Angelus News | June 30, 2023 | Vol. 8 No 13

Maria Carrera and
her four children
receive a blessing
from Father Rene
J-C Haarpaintner,
following his
Ordination Mass at
the Cathedral of Our
Lady of the Angels.
| CHRISTA CHAVEZ
two hours, newly ordained Father
Enrique Piceno Jr. took a moment
to think about what the day meant to
him, describing it as “the fulfillment of
what God had planned for me from the
beginning.
“That’s what I was thinking during the
Mass: that God thought of me in my
mother’s womb, and that this is it — the
beginning of the mission that God has
had for me from the start,” he said.
Piceno said he looks forward to meeting
the parishioners at his new assignment, St. Agnes Church
in the Jefferson Park area of Los Angeles.
“I just want to be a good priest, to be with the people
of God and learn from them,” he said. “I will be helping
them get to heaven, but also, through their lives, I am
hoping to get to heaven. So, it’s a mutual enrichment …
we will be helping each other.”
For Luisa, much of the emotion she felt came from
remembering her son Cesar’s often painful journey. But,
she said she takes comfort in knowing how strong he is — a
strength that she attributes wholly to God.
“Our family is very proud that he is becoming a priest because
he will be helping other people,” she said. “We hope
that he finds happiness wherever he may go.”
Christa Chavez is a freelance writer and a parishioner at
Our Lady of Refuge Church in Long Beach.
Newly ordained priest Father
Enrique Piceno Jr. (front)
smiles as he and Father Rene
J-C Haarpaintner (left), Father
Hieu D. Nguyen (center), and
Father Michael DiPietro (right)
process out following the
Ordination Mass for eight new
priests to the Archdiocese of
Los Angeles. | VICTOR ALEMÁN
18 • ANGELUS • June 30, 2023