Vocations

As Catholic Sisters Week was celebrated in mid-March, dedicated to the presence and commitment of religious life in the archdiocese, a youth movement was begun at the parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus, which aims to provide young people with spaces for dialogue, spending time together, and reflecting for their human and Christian formation to be comprehensive.

Assumption Seminary holds a Rector’s Cup, a sporting event within the seminary, each year. This year the Rector’s Cup was also paired up with the multi-cultural celebration, an event featuring seminarians’ native food and entertainment. For the Rector’s Cup, the students usually play three sports: soccer, basketball and volleyball. Whichever team wins two out of these three games, receives the Rector’s Cup and has boasting rights. This year the Rector’s Cup was scheduled February 26 and 27 but a few changes were made. Since there were more theologians, two teams with a mix of collegians, pre-theologians and theologians were chosen. Secondly, since Assumption does not have a gym, and because of COVID-19 restrictions, the seminarians decided to substitute ultimate Frisbee and flag football, which could be played outside, in place of basketball and volleyball.

Two priests were incardinated into the Archdiocese of San Antonio prior to the Clergy Day Zoom meeting February 22. Father Alejandro Ortega, parochial vicar of San Fernando Cathedral, and Father Rafael Duda, parochial vicar at Notre Dame Church in Kerrville, joined the archdiocesan presbyterate during a ceremony at the Pastoral Center’s St. Joseph Chapel.

Two seminarians from San Antonio received the Rite of Candidacy for Holy Orders from Auxiliary Bishop Michael Boulette in a Mass at the seminary’s Our Lady’s Chapel on February 13. They were Michael Coronado and Alexius Ibeawuchi Ohaeri.

Assumption Seminary in San Antonio has been around for over 100 years century to forming and training Catholic Priests, but for many, it is still a hidden treasure. With so much history, this seminary has continued to accomplish great things. Today, our network of alumni stretching from California, Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Tennessee, Virginia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas, (and others), to El Salvador and Columbia, serve the Catholic populations of their dioceses. Twelve Catholic bishops have been among the alumni of our esteemed school. For more than a century, Assumption Seminary has been the home of hundreds of priests in Texas and neighboring states, spiritual leaders formed to serve the Church in the image of God.

World Day for Consecrated Life was celebrated in the Church on February 2 and in parishes the weekend of February 6-7. The event was instituted by Pope St. John Paul II in 1997 as a time to pray for all those men and women who have made commitments in the consecrated life and to thank them so that they would continue to be inspired by Jesus Christ and respond generously to God's gift of their vocation

Three Redemptorist brothers – Song You, Huan T. Le, and Huyen T. Nguyen – were ordained to the diaconate through the imposition of hands and the invocation of the Holy Spirit by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, at St. Gerard Church in San Antonio on January 23.

Msgr. Michael Yarbrough, 74, a longtime pastor of two of the largest parishes in the archdiocese who also served in numerous leadership roles on the archdiocesan level, died in hospice care at Methodist Stone Oak Hospital in San Antonio January 13 ­­­­due to COVID-19 related illness and other health issues.

Sister Yolanda Tarango, CCVI, from the El Paso suburb of Ysleta, saw her young life come full circle in the late 1970s, doing youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of El Paso. But more was to follow.

Father David Garcia, former director of the Old Spanish Missions and past rector of San Fernando Cathedral, was recently asked to submit a reflection for a book published by Harvard alumni.

A memorial Mass for Father Michael Bouzigard, SJ, was held at Assumption Seminary’s Our Lady’s Chapel on December 15, with Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, presiding, and Auxiliary Bishop Michael Boulette as the homilist.

Sister Yolanda Tarango, CCVI, considers herself a child of the Second Vatican Council and was influenced by it in the paths her life has taken. “Things were changing,” she recalls of those days in the 1960s, “and there was, during that whole period, a real sense of excitement and hope about the church and church service.”

Father Michael A. Bouzigard, SJ, died December 1 in San Antonio, Texas. He was 56 years old, a Jesuit for 29 years and a priest for 19 years.

The archdiocesan Vocations Office recently hosted a men’s discernment retreat at Assumption Seminary December 4-6.

A memorial Mass in honor of Sister María Elena González, RSM, the third president of the Mexican American Catholic College (formerly the Mexican American Cultural Center), was held in the chapel on campus December 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Archdiocese of San Antonio will hold the Retirement Fund for Religious collection Dec. 12-13. The National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO) coordinates this annual appeal and distributes the proceeds to assist eligible U.S. religious communities with their retirement needs. Nearly 30,000 senior sisters, brothers and religious order priests benefit.

