“IT ALL STARTED IN THE LIVING ROOM OF MY HOUSE” 

CHILDHOOD AND CALLING 

 I thank God for the graces he has given me over the years. The first strokes of my vocation were born at my First Communion and later as a altar boy, which led me to be closer to God – although my friendship with Christ was a bit distracted – the truth is that he kept me very close to him. Thus, the years of my childhood passed from the age of seven. The truth is that the joy of my vocation began in the living room of my house where I celebrated mass with my friends, I played the priest and they were the faithful, using a few cookies and a little water. What I never imagined is that this would be the beginning of my calling. 

I had the grace of belonging to the Missionary Childhood; which helped me to grow in the Christian life, and to give ourselves to others, in an environment of much charity, etc.  

The desire to go to the seminary was real. At eleven years old, I remember that a Legionary priest arrived, and he spoke to several young people about the minor seminary of the Legionaries of Christ. I felt that God was calling me to that place… but this was not my moment, God was asking me for something more. God wanted me to live more outside, getting to know, having experiences, perhaps stumbling upon various difficulties. These helped me realize and firsthand experience what young people and even others go through in life. I saw it years later; the experiences perhaps were not the best, but they helped me mature.   

I lived experiences in which I sensed God’s call, and which for me were signs of that vocation and which strengthened it, increasing my desire to continue helping souls. Many asked me for advice; there I experienced being a channel of the Holy Spirit; I felt firsthand the gift of counsel I received at my confirmation. Not only that, but I also wanted souls to experience God’s mercy, because I had experienced it and, I knew that there were people who needed that mercy. I lived as a normal young person; made of flesh and blood, fragile, but also with a soul that felt a strong attraction to Christ and his things. 

In high school, when they asked me “what I wanted to be?”, it was no longer so easy to say I wanted to be a priest. I realized that temptations, more and more, became more evident; I felt attached to my girlfriend, to my tastes, to my human desires… however, these were attachments to selfishness and pride, and perhaps as a temptation to run away from what God was asking of me, it started to catch my attention,&; studying a civil career. I realized deep down that it was a temptation born of fear, of dread of what was truly meant for me. Over time, and through dialogue with the Priest who reconnected with me, I realized that these were mere temptations, which little by little, with subtlety, were creeping into my life and my vocational decision. 

 To this Legionary priest, I expressed my concerns. I remember he spoke of the Legion, which I did not know and which I thought was just another seminary.  He told me about religious life, and I realized that my ignorance was great. I felt in my heart that this was what God was asking of me.  

 I remember being excited about what he told me; although I didn’t understand much, but when he asked me “DO YOU REALLY WANT TO COME AND TRY?”, I felt a special impulse in my heart, inexplicable, like a pat on the back, and a clear voice inside me, that said “THIS IS WHERE I WANT YOU”, and I responded “YES”.  

 I felt that with my “YES”, God began to accompany me in a more special way, and not only me, but also my family. God had added me to his team, a grace, an undeserved gift… The adventure had begun. 

MY FAMILY  

Since I can remember, my family never opposed my calling, but supported me, even when I was very young when I told them. Thanks to them I can say that I am where I am, because they instilled in me the faith, from the moment they decided to baptize me and prepare me for the other sacraments.  

My father.  

My dad Ernesto, I remember he was always a man with clear ideas, certainly not ambitious, so he gave us what was necessary. He was dedicated to serving the community, always worried that the community lacked the essentials; he would always stir up trouble at public service offices until they gave him what he needed.  

My mother.

My mom Ana Belén, I remember many things. Some of the things I remember are her simplicity and her piety. Her simplicity because she was dedicated to her family and her duties as a wife, and despite the trials and my dad’s character, she always remained firm. From her I learned piety, the way to relate to God, and the prayer of the Holy Rosary, which we prayed as a family.  

My siblings. 

The idea of becoming a priest was always present in my house. My two brothers, –Alexander and Julio– older than me, also had thoughts of becoming priests, but they discovered that their vocation was to be parents.  

My dad, before marrying my mom, was widowed, and with his first wife, God blessed him with five children, whom I love very much: Ernesto Antonio, María del Carmen, Elsa María, Diomaira and José Gregorio. I am the youngest of the eight siblings. 

STAGES OF FORMATION.  

CANDIDACY 

I started this adventure in July 2006, on the same afternoon I received my high school diploma; traveling to Caracas to begin my candidacy along with four other young men. I was very excited to have the experience, and to see what God wanted from me.   

I learned a lot about the Legion and about the Church. Without a doubt, I was ignorant in many things, but that helped me deepen the value of being a true Christian and, above all, to see clearly what God was asking of me. Trials, many trials, but they helped me purify myself in the decision I was about to make.  

