Vocations

The archdiocesan Office of Vocations thanks God for their recent discernment retreat “Life Awareness 2022,” held at the Cordi-Marian Retreat Center, in which 18 young people from the archdiocese participated to have an encounter with Christ and discern their vocation.

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, visited the Mexican American Catholic College on December 19 for their Staff Days and was serenaded for his 65th birthday.

Two newly arrived Congolese priests recently met with Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, in late December. They are Father Albert Toangutu Tomeka, left, and Father Donatien Egamwana Balikene

Father John Alexander Leies, SM, died in the service of the Blessed Virgin on December 22 at the age of 95 and with 77 years of vowed life. He was born in Chicago on April 24, 1926, the son of Alexander and Thecla (Eggar) Leies.

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, and Auxiliary Bishop Gary Janak met recently with the superior general of the Seraphic Sisters, Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows, Mother General Justyna Audra, along with Sister Agnes Bochenek

The annual archdiocesan priest’s Pre-Christmas get together was held recently at the St. Paul’s Parish Community Center.

A Life Awareness Religious Vocation Discernment Retreat is being hosted early next year for young adults by the archdiocesan Vocation Office.

Seminarian Family Day in the archdiocese was celebrated at Holy Trinity Church on November 13, the feast of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.

Lay vocation promoters from around the archdiocese met with Auxiliary Bishop Gary Janak and the archdiocesan Vocation Office team on November 20 at Assumption Seminary.

The Archdiocese of San Antonio will hold the Retirement Fund for Religious collection the weekend of December 11-12. The parish-based appeal is coordinated by the National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO) in Washington, D.C. Proceeds help religious communities across the country to care for aging members.

Permanent deacon candidates were installed into the ministry of lectors and acolytes at a liturgy on October 30 in which Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS, emphasized witness and peace from those serving at the altar.

“Worthy is the Lamb,” an appreciation Mass for altar servers, was celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Gary Janak at St. Rose of Lima Church on October 23

Father Jim Hynes, OFM, died peacefully October 2 at Padua Place retirement home, where he resided for the last several months. He was 76 years old.

Deacons and their wives from the archdiocese gathered at Holy Trinity Church October 1 and 2 for their annual spiritual renewal retreat, with keynote speakers Deacon Dominick and Teresa Tomeo from Michigan.

The Knights of Columbus hosted their annual Clergy Appreciation Dinner on September 24 at the Holy Trinity Banquet Hall.

The Assumption Seminary “Marshall Plan” continues with the replacement of a new air conditioning unit in Flores Hall.

“As opposed to wishing or simply desiring, hoping transforms and configures one’s life, and that was the obvious case in Father Len’s life,” Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, emphasized at the funeral Mass for Father Len Brown, CMF, held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on September 20.

Bishop Raymundo J. Peña, retired bishop of Brownsville who was an advocate of immigrant rights and opposed the border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, died Sept. 24 at age 87.

Funeral arrangements have been confirmed for Father Len Brown, CMF, who died on September 10 in San Antonio at the age of 71 years old.

Father Roger Montecalvo, CICM, was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, during a Mass at Sacred Heart Church on August 28. The new priest is in residence at St. James the Apostle Church and will spend the next year in continued studies at the University of the Incarnate Word.

Assumption Seminary Associates recently supplied welcome bags with toiletries, school supplies, snacks, stamps and gift cards for 60 seminarians.

The 60th anniversary of the founding of the Padua Place residence for retired clergy was celebrated with a special liturgy on September 12.

Following gracious pastoral care in formation, Michael Andrew Coronado and Alejandro Diaz, OFM Cap., were ordained as transitional deacons by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, at a liturgy at San Fernando Cathedral on September 11.

Father Carlos Velazquez was installed as rector of San Fernando Cathedral on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary August 15 by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS.

The Mexican American Catholic College (MACC) Convocation Mass was held at Our Lady’s Chapel at Assumption Seminary on August 22, with Father Rodolfo Caballero, pastor of Holy Trinity Church, as the presider

Knights of Columbus from Holy Trinity Council 9967, along with Deacon Ricardo Serdan and his son, spent several hours in early August laboring at lawn work to beautify the grounds of the Assumption Seminary. On this first visit to the campus, this group of men mowed the grass, trimmed bushes and plants, edged the lawn, swept, raked and disposed of clippings, and power-washed the entrance sign and statue of Mar

The Marshall Plan has been initiated at Assumption Seminary to involve the many Catholic groups and parishes supporting the seminary through prayer and work.

The archdiocese welcomed four new seminarians at a Mass of Sending Forth celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Gary Janak at San Fernando Cathedral on August 22.

