Denver Catholic

7 DENVER CATHOLIC | JULY 23-AUGUST 12, 2016 Independent & Assisted Living Nursing • Medicare Rehabilitation In-Home Care • Out-Patient Therapy There is a place that's just waiting for you to experience senior living as it should be — St. Andrew's Village. Acting your age is not a requirement. Acting how you feel is always encouraged! Whether splashing in the pool, enjoying our Happiest Hour with friends and neighbors, or an evening of fine dining where our staff knows your favorite drink, you'll feel years younger and enjoy every minute of it. Ask about a Priority Reservation. Call 303.695.8100 for lunch and a visit! Click StAndrewsVillage.net Feeling Young at Heart? We know just the place. . . EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY New priest from Mexico ordained for the Archdiocese of Denver O n July 9, Deacon Guillermo Bustillos was ordained a priest by Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila in Sagrado Corazón (Sacred Heart) Cathedral in his hometown of Chet- umal'in Quintana Roo, south of México. Father Bustillos will serve at Saint Ste- phen'Parish in Glenwood Springs. His ordination was in Mexico due to his father's health.' His father was not able to travel to Denver to attend his ordination because in 2013, he suŠ ered a stroke and has had three surgeries since. Archbishop Aquila decided to go to Mexico to preside his ordination. Father Bustillos expressed his "joy and gratitude to God and to the Arch- bishop who have very closely followed my vocational process," he said. A DISCERNMENT PATH… Father Bustillos is an agronomy engineer and has received two mas- ter's degrees in environmental law and agronomy law. He was 30 years old when he felt that this was not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. "I felt that my life was empty, hope- less. Something very important was missing but in that moment I didn't know what it was," Father Bustillos said. Father Bustillos shared that experi- ence with his pastor, who proposed that he start a discernment process for three years. It was then that he discovered that God was calling him to be a priest. "I realized that this path fulfi lled my life. I had the opportunity to work on my career and then, to rebuild my life; not a life that Guillermo wanted but a life that Christ wanted," Father Bustillos said. He entered the seminary in 2004, when he was 34 years old. In 2009, he came to Denver because he wanted to serve his compatriot immigrants in this country. He studied English and the- ology. In 2011, he went back to Mexico to resume his studies at the Pontifi cal University of Mexico. Then, he moved back to Denver again. CATHOLIC OR PRESBYTERIAN? Father Bustillos' grandparents moved to the Presbyterian Church when they were young. The new priest remembers that when he was a child, he sometimes attended the Presbyterian Church and sometimes the Catholic Church. Finally, he decided to stay in the Catholic Church because of "the maternal love of the Virgin Mary, [and] for Jesus' mercy. He only wants a con- trite heart, a heart ready to be forgiven." He also noted that in the Catholic Church, "people love and seek change in order to build Christ's kingdom on the earth, and not only for fear of being condemned to go to hell." What most struck Father Bustillos about priesthood was the "availability, the hard work they do, the long time that they dedicate to their communities and the way that they attend them." He remembers his pastor "going to the hos- pital, visiting the sick people, tending to families, the young people, and they even had time to play basketball with t he young people." He describes his vocation as a gift from God, who once said to him, as he did Zacchaeus in the Gospel of Luke, " Today, I must stay at your house" (Lk 19:15). "He wants to stay not only in my physical house but in my spiritual house for me to live that joy, and help others to do that," Father Bustillos said. "It brings me joy to know that you can be chosen to be Christ`s representative on the earth." Martha Fernández–Sardina contrib- uted to this report. "Today I must stay at your house" BY CARMEN ELENA VILLA carmen.villa@archden.org @EPCatolico Father Guillermo Bustillos is now serving at St. Stephen Parish in Glenwood Springs. PHOTOS PROVIDED Father Bustillos receives the Sac- rament of Holy Orders by Arch- bishop Samuel J. Aquila.

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