St. Bonaventure School fifth-graders ‘Adopt a Seminarian’

By Vilma Angulo - St. Bonaventure Church

DAVIE | Fifth-grade students at St. Bonaventure School have been studying the sacraments. To help them better learn about the sacrament of Holy Orders, their teacher, Rosie DiLella, tried to find a new perspective that would also increase their awareness of religious vocations.

She contacted Deacon Matthew Gomez at St. Vincent De Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach and asked if he would be willing to be “adopted” by her class. He gladly accepted and made the commitment to visit the students, who had been preparing for weeks to meet him.

Prayer was a very important part of their preparation. The 64 students prayed each day for Deacon Gomez as he approaches his ordination this May. The students also prepared cards welcoming him to their school for his visit.

Deacon Gomez and the students met Dec. 1. Each student greeted him wearing a membership card signifying each one’s promise to pray for him and the success of his vocation. On the back of the card was the text of the prayer the students recite for him daily.

Deacon Gomez and the students were clearly energized by their long-anticipated meeting. For his part, he brought boundless energy and a contagious smile as he recounted the roads he had traveled in his vocational journey. The students listened with rapt attention as he pointed out the times of smooth sailing — as well as the occasional bumps in the road — he had encountered along the way. After he finished, they peppered him with questions.

The students wanted to know everything about becoming a priest. When had he felt his call to ministry? What was daily life like at the seminary? What do seminarians do when they have free time?

Deacon Gomez answered all the questions and compared his journey to a roller coaster ride. “There are beautiful moments, and there are (other, less-beautiful) moments. (Some are) awesome moments and some are scary moments,” he told them. However, he said, if he were presented with each of those good, bad and scary moments again, he’d do them all again in a heartbeat.

“I’m confident it’s what God has in store for me,” he told them.

Deacon Gomez credited his parents with providing an exemplary ethical and religious upbringing that helped him make his decision to study for the priesthood. When he told them that was his choice in life, his family regarded the decision with little surprise. They told him they long suspected that would be the choice he’d make.

One student asked Deacon Gomez what was his favorite activity at the seminary. He did not hesitate before answering. “It’s being with the other 85 guys who are all different in personality and culture but we’re all studying for the same thing: the priesthood of Jesus Christ.”

Another question caused him to reflect a bit: What inspires him and humbles him the most?

His voice grew softer as he responded: “The fact that in six months I will place my hands over ordinary bread and wine and through the power of the Spirit it will become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ,” he told them. “I’m nervous, excited, shaking in my boots and extremely humbled that the Lord has called me, and that’s where the peace comes from.”

The students are looking forward to sharing an exciting year with Deacon Gomez. More visits to the school are planned and the students say they hope to visit him at the seminary and perhaps even attend his ordination.