Region XII of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious congratulates Sister Norma Pimentel, Missionary Sister of Jesus, who was named by Time Magazine as one of its “100 Most Influential People for 2020.”

In the history of humanity to discern what the purpose of our life is one of the most tremendous questions that we need to resolve. This is a process that needs time in getting know one self and constant prayer.

A closing Mass and vocations fair was celebrated for National Vocations Awareness Week November 8 at 12:30 p.m. at Prince of Peace Church.

Seminarian Spotlight of Dalton R. Moy

If someone were to have told me four years ago that I would be in the seminary, discerning the priesthood in four years, I would have kindly smiled at that person and said “no, I don’t think so.”

Brother Allen Agpaoa Pacquing professed perpetual vows in the Society of Mary (Marianists) on October 3, at Guadalupe Chapel on the campus of St. Mary’s University. Father Oscar Vasquez, provincial of the Marianist Province of the United States, presided at the Eucharist and received the vows. Father Tim Kenney, assistant for religious life, concelebrated and presented Brother Allen for the rite of religious profession.

Corpus Christi Bishop William Mulvey presided at a Mass at Our Lady’s Chapel at Assumption Seminary on October 10 as he conferred the Ministry of Lector and Acolyte on several seminarians.

The Board of the Mexican American Catholic College (MACC) announced October 16 the appointment of Father Juan Molina Flores, Ph.D., as president.

An Altar Server Appreciation Mass to celebrate the dedication and commitment of altar servers from across the archdiocese as they serve in this important ministry was celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Michael Boulette on October 17 at St. Rose of Lima Church.

Name: Diego E. Castellanos
Educational year: Philosophy 3

I was born and raised in San Antonio. My whole life I was involved in the Church. I helped with handing out hymnals, ushering, and altar serving from a young age. I always found myself going to Church functions outside of just Sunday Mass, typically because my parents would drag my three older brothers and I to them.

Two men — Edward Joseph Gonzales and Paul Abraham Melgarejo — were ordained transitional deacons for the archdiocese on September 12 by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, at St. Dominic Church and, God willing, will be ordained as priests in the next few months.

The founder of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Family, Venerable John Berthier, M.S., had these thoughts in mind in the early years: (1) promote the message of Our Lady of La Salette to help people draw closer to the Lord and (2) provide more missionaries for the Church through belated vocations.

The Marianist Province of the United States celebrated the ordinations of Father Michael Chiuri, SM, and Father Brandon Paluch, SM, during a Mass at Our Lady of the Pillar Parish in St. Louis on Aug. 22.

A new pastors, administrators and parochial vicars workshop was held at the Mexican American Catholic College August 24-25 to give clergy in new assignments an overview of the administration of the archdiocese.

I am originally from Mexico. My vocation to become a priest started in elementary school, but my desire became more formal when I entered the High School seminary in my home Diocese of Queretaro, where I studied for four years. When I was 19 years old, I decided to try the religious life and I entered the congregation of Legionaries of Christ for five years. After some discernment, I left the seminary and started to study English as second language and become a paralegal through the University of Nebraska at Omaha. In the four years after left the seminary, the desire to become a priest was still present in my life.

Name: Guillermo Cruz Hernandez
Educational year: Second year of Pre-Theology, Bachelor’s degree in “Humanidades Clasicas”

The Congregation of Divine Providence held three ceremonies of late July and early August in which five Sisters celebrated their perpetual profession of vows, first vows, and renewal of vows.

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, met in mid-August in his office at the archdiocesan Pastoral Center with the provincial of the Missionhurst-CICM U.S. Province, Father Celso Tabalanza, center; and the vice-provincial, Father Andre Kazadi.

August 15 was a day of amazing celebration, as the archdiocese rejoiced with the Blessed Mother on the Solemnity of her Assumption into heaven with the ordination of 12 men for the ministry of service by ordination as deacons for the Church.

Father Michael Henry Levy, OMI, born in New Orleans on May 8, 1931, died in San Antonio on July 17 at the age of 89 years. Father Levy professed vows as a member of the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate on May 31, 1951. After his Philosophical and Theological Studies in San Antonio, he was ordained to the priesthood on June 1, 1957 at St. Mary’s Church in San Antonio by Bishop Michael Leven.

Msgr. Albert Hubertus is celebrating 70 years as a priest. He was ordained on May 27, 1950. His first assignment began June 15, 1950 at St. Mary’s Church in Fredericksburg and from there he served in Kerrville at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital and Notre Dame Parish. Msgr. Hubertus also served in San Antonio at Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Selma, St. Michael in Weimar, and St. Philip in El Campo. He served at St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles for 12 years, and was the founding pastor of St. Anthony Mary Claret Parish in west San Antonio.

