I was born in Colombia, South America. My mother was English and my father German, both Episcopalian. I came to the United States to study; and after graduating from college I moved to Florida where I worked as an architect. My last job as a project architect for Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus International. My work took me to Europe and the Far East, and while it was exciting and varied, I sensed that something was missing in my life.
One day I read Jesus’ exhortation to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Mt: 9:37-38) I knew then, I must be one of his laborers. Soon after, I found work with an agency in Washington, D.C. that helped migrant farm workers access health services along the eastern seaboard. This was a great change in my life, a change that moved the focus from myself to others. I became a Roman Catholic in Orlando, FL in 1992. My work with migrants finally led me to consider entering religious life; and in 2002 I entered the Oratory of St. Philip Neri.
How I got to be an Oratorian is a story in itself. My mother and I had to Rome in 199, mainly to visit the Vatican, its museums and the churches of Rome. We couldn’t find a Mass to go to though, and even at St. Peter’s Basilica we were turned away from what an official-looking man said was a “private Mass.” After 7 days and thinking we were never going to find a Mass, we were returning to our apartment when I noticed a small group of women going in to a beautiful church next to our building. I asked Mother if she minded (it was 6 pm), and so we went in, following the women to a radiantly lit side chapel. I remember prayers, “God, if I am to enter religious life, then please let it happen. Soon!” (This was my usual prayer.) That night I checked my guidebook and read that the church was known as “La Chiesa Nuova,” the “new church” and that it had been run by the Oratory since the times of St. Philip Neri (1515-1595), who happened to be buried in the chapel in which we attended Mass. Eight months later, a good friend from Venezuela called me and said he had entered an Oratorian community in Rock Hill, SC. I subsequently went to visit him, liked the community and applied.
I entered the seminary at Saint Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad, IN, studying for the priesthood. After two years I began working in Hispanic farm worker ministry in Columbia County, NY before returning to the Oratory. In addition to helping farm workers, I also worked as the weekend “chef” at the St. Joseph Spiritual Life Center in Valatie, NY. It was a good experience to learn how to cook for large groups, but the real joy was in working with the staff and the brothers of Holy Cross who blessed me with their friendship.
In 2007, my sister, Gwendoline needed a bone marrow transplant. I was tested and told I was a match — the procedure took place in December, and went well. This experience gave me an understanding of the immediacy of love, how God gives us the opportunity to give something precious to another human being and how we are all interconnected. It gave my life a sense of purpose to think that I was doing something so meaningful for my sister.
As I returned to the Oratory, I asked God to continue making me His instrument and to remember St. Philip’s words, “We must give ourselves to God altogether.” Only then will we know our life has been, as Fr. Frederick Faber of the London Oratory wrote, “of earthly toil and heavenly mirth a wondrous woven scene.”
