Search
-
Deacon (English)deaconbobstjosephplacentia.orgDear Fellow St Joseph Parishioners,
I am excited about the idea of serving our diocese and parish as a permanent deacon! Our formation was wonderful, filled with lots of learning about our faith, the bible, theology, and liturgy. There was also plenty of time for my wife and I to carefully discern our calling. Though I believe the most remarkable formation gift I received was a complete overhaul of my prayer life.
As a bit of background, the early part of my adult life was characterized by busyness. College was busy with engineering study, sports, and social club activities. I was blessed to meet and marry my beautiful wife, Olga. But the busyness of our lives only accelerated with the first job, first home, and having two kids, Jazmine, and Bobby within 19 months of each other. Our pace of life reached a crazy level when I decided to go back to school for a masters while working full time with two children still in diapers. At that time my faith life was a low priority because my plan left no time for it. We attended Mass regularly as a family, but I was just going through the motions. Although there were bright spots with promotions and kids’ milestones, our marriage was subject to serious ups and downs, and I was not really fulfilled.
I later found out that Olga had been praying to our Blessed Mother for a spiritual turnaround for me. All those Rosaries began to work, slowly. I started to get involved in the parish. I joined the Knights of Columbus, started attending retreats and most importantly started a regular prayer life, including a daily Rosary. Shortly after Father Miguel invited Olga and me over to the rectory to talk about considering the diaconate. For a long time (years) after the start of formation, we were in discernment mode, not sure we were called, but keeping our minds open. Then after classes on Catholic Social Teaching, I began to appreciate the great needs of the Church. I could finally visualize how my gifts could be used to help. My prayer life continues to grow with more focus on the Eucharist and adoration. I find the more I rely on God, the better things turn out. I pray that God make me humble and sends down the Holy Spirit to guide me in being a good servant of his people.