My name is Jesús David Coronel, I am originally from Cuautla Morelos Mexico. My vocational process was permeated with different events that followed my response. Since I was a child my family instilled in me the Catholic faith, attending catechism in a small community where the church was just being built, where I received my sacraments. Since I was a child I actively participated in different parish groups, teaching catechism, serving at the altar as an altar boy and in some youth groups called Missionary Stars and Vincentian Marian Youth, where I had my first contact with the mission. These missionary groups were dedicated to carrying out evangelisation brigades for a few weeks as part of their formation. It was precisely during my stay with the groups that little by little I began to fall in love with the mission and the great work it entails, and at the same time I saw some needs in the mission fields that are not usually present in the city.
One of the communities that left a strong impression on me was the town of Teotlalco in the mountains of Veracruz, where I went on the Holy Week mission, accompanied by other young people my age and a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. When we arrived at the community, the missionaries welcomed us with great joy, accompanied by colourful bouquets of flowers and delicious biscuits that they prepared in the village. They helped us to beautify the church for the following morning, as it would be Palm Sunday and there was much work to be done for the celebration of one of the greatest acts of love. The days went by, between visits, masses, dawn rosaries, visits to the sick and workshops with the people of the community until the moment that would mark me happened: some twin brothers and sisters were suffering from severe malnutrition due to the ambitious power of a few because they had not paid their father for a month. This severely harmed these little ones, who only ate soup made of some leaves and roots of the place with sugar water. When I saw the faces of these little ones, I realised that we could not only talk about a God who gives life, when they did not have what was indispensable to have it.
As well as this, there were many more inequalities that led me to think about how I could contribute so that this would diminish, it was in this way that Sister Susana told me something very true – in one week we cannot solve their lives, only accompany them and eat with them – later she told me about the charisma of the congregation of the mission and immediately I was very impressed by their work. On the other hand, it was an area where the priest went every 6 months, as he did not have time to attend to all his communities due to the distance and the large number of chapels he was in charge of. I became aware of the great need that existed in the village, as many people died without the rite of burial or without any sacrament. That was the beginning of my interest in priestly life, because I realised that people are not only saved by announcing the kingdom of God to them, but also by dignifying their quality of life.
I expressed my concern and I was accompanied for a year to find out what God was asking of me. Frankly, diocesan life did not catch my attention; I believe that there are many for confession and consecration, but very few for missionary life. My process concluded with the pre-seminary in lagos de morenos Jalisco, where I entered the minor seminary in the preparatory stage, because I responded with a yes from my limitations and I ventured to live the experience. There were many moments full of happiness, joy, suspense and patience, but also of sadness, disappointment and pain, because during my stay in high school my maternal grandmother died, and it was impossible for me to say goodbye to her.
The preparatory stage was full of mischief, shouting, games, laughter… in short, that of a teenager looking to dispel the restlessness I had felt. Lagos de Moreno is a place that I carry in my heart, where I made friends in different ways, people who throughout this journey continue to be attentive to me and I always remember with great affection. Later it was time to take another step forward, as I finished my stay in the minor and it was time to enter philosophy in Guadalajara where, thanks to God, it was a wonderful stage, full of personal, academic and community challenges, where God asked me to attend to certain aspects in order to respond to him more effectively. Las Juntitas was one of the most important communities in my vocational response because it was there that God would surprise me and I would feel his manifestation in the way I would least expect. Undoubtedly Jalisco was the place of my vocational and human growth where I discovered myself. I spent 7 years in Jalisco, a little far from my family where I never stopped missing them, but the Lord rewarded me with great and faithful friends who cared for me day by day
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I am currently in Mexico City, in Tlalpan, studying the first year of theology at the Pontifical University of Mexico, and I am about to leave for the inter-congregational novitiate of the Vincentian missionaries in Guatemala. God has blessed me throughout these years, where I have found everything on my journey. It has not always been easy, because it is a process of personal discovery, but without a doubt it has been wonderful because I have grown a lot. I am deeply grateful to the Lord because he has always guided me and I will continue to say a phrase that has become a very personal prayer at different times in my life “surprise me Lord” and it has been like that, he has never left me alone. I pray to God to allow me to be ordained and to continue responding to that call that arose in a mission nine years ago to be able to serve him with love and dedication, because I have understood that love is the foundation of everything that is to be done in the name of good. Dear reader, I invite you to pray for vocations, because, just as I am telling you about my experience today, there are thousands of young people with theirs, full of different nuances that have enriched their experience. God bless you abundantly and bless this wonderful Vincentian family for the good of the Church.
Jesús David Coronel
Muchas Gracias and Thank You Brother in Christ and in St. Vincent de Paul.I enjoyed his writing of his faith journey.
Guatemala has a very active Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. All he has to do is ask at the Cathedral..