given me great moments to share with my brother legionaries, and thanks to them, I have also grown. In 2016, I did spiritual exercises for a month. During this time, God helped me see my own vocational path and the foundations that have motivated and sustain my vocation: friendship with Christ, a friendship that has been growing and maturing, and the certainty of heaven, the certainty that everything passes and we are on our way to heaven. That is why I believe it is worth being a priest, giving life so that others may have life! On August 20, 2017, I made my perpetual profession, and the countdown to ordination began.

I was ordained deacon in September 2019 in my hometown, Aguascalientes. It is a great joy to be able to live and share this very important moment of God’s action in my life with all those who saw me grow and with whom I have shared so many moments, especially my family and the people of Regnum Christi. God has willed that I begin my apostolic ministry as chaplain of Colegio Andes del Bosque and as director of ECYD in San Luis Potosí. I start this path with much joy and trust in God: Walking Lord, I want to live walking!