Back where it all began
Monday, August 30, 2010
*Father Roberto Garza
On May 11, 1986, after spending some time on a vocational retreat at the Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit, I came to the conclusion that maybe God wanted me to be a priest. Before that week I had never contemplated being a priest. I actually wanted to get married, have at least 12 children, and be a very successful architect. I wanted to build something like the Roman Coloseum, the Pantheon or the Parthenon, but greater. What an illusion!
Instead I said, �Yes, Lord, I will follow you.� In my heart I believed that God was calling me.
I thought that priests became priests by following and learning from other priests. Yes, I admit my ignorance: I did not know that seminaries existed. Had I known, I don�t think that my response would have been so immediate. God is awesome, he knew how to get me and he did!
Once I learned that I had to study for eight years, God had me in the palm of his hand. The retreat, the call, my response, my meeting with Father Federico Capdepon, who was then the assistant vocations director, the application process, and my acceptance, all was a very smooth and easy process.
The difficulties did not begin until I was in the seminary of St. John Vianney. Studying to be a priest wasn�t as easy as saying yes to the Lord. The journey was tough, the cross was very heavy. I almost left the seminary five times; the fifth time I was packed and ready to leave. Father Bill Elbert, my spiritual director, asked me to go on a retreat before leaving. The retreat was tough! I realized that I was being selfish and allowing my fears to dictate my life.
I returned to St. John Vianney a different man. More than ever I believed God was calling me to be a priest; again I said, �Yes, Lord, I will follow you.� The rest of that year, and the three years that followed, I focused my life on Christ and accepted the formation that was being offered to me.
In these plus 14 years of priesthood, I have prayed in thanksgiving to God for Father Tom O�Dwyer, Father Elbert, Father Ron Pusak, Auxiliary Bishop John Noonan and the entire staff of St. John Vianney College Seminary. This place is indeed a sacred place. It is the heart of the Archdiocese of Miami, for it forms the priests of our Church. The difficulties of my first year were like the seeds of wheat that fall to the ground and die � they have produced much fruit in my life.
I went on to study at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, and on May 11, 1996, 10 years to the day I said �yes� to God, Archbishop John C. Favalora ordained me to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. This ministry has taken me to be parochial vicar at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Key West, to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome to study missiology, to be parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Church in Miami, to minister at Catholic Charities, Catholic Hospice and Community Partnership for the Homeless, Inc., to be a spiritual director at St. John Vianney, to be the pastor of San Isidro Church in Pompano, to be the vocations director of the archdiocese and now to be the rector of St. John Vianney, where it all began.
I am honored by the trust of Archbishop Thomas Wenski in assigning me to this sacred place. I will walk with St. John Vianney and allow him to continue teaching me, as he has done for 22 years, with his example as a priest of Jesus Christ. I will try to live every day in accordance with what St. John Vianney stated: �We have nothing of our own but our will. It is the only thing that God has so placed in our own power that we can make an offering of it to him.�
My hope is that I will continue every day to offer myself to God, that he will restore me to be the man he created and has called me to be.
What a blessing for me. I am at home here at St. John Vianney. I invite you to remember us in prayer every time you approach the altar for Mass, so that the 68 seminarians who will study here this year, the lay staff, and the priests who will minister with me in this sacred place, the heart of our archdiocese, will walk and learn with our patron, St. John Vianney.
Comments from readers
I wish you well on your return home as the new rector of St. John Vianney minor seminary.
We met briefly at the office of the Archdiocese to discuss the vocation to the priesthood. Thanks for your time and maybe I'll be a seminarian next fall with God's grace.
It is really inspirational. Your life story can be an eye opener for many who still find no answer to the call of God. Let your life example bring new convictions to many so that they can proudly say big & eternal ''AMEN" to God. May the Almighty bless you abundantly to witness HIM in your new assignement. May GOD bless.
Has it been over fourteen years? With God's grace, may your journey of faith postively influence those discerning the priesthood. Congratulations and many blessings to you on your newest appointment. Praying for vocations.
Wow...what a beautiful testimony! Thank you for sharing. May God bless you and may His hand guide you as you minister and lead our future priests. I pray they all be holy priests, filled to overflowing with His Holy Spirit.
I did not know that you wanted to be an architect at one time, how interesting!
Thank you for leading and guiding us at San Isidro.
In His love, peace and joy and lots of prayers!
I enjoyed reading your blog. It brought back lots of good memories from our days at St. John Vianney. We were so blessed with the priests who helped form us. I'm sure you will be a blessing for the seminarians under you guidance.Know you are in my prayers as you assume this new role. In Christ, Fr. Jeff
Congratulations once again as you take the helm of this truly holy place! May you continue to foster an environment of joyful trust in Jesus!
I am happy that you are now the Rector. I know that our seminarians (St. Agatha's Church has two sons: Michael Garcia and Jonathan Sanchez) are in good hands. I thank you and congratulate you for saying yes to the Lord. May you continue the good work that He had begun in you 22 years ago and bring it to fullfilment.
Blessings
-Matthew Gomez