OSV Institute for Catholic Innovation prepares to gather their “innovation tribe” of fellow trailblazing Catholics eager to experience the beauty, creativity, imagination, and innovation in the Church at the 2021 OSV Challenge Showcase.

This past August the Church celebrated the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (body and soul) into heaven. While the archdiocese does not have a parish dedicated to the Assumption, it does have Assumption Seminary located at 2600 West Woodlawn Avenue in San Antonio, Texas.

With joy and thanksgiving, the Congregation of Holy Cross will celebrate the final profession of vows of five men on August 28 at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame.

About two dozen new pastors, administrators, and parochial vicars gathered for two days recently at the Sacred Heart Church Civic Center for a workshop and presentations from archdiocesan departments and agencies.

It is with sadness and with thanksgiving for the gift of their presence and charism in San Antonio since 1914, that the archdiocese bid farewell to the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus in mid-August.

With praise and thanks to God, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians Mary Immaculate Province (Salesians) joyfully celebrated the loving fidelity of their Sisters at a jubilee celebration at Our Lady of the Lake University Sacred Heart Chapel on July 17.

Since I was 14, I decided to be closer to the Church. I began to discern God´s call to the priesthood. It has been an extraordinary experience full of blessings that motivate me every day and challenges that have made me grow and value my vocation. Perhaps I did not have the opportunity to live like any other young man, but I do not regret having chosen this great adventure.

This summer, three San Antonio seminarians, Michael Coronado, Dalton Moy, and Robert Shelton, went to Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, for a Spanish Immersion program.

A large crowd gathered at Sacred Heart Conventual Chapel on the campus of Our Lady of the Lake University at the end of June to commemorate the retirement of Sister Jane Ann Slater, CDP, from her role as chancellor of the archdiocese. She bid farewell after six years of dedicated service, but that is just the tip of the iceberg in capping more than six decades of ministry to the Church.

Her light has shown far beyond the little town of Texarkana, Ark., where Sister Jane Ann Slater, CDP, grew up. Raised by her widowed mother and nurtured by the Sisters of Divine Providence at their 12-year school, she would not only become the first in her congregation to serve twice as superior general, but would step up, at a time of crisis, to serve as president of Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU), 2013-2015.

​Father Eduardo D. Morales, pastor, celebrated his 25th anniversary of ordination with a drive through event at Sacred Heart Church in Uvalde hosted by his office staff on June 19, with his official anniversary date on June 21

A Zoom clergy day for 135 priests was hosted by Father Jim Fischler, director of the archdiocesan Office of Clergy, in early June.

Father Carlos Velazquez has been appointed to serve as the new rector of San Fernando Cathedral by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS.

In keeping with the recent trend of large yearly ordination classes for the permanent diaconate, 18 men were ordained deacons for the archdiocese on June 5 at a Mass at St. Mark the Evangelist Church celebrated by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS.

Missionaries of the Holy Spirit Jorge Haro and Rodolfo Martinez were ordained to the order of deacon by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS, on May 29 at St. Vincent de Paul Church in front of a congregation filled with priests, superiors, formators, parents, relatives, religious sisters, and seminarians.

The following official assignments have been made by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS, effective July 1, 2021.

Two men, Father Edward Joseph Gonzales and Father Paul Abraham Melgarejo, were ordained to the priesthood for the archdiocese by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS, on May 15 at St. Francis of Assisi Church.

Just shy of the one-year mark from when the program was launched, the Sisters on the Frontlines initiative, an alliance formed to respond to the immediate needs of communities impacted by COVID-19, has been fully funded. Catholic Extension made the announcement, indicating attainment of an ambitious goal that granted 1,000 Catholic sisters $1,000 each to help an individual or family suffering the adverse effects of the pandemic. More than $1,000,000 has been granted in total since the program’s inception.

St. Anthony Catholic High School (SACHS) has announced that former NFL player and UTSA star Ashaad Mabry has been hired as the new Yellow Jackets head football coach. In addition, Interim Athletic Director Michael Salas has been elevated to the permanent athletic director position. Coach Mabry and Athletic Director Salas were introduced to SACHS students, parents and staff on May 17 at Lang Field on the SACHS campus.

Mi nombre es Paul Abraham Melgarejo. Yo empecé mi formación en el Seminario de la Asunción, hace ocho años. Al principio no sabia mucho rezar ni tampoco sabía filosofía ni teología. Yo le pregunte al sacerdote que es lo que un seminarista hace aquí en el seminario. Él me dijo, aquí en el seminario se reza y se estudia todos los días. Para mi fue algo nuevo aprender a estudiar otra vez y aprender a rezar. Me acuerdo de que al principio solo sabia rezar el Ave María y el Padre Nuestro. Ahora que han pasado casi ocho años, he aprendido muchas oraciones y devociones que me han ayudado a crecer en mi vida espiritual. Mi formación en el Seminario la Asunción has sido fenomenal, llena de muchas sorpresas como también de retos y oportunidades en las ramas de espiritualidad, humana, pastoral e intelectual.

