YEARS MARRIED: 42
CHILDREN: 4
GRANDCHILDREN: “Five. Almost 6!”
YEARS IN THE DIACONATE: 13
HOW THEY MET: “On a walk in Mexico”
WHAT THEY DO FOR FUN: “We like to go walking together, eat out, camping and driving.”
HIS ROLE: “I enjoy everything I do. I help couples who have problems, I interview couples who want to marry, and I enjoy celebrating baptisms.”
HIS MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE: “I prepared my homily for my first Mass as deacon, and as Father Cirilo Flores began the celebration, I forgot my homily and I said, ‘God, my God, what will I do?’ I quickly heard a voice that told me to introduce my family. It was very emotional because one of my sons at that time was in Iraq and my other three children were present.”
HIS GREATEST CHALLENGE: “To be able to love God in my neighbor.”
FAVORITE SCRIPTURE: “The Gospel of Mark where Jesus is asked which is the most important commandment, and he tells them to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your being, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself.
“This is one of my favorite Gospels because it invites me to listen to the voice of the Lord and open my heart so that I can discover him in my neighbor who is my wife, my children, my neighbors, my companions at work, and people who I encounter. I need to love them before I can love God.”