Msgr. Arnold “Buzz” Anders celebrated his 70th anniversary of priestly ordination on May 27 in San Antonio at the Padua Place residence for retired priests, where he has resided since July 2017.

Father Vincent Bui, PSS, who served at Assumption Seminary on the Council of Formators and as a seminarian advisor and liturgy director, died June 9 of COVID-19. He was 58 years old.

During a time of darkness that pervades the world with the COVID-19 pandemic, the archdiocese experienced points of light in late March with the austere but beautiful ordination Masses of four new priests by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS.

Brother Edward Tembo, CICM, was ordained a deacon for the Church by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, in a special Mass at St. Patrick Parish on February 15, with the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and many friends who have supported his vocation rejoicing in a spirit of gratitude.

Very Rev. Kevin P. Fausz, CM, VU, pastor of Holy Redeemer and Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Michael Catholic Churches as well as dean of the Central Urban Deanery, was inducted into the Black Worship Clergy Hall of Fame, along with Rev. Dr. Claudette Copeland of New Creation Christian Fellowship, February 24 at an event at Antioch Community Sports Complex.

World Day for Consecrated Life, which is celebrated each year, was instituted by St. Pope John Paul II in 1997 in conjunction with the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, commemorating the coming of Christ with the symbolic lighting of candles.

The Mexican American Catholic College (MACC) has a number of religious women on campus currently taking take part in a program featuring intercultural resources for congregations. This program provides educational and formational experiences, consultative and coaching services, and specially designed resources for international congregations of women religious who are intentionally responding to the opportunities and challenges of growing cultural and generational diversity in their communities.

Attending a meeting for religious archivists, historians and congregational leaders in 2018, a book by the archivist for a women’s religious community caught the eye of Father Jack Clark Robinson, OFM, provincial minister for Our Lady of Guadalupe Province. With him at the conference were archivists from the six U.S. Franciscan provinces, including his own, who had recently committed to the process of restructuring into a single province.

It was during the first week of Advent in 1869 that the first Mass was celebrated at the newly established Santa Rosa Infirmary. The foundation Mass, celebrated on December 3, 1869, is described as being attended by the Sisters and a few close friends. “The chapel was a small room in the hospital in which there was no sufficient space for many worshippers.”

Four men from the Archdiocese of San Antonio and two from the Capuchin Franciscan Friars were ordained to the diaconate to serve the people of God by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, on November 16 at St. Anthony Mary Claret Church.

“He seemed to never tire of being with God’s People. “Tom Flanagan was truly with us and for us!” “He had the heart of a little one.” Those were just some of the phrases used to describe retired San Antonio Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Flanagan at his funeral Mass on October 15.

At Casa de Padre’s groundbreaking on June 11, 1989, then-Archbishop Patrick F. Flores happily manned a bulldozer to turn the first scoop of Texas Hill Country earth that marked the start of construction on the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s retirement center for priests.

Almost two dozen young women took part in the archdiocesan “Nun Run” on Sept. 28, to let them see different ways of living religious life.

The Capuchin Franciscan friars of the Province of St. Conrad have announced the solemn final profession of Brother Alejandro Díaz, OFM Cap, of San Lorenzo de Brindís Friary on West Ashby Place in San Antonio, a second-year seminarian at the Oblate School of Theology

Several young men gathered at the Discernment House at Assumption Seminary on October 7 for the archdiocesan Andrew Dinner.

Three priests were incardinated into the presbyterate of the Archdiocese of San Antonio in a ceremony held during Clergy Day on Sept. 24 at St. Pius X Church.

Father Hy Nguyen, PSS, was formally installed as the new rector of Assumption Seminary Sept. 9 in a Mass at Our Lady’s Chapel with Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS.

Assumption Seminary Associates assembled 62 back-to-school baskets for the seminarians on Aug. 30.

The San Antonio Vocation Office presented the opening and blessing by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS of the Discernment House at Assumption Seminary’s Lopez Hall on Aug. 19. Taking part in the event were Father Jonathan Felux, vocations director, and Father Danny Nyang’au, associate vocations director.

Bishop Gerald Barnes, a priest of the Archdiocese of San Antonio and longtime bishop of the Diocese of San Bernardino, Calif., was honored for his lifetime of priestly ministry at the Assumption Seminary Leadership in Faith and Service Celebration Aug. 29.

Major superiors of religious men, councilors, and their program leaders from across the country gathered in San Antonio in early August to attend a special national assembly discussing the future of religious life in the United States.

