A Messenger of God’s Love

I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would be where I am today. I vividly recall thinking to myself “I’m truly never going to make it past the age of 25.” Yet, my story begins at the age of 22. At 22 years old, I moved to Nebraska to get away. Away from sin, and away from the troubling life I was living. At 23 years old, I married the love of my life.  

I’ve always been “catholic” yet my definition of Catholic was much different. I was the type of Catholic that would attend Mass on Christmas and pop in every once in a while, for Easter. I was a Catholic benchwarmer. I never truly knew the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.  

I always made fun of those who were consistently in Church, I would call them holly-rollers. As it turns out, I married a woman whose strongest passion and desire in life was following Jesus Christ. Hence, my wife would attend mass every Sunday without fail, but I avoided Mass along with the Cathedral like the plague.  

In November 2006, I was invited to attend a charismatic retreat, and in that retreat my life changed. In this very retreat, God told me he loves me and that he forgives me. It was a permanent deacon who said these words to me, “All I ever wanted in life was to be loved.” And at that very moment my life changed. I did not want to go to this retreat. Yet, when I was invited, I heard a voice in my head. It was very calm and very loving, and it said “go.”  

The first time I realized that God had given me the gift for public speaking was in November 2006. As I was sitting there listening to the deacon give his talk, I remember thinking to myself “I can do that, and I can be a deacon too.” These were mere thoughts in my mind as I was sitting through the retreat. On the last day of the retreat, I gave my testimony. I shared what God did for me in this retreat. I felt loved. I felt his love. Like never before. My life had truly changed. While I was giving my testimony somebody shouted to the leader of the group “Tomás ahí está tu siguiente predicador.” (“Thomas, there is your next speaker.”) And roughly a year later I began preaching in the El Pescador ministry.  

I can recall going and laying before the Blessed Sacrament and telling God to use me as a bridge so that others can come to know him. I did not care what happened to me; I wanted others to know God and feel what I had felt through the Holy Spirit.  

In February 2007, a nun informed me that God was calling me into the diaconate program. I assured her that she had the wrong person. Immediately I called my wife to discuss the interaction with the nun. During the call, my wife said “Nunca seré una piedra de tropiezo para lo que Dios quiere en tu vida.” (“I will never be a stumbling block for what God wants for your life.”) I will never and have never forgotten these words. Fast forward to September of 2007, I began the journey to become a deacon and started to attend the diaconate courses.  

The first ordained diaconate class of the Grand Island Diocese occurred in 2010 and consisted of Deacons Randy, Robert, and John Farlee. Therefore, I am the second class that the Grand Island Diocese ordained. I was the first Hispanic bilingual permanent Deacon to be ordained in 2011.  

When I first had my conversion, I recognized that I had a knack for public speaking and/or preaching within the church. I also realized that being bilingual was beneficial when speaking to youth. Yet, this was a shocking realization for me because, for as long as I can remember, I avoided public speaking. The further I looked within myself, the more I realized that I really loved talking about God, the Bible, the Church, and about my faith, especially to the youth. The youth that felt out of place. The youth that reminded me of myself when I was younger, when I was lost. I wanted to be the person that shared positivity, the love of God and compassion with youth. All youth. I wanted the youth to know that God loves them. God was there for them and always will be. I wanted to be a mere messenger.  

I started a youth group called Los Hijos de Maria, and at one point in time we had a lock-in retreat with over 200 teenagers in attendance coming from all over the Midwest. This was the beginning of my journey as a traveling public speaker/preacher. Individuals who had heard my story and my talks began inviting me to different retreats and ministries across Nebraska to speak. I had never imagined I would speak outside of Nebraska, but as of now I have shared the love of God all over the country from the East Coast to West Coast and have had the privilege to do so in Mexico, as well.  

I speak so that others can come to know the love of God. I am nothing but thankful for what the Lord has done for me, and I hope to continue to be a mere messenger of the Lord. I hope to be nothing but a bridge. The first letter of John 4:8 states: “God is Love.” In our life, we only think of taking care of ourselves, but very few of us think of our soul. This life is very short compared to eternity. We only look at the picture in front of us and we do not see what God has waiting for us. God loves us all.