NOVITIATE  

I received the cassock on October 10, 2006, and my destination to begin the novitiate was Monterrey, Mexico. My novitiate was the most beautiful stage I have lived. A kind of continuous Tabor where prayer and study led us to the knowledge of Christ, which is why we call it the “University where Christ is studied”. I must admit that Latin and Greek were very difficult for me; but thanks to God, I succeeded in the important parts.   

The most beautiful moments were adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. There I learned how great the love for God is; to know his word in the Gospel, and I learned about the precious gift of the Eucharist, and the value of one’s own cross. 

I had moments of spiritual grace, in which, knowing myself, I managed to overcome those rough edges I had learned in my teenage years. The strongest were related to my character. It was very difficult for me to live charity, a very important virtue within our spirituality. I almost crossed the doors of my house over that foolishness. I realized I needed to work more on charity, but not only that, also humility, simplicity, and learning from Christ, to accept others equally, because that was the essence of the priesthood.  

This was the most beautiful stage of my religious life because thanks to what I learned, I was able to lay the necessary foundations for my religious life, which I would begin with my first profession of vows on August 24, 2008. 

HUMANITIES 

I started my humanistic studies a bit late. I thought the trials had passed. In this case, I faced two tests; one through studies and another spiritual, which later I saw as God’s test that he had placed in the crucible to purify me. 

 Studying was very difficult for me due to my bad habit of studying little, thanks to the lack of demand we had before entering the Legion. The methodology in Salamanca was European rigor, and I was facing this; it was a challenge I struggled to overcome, but God gave me a hand. 

 The second test was like a dark night, in which spiritual life and prayer were really difficult for me, a spiritual dryness. I saw no light, and it was truly a period that lasted more than three months, in which I felt rejection, a void in prayer. I realized this, discussed it with my spiritual director, who encouraged me not to lower my guard and to keep fighting.  

PHILOSOPHY. 

It was time to move on to the next stage, philosophy, in Rome. On the way, we made a pilgrimage to Ars, to visit the patron saint of priests, Saint John Vianney, and to entrust our vocation at the feet of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in Lourdes. 

It was a moment to gather strength for the priestly path. For me, arriving in the eternal city was wonderful; I was very happy; I wanted to make the most of that grace of God.   

The spiritual test that had begun in Salamanca came to an end. I thank God for that trial which helped me value the importance of spiritual life and to wait for everything from him; that we, by our own strength, cannot do anything at all, unless he gives us the necessary graces to overcome it. The philosophy stage helped me grow and mature more. Understanding man, understanding the relationship between faith and reason, gave me the tools to understand a little where we are and where we are headed as a society.  

APOSTOLIC PRACTICES 

I had the grace to serve as a formator at the Vocational Center Venezuela. I was there for a year. After that, the superiors saw fit for me to join the group of formators of the novitiate “Santa María de los Altos” in Caracas. It was a beautiful stage of formation for me. I learned to understand more closely the human heart, the Legionary vocation, and to brothers with great enthusiasm, love for their vocation, and a strong desire to be generous with God.  

LAST STAGE, THEOLOGY   

“Because the priesthood is Christ being born in you, to give himself to the hungry and thirsty humanity, amidst the adversities and temptations of today; because it is Christ who wants to reach souls through the feet, hands, and mouth of his priests, his living tabernacles”. 

It made a great impression on me to arrive at theology, – especially because it is the stage closest to priestly ordination–.  It is a moment of deep reflection and prayer about the steps you are about to take definitively in your life. The fundamental option made years ago to follow poverty, chastity, and obedience to the Lord, is reaffirmed to give it the final and inviolable seal in the moment in which there is no turning back, in which God will be born in you as a priest. 

During this period, I made my perpetual profession. It was a conscious response to God’s call to the Legion of Christ, to be a religious, to be his priest. I know that I have received everything undeservedly, and that is why I do not stop giving thanks, because I recognize how sinful I am, and for that I also do not stop thanking him for his mercy, a mercy that I want others to experience in the priesthood.  

Théology taught me to know more about Christ, to know more about the Church, and to understand better the ministry I will carry out, which I ask of God to be until the last moment of my life. 

DEACONSHIP

I was ordained deacon on August 21, 2018, in Mérida, by the hands of Mons. Luis Enrique Rojas, Auxiliary Bishop of Mérida, at the Vocational Center of Venezuela. The most special moment was the laying on of hands, in which the Holy Spirit descends with his strength and consecrates those who have been chosen by God for this service.