In a day of great joy, Duncan Amek, a native of Homa Bay, Kenya, was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of San Antonio by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, on May 15 at St. Ann’s Church, where had served as a deacon for the past year.

The Society of St. Sulpice and the Archdiocese of San Antonio have announced the appointment of Father Hy Nguyen, PSS, as Rector of Assumption Seminary, beginning July 1.

Dog walkers, bike riders, joggers, and Catholics priests hearing confession - most of these things you can find in any given park on any given summer day. But one of these things is not like the others.

A young Polish priest who was ordained last month following a terminal cancer diagnosis has died, his community announced recently.

Starting in 2013, and every year since for the past seven years, one young man from the parish of St. Mary’s in Hudson, Ohio, has been ordained a priest of Jesus Christ for the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis spoke to African-based missionaries gathered at the Vatican recently, applauding their efforts to show compassion to the continent’s most vulnerable.

Pope Francis recently advised listening to and speaking with Christ the Good Shepherd in prayer, so that one can be guided on the right paths of life.

The holy oil blessed at the Chrism Mass is a reminder of the priest’s call to be close to the People of God, pouring himself out in service to them, Pope Francis said during Holy Week.

Pope Francis urged religious communities in Morocco to practice an “ecumencism of charity,” calling for dialogue, not proselytism, in the Muslim-majority country .

Pope Francis said this past spring that the nine Spanish seminarian martyrs beatified this weekend provide a witness to priests and bishops to remain pure and generous.

As the Catholic Church prepares to celebrate the World Day for Consecrated Life, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations (CCLV) is releasing the results of a survey taken of the most recent Profession Class of 2017 conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).The survey results have been released to coincide with the annual celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life, which will be celebrated in the Church on Friday, Feb. 2, and in parishes on the weekend of Feb. 3-4.

On Monday the Vatican announced Pope Francis' appointment of Oratorian Father Mario Alberto Aviles as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville.

In June, the National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO) distributed $25 million to 390 religious communities across the United States. The funding is provided by donations to the Retirement Fund for Religious collection. The annual, parish-based appeal is held in most U.S. Catholic parishes each December and benefits more than 32,000 elderly Catholic sisters, brothers and religious order priests. The most recent collection raised nearly $30.7 million and marked the second year in a row that contributions exceeded $30 million.

Mass for conferral of holy orders for Praveen Kumar Lakkisetti, Danny Darius Nyakundi Nyang'au, Abel Ruiz, and Daniel Eduardo Villarreal to the priesthood and George Mbugua Ndung'u Wanjiru to the diaconate is available on Facebook live on at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 20, from St. Mark the Evangelist Church in San Antonio on the Archdiocese of San Antonio Facebook page and the Today's Catholic Facebook page.

Nearly all of the religious men and women who professed perpetual vows in 2016 had a strong prayer life prior to entering their religious institute, according to a survey on men and women religious conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. The survey results were released February 2, to coincide with the annual celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life.

In the eyes of many, Sister Joni Luna had it all.

“E-e-e-e-vermore, I will satiate thy thirst for souls," the cluster of white-saried sisters sing to their crucified spouse. In a very confining nutshell, that is the charism of the Missionaries of Charity, who seek to serve Christ through their fellow men: “Christ in the most distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor.”

Archbishop Timothy Broglio is begging for more priests for the Archdiocese of Military Services, saying that he soon may be “unable to provide Catholic priests for the military.”

Sister Stephanie Marie Martinez performs several different roles in her job at Blessed Sacrament Academy (BSA). She returned to BSA from other assignments in 1992 to serve as administrative assistant. She has since added grant writer, alumni relationship builder, donation record keeper and inveterate prayer warrior. She teaches Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) at Mission San José, loves to cook, has a joyous laugh and a welcoming heart.

Former Oblate School of Theology and Assumption Seminary faculty member Father John Kemper, PSS, 57, has been named provincial superior of the Society of St. Sulpice, also known as the Sulpician Fathers, for the United States Province. He will take office July 1. The Sulpicians were founded solely for formation of future priests. The U.S. Province runs four seminaries, and helps with formation at certain seminaries around the nation, presently including OST's sister institution, Assumption Seminary.

World Day of Consecrated Life was observed by women and men religious of the archdiocese on Feb. 8 with a gathering at the St. Paul Community Center. Attendees heard bilingual presentations on “Evangelii Gaudium” and a message from the teachings of Pope Francis.

Amidst the presence of parents, family members and friends of seminarians and alumni priests, Assumption Seminary celebrated Family Day on March 15. It was a day of memory, acknowledgement and gratitude to the parents and friends of seminarians and priests as the seminary celebrates the centennial of its mission.

