Angelus News | May 31, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 20

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Ready to announce his glory Los Angeles, meet your new priests BY PABLO KAY / ANGELUS The vocation to the priesthood found each of this year’s new priests for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in different places, phases, and careers during their lives. To one, the calling appeared after atheism and a conversion spurred by a personal tragedy. To others, it started as a whisper at a young age that seemed to come and go at times, but never really went away for good. On June 1, these six men will be ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop José H. Gomez at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels after years of formation at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo. They will be sent forth to evangelize in a sprawling metropolis where so many yearn for answers to the deepest questions of their lives — answers that these men have personally found in Jesus Christ and his Church. Here are their stories. 10 • ANGELUS • May 31, 2019 To watch interviews with #NewLApriests visit angelusnews.com/lapriest ANGELUS
Miguel Ángel Ruiz Age: 27 Hometown: Yahualica, Jalisco, Mexico Home parish: St. Matthew Church, Long Beach First Mass: 4 p.m., Sunday, June 2, at St. Matthew First parish assignment: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, Rowland Heights Favorite hobby: Cooking VICTOR ALEMÁN The youngest member of the Class of 2019, Miguel Ángel Ruiz knew by the time he graduated high school that God was calling him to something different. Ruiz grew up the second of three children in Yahualica, a small town outside of Guadalajara, before his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was 10. Since as early as he can remember, his family frequently attended Mass, eucharistic adoration and special devotions. “That nurtured my faith a lot since a young age,” said Ruiz. It also nurtured his vocation to the priesthood, which Ruiz said was shaped by the faith he saw in family members during difficult situations and by priests he grew up around in both countries who “loved their priesthood.” “They celebrated the sacraments with so much love, and they really cared for the people of God,” recalled Ruiz. “That was a good inspiration for me to continue in my discernment until I entered the seminary.” After high school graduation, Ruiz enrolled at the Juan Diego House in Gardena (since renamed the Queen of the Angels Center for Priestly Transformation), where college-age seminarians aspiring to the diocesan priesthood live. He lived there for five years before spending the last five years at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo. As he prepares to embark on the fulfillment of those 10 years of studies and formation, Ruiz is simply grateful for “the blessing to follow Jesus” despite the difficulties that are sure to arise. “In life there can be many different challenges and in the priesthood especially, nowadays, it can be seen as a huge challenge,” Ruiz told Angelus News. “But I am confident that I am not by myself.” Miguel Ángel Ruiz with older brother Luis (left), younger sister Lupita, and his father, Reyes, at a family gathering. His newest mission, Ruiz believes, depends on the prayers of the Catholics he’ll be serving. “It’s the Lord who has sent us here, so I trust that God will be able to help us in any challenges that we may have,” said Ruiz. “And that is the same message that I bring the people of God: to trust in God amidst the challenges.” For the young people of his generation, Ruiz believes that the Church can reach them the same way she reached him: through the personal witness of holy priests. Ruiz’s first assignment will be St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Rowland Heights, an assignment he’s eager to get started. “I’m waiting for that wonderful day when I will be able to go and minister to them (St. Elizabeth parishioners), to go and learn from them, and most especially to share our faith.” MIGUEL ÁNGEL RUIZ May 31, 2019 • ANGELUS • 11
Page 1 and 2: ANGELUS Made for Mission Meeting LA
Page 4 and 5: ANGELUS May 31, 2019 | Vol.4 • No
Page 6 and 7: WORLD Right-to-die case takes a las
Page 8 and 9: LOCAL Summer program to launch at S
Page 10 and 11: SUNDAY READINGS BY SCOTT HAHN Acts
Page 14 and 15: Luther Diaz Age: 47 Hometown: Los A
Page 16 and 17: Louis Sung Age: 28 Hometown: Cerrit
Page 18 and 19: Emmanuel Delfin Age: 50 Hometown: L
Page 20 and 21: Lasallian life lessons What a legen
Page 22 and 23: Growing homeless encampments on Ski
Page 24 and 25: A National Institute of Mental Heal
Page 26 and 27: “I gave her the money and off she
Page 28 and 29: efugees — ordinarily, one of his
Page 30 and 31: another example of linguistic malpr
Page 32: Wood type for a letterpress. Printi

Angelus News | May 31, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 20

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?