Fridays in Assumption Seminary have always had a unique schedule since I entered back in January of 2014. Classes, reading, studying, and homework took up most of my time between Monday and Thursday and the weekend, but Friday took on a different dynamic.

Father Kazimierz Oleksy was born on Dec. 1, 1966 in Krakow. He grew up, along with his brother and sister, in the home of Stanisław and Czesława Smoleń in Biskupice Radłowskie. He was baptized in his family parish on Dec. 18, 1966.

Sister Linda Marie, SSCM, and Sister Susan Pontz, SSCM, recently presented Father Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, with the 2020 Father Matthew Jankola Lifetime Servant Leadership Award for Education.

Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS, and priests of the archdiocese from India prayed for that country which is being ravaged by COVID-19 at a special Mass at Our Lady’s Chapel at Assumption Seminary on May 1. Father Prasanna Mese, pastor of St. Andrew’s Church in Pleasanton, was the homilist at the liturgy.

Father Tony Schueller, SSS, 71, was born Jan. 31, 1950 to John and Mary (née Heilmann), both deceased in Belgium, Wisc.

In anticipation of his ordination to the fullness of Christ’s priesthood as a bishop the following day; the apostolic nuncio, bishops, priests, family, and friends gathered with Auxiliary Bishop-elect Gary Janak April 19 in Our Lady’s Chapel at Assumption Seminary to celebrate the gift that God would bestow on him, as well as the people of the archdiocese.

Auxiliary Bishop Gary Janak has been appointed by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS, as chancellor of the archdiocese, effective July 1, 2021.

At a solemn Mass of installation and reception celebrated at St. Mark the Evangelist Church in San Antonio on April 20, Auxiliary Bishop Gary Janak was ordained as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS. Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the pope’s delegate to the United States, read an Apostolic Letter, or Papal Bull, confirming the appointment of the 59-year-old Bishop Janak.

Recuerdo la primera vez que leí las palabras del Papa Francisco en su Exhortación Apostólica, “Evangelii Gaudium.” Nuestro Papa dijo, “El Evangelio tiene un criterio de totalidad que le es inherente: no termina de ser Buena Noticia hasta que no es anunciado a todos, hasta que no fecunda y sana todas las dimensiones del hombre, y hasta que no integra a todos los hombres en la mesa del Reino. El todo es superior a la parte.” (ln. 237, Evangelii Gaudium)

I remember the first time I read the words of Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium.” Pope Francis shares with us, “The Gospel has an intrinsic principle of totality: it will always remain good news until it has been proclaimed to all people, until it has healed and strengthened every aspect of humanity, until it has brought all men and women together at table in God’s kingdom. The whole is greater than the part.” (ln. 237, Evangelii Gaudium)

When I spoke with my mom, prior to the announcement of my appointment as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of San Antonio, her first words were, “But you’re not from San Antonio” Well mom, I am now! Sí, ahora lo estoy.

When I spoke with my mom, prior to the announcement of my appointment as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of San Antonio, her first words were, “But you’re not from San Antonio” Well mom, I am now! Sí, ahora lo estoy.

Could Czech immigrants Francis and Catherine Svec Fikac ever have thought that four of their daughters -- Mary, Katie, Sophie and Annie -- would one day minister in 27 parishes across the state as Sisters of Divine Providence? Could these sisters -- Sisters Prisca, Sylvester, Dennis and Mildred Fikac -- ever have imagined that one day their great-nephew (Gary William Janak) would become bishop? In God’s Providence these thoughts became reality.

As I get closer to the end of my college years at Assumption Seminary, and prepare to graduate from Mexican American Catholic College and University of Incarnate Word, I have begun to reflect on these past four years that I spent as a collegian at Assumption Seminary.

Last month a somber anniversary was observed. It has been one year since the archdiocese was affected by the spread of the coronavirus. Assumption Seminary made the difficult, yet necessary, decision to close the campus and send the seminarians home in March 2020. Seminary life became virtual.

Monsignor Arnold “Buzz” Anthony Anders, the longest serving priest in the Diocese of Victoria, went to his eternal reward on Easter Sunday, April 4. Father Anders, as he preferred to be called, was born in Dubina on Dec. 11, 1926, to Frank and Annie Guenther Anders.

Msgr. Leonel “Leo” Martinez passed away April 5 at the Padua Place residence for priests. He was 89, and was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 21, 1963.

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.