This year we are featuring stories of personal faith journeys. We hope by sharing these stories that our visitors and parishioners may grow to have a deeper understanding of the
call we each have to live our faith daily.
My name is Fr. Francisco Arredondo and I am a Capuchin Franciscan friar recently ordained to the priesthood. It is a pleasure for me to share my vocation story with the good people of St. Thomas Aquinas parish because St. Thomas is a big part of the story!
What First Influenced Me: the Faith of My Family
I grew up in San Diego California. My parents are from Mexico. They moved to the United States when they were young. I had a good foundation of my Christian faith from my childhood. My grandmother prayed day and night. She would always sit at her bed either reading some prayers or praying a rosary. I would even see her laying in bed praying.
My parents used our home as a place for Spanish catechism classes. Once a week a class met in the front yard, another class met in the garage, another group met in the living room, and two others groups met in the back yard. The place was full of children. Once a month, a priest from our local parish came to hear confessions and celebrate Mass.
My mom also had a prayer group that met once a week in the home. When I was 12 years old I walked into our living room where my mom and her friends were about to begin their prayers, and announced that I wanted to be a priest.
What My First Contact with the Capuchin’s was: a Foreshadowing of the Future
I did not think about the priesthood again until years later. When I was in junior college in San Diego, CA, my dad and mom moved to Charlotte, NC because of my dad’s job. My parents called me shortly after they had moved to tell me that there was a university in the city, UNC Charlotte and I should think about finishing up my college education there. I applied, was accepted and moved to Charlotte with my parents.
St. Thomas was right across the campus. Once a week, a friar celebrated Mass for us at the University. The first time I met the friar he gave me a Capuchin Franciscan brochure and told me that I would make a good friar and that I should think about becoming a Franciscan. I told him, “No thank you, it is not for me.”
How the Materialistic Life Failed to Satisfy: but Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament Did
I graduated. I taught at a preschool for children with special needs. How excited I was to have a full time job. I bought a new car and thought that this would bring me true happiness. I taught for three years and loved it very much, I would go out with friends Friday nights, golf on Saturdays, but I still felt empty. I was also thinking about going back to school to study social work until one day I had a conversion.
A friend of mine from work invited one day me to her Baptist church. I had never gone to church at any other denomination. I thought it would be interesting to see the differences. One Sunday I met my friend at her church. I remember how kindly the ushers greeted me when I walked into the Baptist church. The music was beautiful, the preacher did a nice job preaching, but I felt that there was something missing. I remember feeling so uncomfortable. I couldn’t wait to get out. When the service was finally over, I drove home wondering why I felt so uncomfortable. I kept saying to myself, “There was something missing.”
That evening I went to Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas. I walked in and looked around. It seemed as if I had never been there before. I walked down the aisle and saw the crucifix and said to myself, “This was missing at that church today.”
However, as soon as I genuflected to take my seat, it all made sense. What was missing at that church? Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament. I cannot explain the emotion I felt at that Mass, I felt as if all this was new to me.
What the Final Call Was: God Talked to Me.
After that Sunday evening, I stopped by the chapel after work to pray. I asked God what he wanted from me. One day I went home after visiting the chapel and I turned on “Life on the Rock” on EWTN. On the program, a young priest talked about his vocation. He said, “It is not by accident that young men are watching this show. God may be calling you to the priesthood.”
At that moment I felt as if he was talking to me. That same evening I also accidently found the brochure the Capuchin friar had given me over three years ago. As I re-read the brochure, it seemed as if I was reading it for the first time. I loved everything I read. I decided that this was what I wanted to do.
How the Call Bore Fruit: the Assistance of the Capuchin Friars at St. Thomas
I began asking the friars at St. Thomas more questions about the Franciscan life. It seemed that this was where God was calling me. The friars, Fr. Ignatius, Fr. Stan, and Fr. Martin, helped and supported me.
Fr. Ignatius learned that I taught preschool to children with special needs. He asked me if I wanted to start a catechetical program. With the help of some parents, I began to teach religion to children with special needs to prepare them for First Communion.
Shortly afterward, Fr. Martin showed me an article in the Catholic paper about a discernment weekend the friars were having in Hendersonville, NC. I went. I loved what I saw.
What the Next Steps of the Journey Were: Postulancy and Beyond
I applied to join the Capuchin Friars. They accepted me. I later received a letter that I was to report to the Bronx, NY on September 20, 1998 for my year of Postulancy. This was a difficult year for me because I was away from my family for the first time and the Bronx was a real culture shock.
At the end of that year I received my Capuchin habit along with 6 other men. This began my one year of the Novitiate. What a wonderful experience. It felt like a year of retreat. We did manual work and ministry once a week in the neighborhood, but we had much free time to think and to pray. Plus, we had a wonderful assistant novice master, Fr. Remo.
Towards the end of that year, the novice master and his assistant voted on each novice to see if we were ready to move on. They approved me to take the next step. I made my first vows in November 2000. We take vows for three years and at the end of the third year we decide if we are ready to move on. The formation team also decides if you are ready to move on. I made my perpetual vows in November 2004.
What My Further Study Was: Trials on the Path to Ordination
Before taking my perpetual vows the Provincial asked me if I wanted to study for the priesthood. In the Capuchin Order I was not required to study for the priesthood. I did want to be a priest but I told him, “I will pray about it and give you an answer in a few weeks.” I finally told him that I did believe I was called to the priesthood. Shortly after taking perpetual vows, I began studies for the priesthood at Seton Hall University.
The first two years studying at the seminary were the toughest of all for me. First, I found philosophy very difficult. I could not comprehend the material, especially metaphysics and epistemology. It was only a miracle that I got through those two courses. The first two years of seminary were tough also because I had heart surgery during that time. I was born with a heart condition. This was my third open heart surgery. I had complications during this surgery. The doctors were concerned that I would not make it, but thank God all was well.
I was finally ordained a transitional deacon on May 16, 2009. This was a special ordination because at this Mass my classmate Fr. Robert Williams was ordained a priest as I was ordained a deacon. I served my deaconate year in Hackensack, NJ. There I had lots of experience. This parish has English, Spanish, and Italian Masses. I was able to practice my preaching and minister as deacon at the Masses.
What Joy: Ordination at Last
I was finally ordained to the priesthood this year May 15, 2010. The former General Minister of the Capuchin Order, Most Rev. John Corriveau, and now bishop of Nelson, Canada came to ordain me. Beauty filled that Mass. There was not one dry eye in the church. I can’t believe that I was ordained in the “Year of the Priest.” What a grace to know that people all over the world are praying especially this year for priests and seminarians. Thank you for your prayers! Peace and Blessings!