Portal de Yecla
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"This is from the Lord.
What can I give?
My littleness and my abandonment in Him ".
With this phrase, Pablo Romero Santa, deacon of the San Fulgencio Seminary, before his priestly ordination, is presented.
After six years of formation and vocational discernment, one year in the pre-seminary and many more of parish commitment, on July 21, at 11:00 am, in the parish of La Purísima de Yecla, he will be ordained a priest.
Paul's vocation was forged little by little, from childhood.
He was born in a Christian family, 24 years ago.
His parents belong to the Neocatechumenal Way and since childhood, both he and his five little sisters have instilled in them the faith and taught them to pray.
"That was a first base, a first germ that the Lord put," says the deacon.
The figure of the altar boys caught his attention since he was little, so he decided to start serving at the altar as one of them.
"A first link that the Lord extended to me to say, you are for me and you will not escape".
Paul is clear that his vocation has been manifested with "small details that have been a touch of grace at the hand of the Lord to say: you are mine, I love you and I have something prepared for you".
Being an altar boy and being near the altar also brought him closer to the figure of the priest.
This was for him "the first caress of the Lord".
Later, after the Confirmation catechesis, he met two young boys, older than him, Carlos Casero and Daniel Díaz (both diocesan priests today), who began to commit themselves more to their parish, La Purísima de Yecla.
They became friends and helped each other lead a more committed Christian life.
"That was another caress from the gentleman," explains Pablo.
Of the three, the first to enter the preseminar was Daniel.
His decision made many questions arise in Paul's heart.
"The last straw was when Carlos entered," the deacon laughs. "That was another touch of attention in my life."
All those questions that began to haunt his mind and heart he consulted with the then coadjutor of his parish, with whom he began a spiritual direction.
Some time later, in March 2011, he attended a coexistence in the seminar, where he discovered that there were more young people of his age with the same doubts and concerns.
In September, at the age of 17, the pre-seminary began, a time in which he was able to deepen his vocation and the figure of the priest;
a stage in which he had the testimonies of two diocesan presbyters, Miguel Conesa and Damaso Eslava, who, according to him, have marked his vocational path and encouraged him to give his life "to Christ and to souls".
"I saw how the Lord confirmed his work and used small things to bring me here.
In that year of the pre-seminary I could see that it was not nonsense, that it was the hand of the Lord that had touched my life and it is He who said: you are mine, I want for you something more and you are a priest ".
A year later, the day of the Sweet Name of Mary, on September 12, 2012, entered the San Fulgencio Seminary.
"The figure of the Virgin, as a good Mother, has been my example in following the Lord, giving a generous and trusting self, like her," she says.
Seven months ago, Paul was ordained a deacon with his classmates: Mauricio, Andrés and Ramiro, all of them ordained priests in recent weeks.
During these months he has been in pastoral work in the parish of San Juan Bautista de Archena, where he has "enjoyed" the stage of the diaconate.
"This year has been the power to like that pastoral zeal for souls, that dedication, which is what the Lord calls me," he says excitedly.
I have lived the first fruits: I have been able to remove the fear of preaching in the ambo, I have made the first baptism, the first wedding, the first funeral.
I, who look so small ... I have been able to experience how the Lord, when one trusts, works, and has worked in the community of Archena where I have been serving ".
During her vocational process, the vocation of one of her sisters, Raquel, arose.
It was two years ago, when she decided to enter the monastery of Discalced Carmelites of Merciful Love and the Mother of God, in Piedrahita (Ávila).
"That was also a reason to be happy and to work with her back to back, to be able to share the wonderful gift of vocation and to be able to encourage her in perseverance.
There is a bond that is much stronger than that of being a brother;
a spiritual bond has also been created to help each other, to pray for each other, to walk together ".
Just a few days after his ordination, Paul presents himself "with a generous yes and with the attitude of saying: Lord, here I am because you have called me".
A confidence that gives him the knowledge "that the work is His".
Source: Obispado de Cartagena
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