Three young men celebrated their entry into St. Junipero Serra House of Formation on September 13 at the annual Commitment Mass held at Christ the Redeemer Church in Grand Terrace.
Isaiah Valenzuela, from St. Francis of Assisi, La Quinta, Joshua Doran, from St. Thomas the Apostle, Riverside and Alan Guerrero, from St. Charles Borromeo, Bloomington, were recognized and blessed at the Mass, which was celebrated by Bishop Alberto Rojas.
“That’s the aim with our seminarians, as they listen to the word, they have to become the word themselves,” Bishop Rojas said during his homily. “We have three of our new seminarians here who are making the commitment of formation in the seminary and also receiving their uniform and especially the Liturgy of the Hours [book]…as one of the main nurturing elements… to nurture their own lives as priests and becoming more like the word.”
Dr. Father Javier Gonzalez Cabrera, Rector of Serra House, led the seminarians in the Commitment liturgy. After Bishop Rojas’ homily, Fr. González recited the Commitment liturgy and asked the young men several questions to affirm their decision to become seminarians. Fr. González approached each seminarian and offered them a book of the Liturgy of the Hours, confirming their commitment.
“When God calls young men to the priesthood, it’s not a coincidence,” Guerrero said in an interview with the Vocations Office. “It is a true calling that comes from God. Jesus tells us in His Gospels, ‘I came so that you should have life and have it abundantly.’ Start a journey with Christ of love and joy, do not be afraid.”
When reflecting on his own call, Valenzuela also recognizes that it is no coincidence by taking time to be in silence with God.
“Me being there with God alone in solitude, this image brings me back to why I feel that God is calling me and why God is calling me and how I feel about it,” Valenzuela said in an interview with the Diocesan Office of Vocations.
When looking at where formation has brought him so far and looking forward to his journey in the seminary, Doran says he is excited.
“How quickly, yet how slowly, and how much you transform in a short amount of time,” Doran reflected in an interview with the Vocations Office. “I’m only excited to know how deeper it will go. How much God, who has unfathomable depth in his love, will call on the love that he has put into my heart, which is also as unfathomable.”