Father David Garcia, whose boundless passion and enthusiasm for a variety of priestly assignments over the years has aptly earned him the “Energizer Bunny” moniker, celebrated 40 years in the priesthood on March 20 at St. Luke Church. Concelebrating the Mass were Bishop Gerald Barnes of the Diocese of San Bernardino, Father Virgil Elizondo and Msgr. Michael Boulette, in the presence Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Amarillo John W. Yanta, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Thomas J. Flanagan and many fellow priests, family members and friends.

More than 5,000 years of service to the church by women and men religious, priests, and deacons observing significant anniversaries in 2015 were honored by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS, at the archdiocesan jubilee Mass held at Our Lady of Grace Church on April 21.

Three Missionhurst-CICM students renewed their temporary vows in the community in late April. Brother Leo Sanggaria, CICM, from Indonesia, signed his vows before Father Charles Phukuta, CICM, U.S. provincial superior.

The Del Rio Pray for Vocations (Traveling Crucifix) Program began in the summer of 2013 at Sacred Heart Church.

Pope Francis presided over the ordination of nearly twenty men to the priesthood on April 26, where he warned them against being vain priests who live first for their own pleasure rather than for God’s.

The numbers are in: almost 600 Catholic men will be ordained priests for the U.S. in 2015, an increase of more than 100 from last year.

Knights of Columbus Council 4183 held its annual Knights with the Seminarians’ Dinner recently at the KC Hall in New Braunfels, with all monies received from ticket sales allocated for seminarian financial support.

Brother Rubén Garza of the Brothers of the Beloved Disciples professed his first vows at chastity, poverty, obedience and Marian consecration at a Mass at St. Mary Magdalen Church on March 19. Father George Montague, SM, was the presider at the liturgy, which included three concelebrants: Father Joseph Mary Marshall, SM; Father Will Combs, BBD; and Father Robert Hogan, BBD. Altar servers were Brother Sean Stilson, BBD, and archdiocesan seminarian Michael Langford.

When the announcement came that Pope Francis declared 2015 as the Year of Consecrated Religious Life, jubilation was heard across the archdiocese from members of the religious communities.

Sister Agnesine Heinsch is one of seven Sisters of the Incarnate Word Blessed Sacrament who live in the convent on the campus of Blessed Sacrament Academy. For 58 years, she has served God as a member of the congregation -- first as a teacher at various schools in South Texas and later as treasurer for the BSA school office and the convent in San Antonio. As an individual, Sister Agnesine is full of life, encouraging and musical. The large garden she cultivated for many years behind the convent is now a playground enjoyed by children attending the Child Development Center, but she still has her green thumb. Sister Agnesine will also go fishing whenever possible.

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, met recently with the newly elected provincial of the Heralds of Good News community. Father Saji Sebastian, HGN, was in the archdiocese visiting Father Tomy Thomas and Father Mathew Binesh, who staff Resurrection of the Lord Parish in San Antonio.

In a wide-ranging, off-the-cuff speech to priests and religious in Naples, Pope Francis addressed various challenges of consecrated life, emphasizing above all the importance of poverty and resisting gossip.

The Assumption Seminary community rejoiced March 14 as eight of its men received Candidacy for Holy Orders during the Holy Eucharist presided by Bishop Daniel E. Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, representing all the bishops of the candidates.

Amidst the presence of parents, family members and friends of seminarians and alumni priests, Assumption Seminary celebrated Family Day on March 15. It was a day of memory, acknowledgement and gratitude to the parents and friends of seminarians and priests as the seminary celebrates the centennial of its mission.

Daughters of Charity Services of San Antonio hosted Catholic Daughters of America Court of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity on Feb. 23 to celebrate “Read Across America” with reading of books with three and four year olds.

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate sponsored a “Come and See” vocation discernment experience at the Pat Guidon Center of Oblate School of Theology the weekend of Jan. 16-18.

The spring semester at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio began with the visit of Archbishop Jorge C. Patron Wong, Vatican Secretary of Seminaries and Congregation for Clergy, on Jan. 10.

In his opening message for the 51st World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Francis invited those discerning a vocation to the priesthood or religious life to listen for what Jesus is calling them to. “I invite you to listen to and follow Jesus, to allow yourselves to be transformed interiorly by his words. It will help you to participate in a communal journey that is able to release the best energies in you and around you. No vocation is born of itself or lives for itself.A vocation flows from the heart of God and blossoms in the good soil of faithful people, in the experience of fraternal love,” the pontiff stated.