Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1505021
1 The most important thing I learned in formation is that no matter how much I felt I was in full control of my life, I am and have been living the life God has intended for me. I am just cooperating. 2 The Eucharist has been a major inf luence in my life and vocation, I feel my relationship with Jesus when I have the opportunit y to be in the Lord's presence in adoration, and upon receiving communion I not only feel the presence of God with me, but I recognize a difference in my day when I start it with his presence within me. 3 For me, God's call to the diaconate was a whisper. After discerning for four years in the formation process, I recognized the presence of God in my life from an early age and it all led up to what I have done and where I am today. I definitely walked to this point in my vocation with baby steps. 1 One of the most valuable things I learned during formation in the diaconate was humilit y. The importance of having a humble heart in order to serve as Christ the servant. One of the most beautiful fruits of seeking humilit y was learning to trust, abandon and sur- render myself to God's loving and merciful will in every circumstance of my life. God gave me many beautiful opportunities to trust in him where he reminded me that it didn't matter how difficult the circumstance was: I am his and I am so loved. 2 The Eucharist has played a huge role in my faith and vocation, knowing that at every Eucharist we physically and spiritually are renewed in the incorporation to Christ. We become a part of him. When we participate in the Eucharist, we are raised up into union with him helping us become more fully the person Christ calls us to be. This is what makes me so fulfilled, loved, nourished and gives me life. 3 God's call was a whisper at first, a very gentle whisper where he allowed me to respond and see that I needed to get my priorities straight in life in order to be able to serve him in the capacity that he was calling me to. I had gone through a very difficult time in my life and took a few years to discern my call back. I had a little bit of a louder whisper one morning awakened by the urge and feeling of being ready to go back to formation, which was the day Deacon St. Louis passed away. I truly felt that was Deacon St. Louis' last push for me to come back to my call before he went to heaven. Then, while kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament at World Youth Day in Panama, it was more of a gentle roar reiterating my call to enter formation, become a deacon and serve God as he was calling me to. 1 To paraphrase St. Catherine of Siena: That I am nothing, and he, Christ, is everything. The Love the Lord has for us is sometimes overwhelming for this simple mind. I've learned that as I let him love me, and not fight him in his plan for me — to trust him — he will not lead me astray. The Lord wants what's best for all of us even when we can't see it; his plan is always better than ours.. 2 Being blessed to be a daily communicant is life changing. The strength and consolation I receive in the Eucharist has helped me through formation. And while I don't always " feel " anything after communion, I know he is in me and he is at work in my soul. 3 It wasn't either one really, but it was definitely the strong voice of God speaking directly to me: "I want you to be a Deacon." His voice was as plain as you and me talking to each other. The hearing wasn't in my ears, it was inside me; it resonated in my chest; in my soul. D E ACO N P H I L L I P M A R TI N E Z St. Rose of Lima Parish in Denver D E ACO N R AU L M A R TI N E Z St. Teresa Parish in Frederick D E ACO N K E V I N M CCU TCH EO N Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver 38 AUGUST 2023 | DENVER CATHOLIC