“In Your Name I Will Cast the Nets”
Tell us about that moment that marked your path to priesthood. What made you think about becoming a priest?
The desire to help others. This desire was deeper and materialized when I met a priest who told me that the greatest gift a man can offer others is the Eucharist. From that moment, I began to nurture the invitation from God to become a priest through prayer and, over time, at the Vocational Center, until I started the Novitiate.
Why the Legion and not another place?
What attracted me to the Legion of Christ was the love for liturgy, the atmosphere of joy, and the charity I noticed in the priests and members of Regnum Christi. In the mind of a teenager, I didn’t understand how one could be happy loving God and doing good to others, and here is where I found the answer.
Over these years, you have surely experienced difficult moments and others wonderful ones. Tell us something about them?
There were difficult moments of confusion and fatigue throughout my 14 years of formation. But in those moments, I was not lacking the special protection of the Virgin Mary and the closeness of many brothers who make those periods more bearable.
What has helped you the most in your vocation?
What has helped me the most is the rosary, which for me is like walking hand in hand with Mary. Also, my brothers have been a fundamental support to continue with faith and enthusiasm in my vocation.
A saint to imitate
For me, Saint Philip Neri, a joyful saint close to everyone.
In what would you like to exercise your priestly ministry?
I would like to dedicate myself to youth ministry, as I have been doing until today as a trainer for high school students. I am excited to be a friend and support for young people, offering them answers and motivations so that in their daily lives they know that God is with them and that with their lives they can change the world for good.
If you had to summarize in one phrase what you would like your priesthood to be, what would it be?
To serve and bring God to others.
What would you like to contribute as a priest to the Regnum Christi family?
The unity and joy that arise from feeling like one big family in Christ.
Father John Edison Chaverra, L.C., was born on May 5, 1987, in Medellín, Colombia. In 1999, he entered the Vocational Center and completed his high school studies there. He began the Novitiate on February 2, 2004, in Medellín and made his first religious profession in 2006. From 2006 to 2007, he studied classical humanities in Salamanca, Spain, and then began his bachelor’s in philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, Italy. In 2009, he returned to Salamanca to carry out apostolic practices as an assistant to humanists. In 2013, he returned to Rome to begin his licentiate in philosophy with a specialization in anthropology, and in 2015, he started his bachelor’s in theology. Since June 2018, he has been appointed as a trainer for the high school at the Cumbres Mexico Institute and assistant for the youth section in Mexico City, a position he currently holds. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in education, specializing in management and educational coaching, at the Universidad Anáhuac México.
