National Vocation Awareness Week, celebrated Nov. 5-11, 2023, is an annual week-long celebration of the Catholic Church in the United States dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life through prayer and education and to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these vocations. The Central Minnesota Catholic reached out to Deacon Lorenzo SÁNCHEZ RODRÍGUEZ, who serves the parishes of St. Anthony, Browns Valley; St. Mary, Chokio; Assumption, Morris; and Ave Maria, Wheaton, and asked him to tell his vocation story. Here is what he shared.
Cathedral. (Photo by Dianne Towalski)
I was born on Sept. 5, 1976, in Mexico and, about a month later, my parents took me to be baptized. Throughout my childhood and as a young adult, I didn’t take life very seriously. I was just another Catholic, one of those people who go to Mass “almost” every Sunday and experience the sacraments, but no more than that. I never had a real relationship with the Lord. Little did I know that the Lord was looking for me.
I had always thought about starting a family. In February 2003, I married Guadalupe, whom I met in college. We have three children, Itzel, Emmanuel and Myriam.
In 2009, we decided that I would come to the United States to work. The plan was to be here only three years, save a little money and return to Mexico to start a business where my wife and I could practice our profession as veterinary doctors. I arrived in Morris, Minnesota, in February 2009. I started working with great enthusiasm, but what I didn’t know was that God had another plan for me
A year later, my wife and children decided to come to Minnesota while I raised the money. We planned to return to Mexico together. In 2011, the company I worked for offered me permanent residency. We accepted it and began the formal process for obtaining residency. While waiting, the Lord began his plan more seriously with us within the Church. Since my family arrived in Morris, we attended the Spanish Mass that was offered. We were then asked to serve as lectors.
In 2017, the parish priest, Father Todd Schneider, invited us to participate in the discernment process of the V Encuentro meeting. He shared a short passage from the Bible known as, “The Road to Emmaus.” Without knowing it, we did Lectio Divina on this biblical passage, in which some pilgrims, walking back to their land, desolate, disappointed and tired, were paired with a man who began questioning them and later revealed that he was Jesus.
This reflection began a change in me. We finished the local V Encuentro process in the parish and attended the regional V Encuentro meeting. A year later in 2018, I had the fortune to attend the V National Encuentro meeting in Grapevine, Texas. In this great event, I realized that the Catholic Church, especially in the United States, has a great challenge, mainly with engaging young people. I returned home asking myself many questions: Am I part of the problem? Or part of the solution?
At that point, I looked inside myself. I realized that I had nothing to offer in terms of spirituality. That made me feel very bad, because my parents and grandparents instilled in me that helping and participating in the community was vitally important. Recognizing this, I was frustrated that I had nothing to offer the Catholic community. I didn’t know anything about God. I realized you can’t give what you don’t have.
the Cathedral of Saint Mary. (Photo by Dianne Towalski)
In 2019, I was invited to a diaconal preparation course through the Emmaus Institute, a ministry formation program of the Diocese of St. Cloud. They invited me to consider becoming a deacon, I just smiled and said, “No, I think you are choosing the wrong person.”
At the same time, I wanted to know more about God’s plan and have better tools to help the Church. Later, I was invited to another talk to learn more about permanent deacons. The talk was given by Deacons Ernie Kociemba and Lucio Hernández. After hearing their testimonies, many of the men immediately said yes. Once again, I said no, declaring myself unworthy. Even so, they invited me to continue the formation class to learn more about my Catholic faith.
In a moment of prayer, I said to the Lord, “If it is truly your will, Lord, for me to serve you as a deacon, you will allow all of this to take place in time and form. I will continue attending classes, and if it is not your decision for me to be a deacon, then you will put a stop to this walk.”
On June 11, 2022, I stood in front of Bishop Donald Kettler at St. Mary’s Cathedral and said yes to the Lord to becoming a permanent deacon. The night before my ordination, I could barely sleep. I looked at my entire past, from the day of my birth, and I paid greater attention to the day of my baptism. It was then that I began to put together a puzzle, which was only missing one piece to finish it. I realized that the missing piece was where the rite says “will.” God’s will for me was to put into practice all my talents and abilities in service of his will. I now am a permanent deacon who happily continues doing what I like to do most, strengthening and sharing that talent, that treasure, that God has entrusted to me, and that is service to others.