“We are 24/7 at the service of souls”

When we think of jobs with pressure and impossible hours, an infinite number of tasks come to mind. But never the priesthood. ABC was able to see for itself how is daily performance of three priests of the cities and villages of Cordobasomething that could well be defined in the words of one of them: being at the service of souls 24 hours a day.

Before these intense tasks lies the priestly vocation, a call that could also be described with the words of another priest consulted: the story that God makes with each of them. These famous impenetrable paths therefore finally translate into streets and alleys of towns like Posadas, Cabra or Fuente Obejuna.

The late response

Jose Miguel Bracerooriginally from Palma del Río, says with humor that his the vocation was a “late response”. Born in 1970, he was ordained a priest in 2018. Before, he “felt very comfortable in the world” by dedicating himself to international trade, especially with products such as oil, olives and other foodstuffs. A two-week summer volunteering in Jordan turned into four months and his radical decision to say goodbye to work when he saw how they lived their faith there, left those around him perplexed. Later, thanks to a scholarship linked to diplomacy, he went to Ethiopia for two years. Upon returning from this stay, he decided to dedicate himself to the priesthood.

Your first and only destination for now is Posadas.The seminary’s spiritual director, Gaspar Bustos, who recently passed away, told him that when he went to a city he had to be careful not to burn himself, because a priest has “all the work he wants” within him, in the sense that the tasks can be present all day long, since “a priest is at the service of souls 24 hours a day“And so it is: masses, funerals, visits to the elderly and the sick, catechism, preparation of the bride and groom, pilgrimages of young people… a rosary, never better said, of incessant spiritual work.

Bracero indicates that the basics because his priestly work is the you to you“he the priest cannot sit at the desk so that the people are coming“. The great challenge for this priest is to reach young people, harassed by endless temptations. To do this, he clarifies one important thing: “To seduce young people, we think we have to go out for a drink or go to a disco with them, none of that. It’s the opposite. “They don’t want someone to do the same thing because deep down, they know that what they do doesn’t make them whole.” For José Miguel Bracero, “a priest can never be worldly.” The rest is be an examplebe at your disposal: “And At all times the Holy Spirit acts“.

A mature idea

Born in La Puerta de Segura, in Jaén, Mario Gonzalez seen there example given by his priestJuan, who channeled his priestly vocation. “The idea matured when I began to understand not only the social work that the priest does, but also the supernatural work.” Due to family circumstances, he could not enter the seminary at the age of 18, so he studied mathematics and entered later. HE ordered in June 2020 and it was intended immediately At Infanta Margarita de Cabra Hospital as a chaplain in the middle of a pandemic, his beginnings therefore took place, so to speak, in the middle of a war: “I I started and put on the famous dresses which were made with garbage bags“.

At the same time, he works as chaplain of the Little Sisters of the Elderly in Need and of Parish of San Francisco and San Rodrigo Mártirin a very modest area of ​​the city, social exclusion and poverty were therefore added from the beginning to the hospital experience. “I can summarize my four years of priesthood by saying that they have consisted of touching human wounds a lot, but touching them with divine love.” González explains that time does not belong to the priest, but to others. After waking up at seven and praying for an hour, he celebrates the 8:30 Mass at the asylum, from where, if he does not have to confess to anyone, he goes to the hospital to visit the rooms for four or five hours. The afternoon is entirely dedicated to the parish.

In this poor, newly built neighborhood, much is devoted to new evangelization: “It means being creative so that people know God, visit from house to housesocial activities, meetings with familiesin addition to the celebration of the Holy Mass. To this must be added extraordinary activities, such as evangelization projects.

Despite being faced with an unbelieving society or even anti-Christian sectors, this priest also remembers the figure of Gaspar Bustos and assures, recalling his words, that “the we won the battlebecause God prepares the wayThis does not mean that you do not have to work. And this work must be based on a great formation of the priest in the seminary.

Beginnings as a choirboy

Peter del Pino was born in 1996 in Torremolinos. He attributes part of his priestly vocation to his late first communion, at the age of 11, because being older, he he immediately became an altar boy so that the obligation to attend Mass would be made more enjoyable. Little by little, he discovered what Mass was exactly and the value of the sacraments. His parish priest asked him in his third year of ESO if he had thought about dedicating himself to the priesthood, and his answer was negative but it left a mark. Meeting a seminarian at the pilgrimage of the Virgin of Araceli de Lucena knew of the existence of the Minor Seminary of San Pelagius in Cordobawhere he saw his path: “You see that God is making a story with you.”

He Del Pino’s first destinationand he hopes it will last a long time, it was Obejuna Source and, first, six of its villageswhich immediately became nine that he carries with his companion Abraham. Laughing, he details that “the day of a priest is madness”. Recently ordained, he had to go to Cordoba on Mondays for three years to take courses in canon law. Afterwards, the time is divided between offices, catechism, visits to villages, masses, the sacraments that occur or meetings.A priest is there 24/7, work as much as you want work, I could focus on one of the villages, Cañada del Gamo, which has 21 registered inhabitants and lives less, and you may not have enough hours in the day to do things.

We feel fully satisfied with his work at Fuente Obejunasince he considers that his foundation, including the villages, is rooted in faith: “There is no religiosity in terms of impressive religious practice, but there is in terms of culture and tradition, so it is quite normal here that “the priest is everywhere”, Del Pino explains after listing his recent activitiessuch as the theatrical performance of “Fuenteovejuna” or a charanga. He also ensures that priests are invited to all municipal or associative activities.The hardest part is fulfilling so many obligations.. “It’s very complicated to take care of everything.” Del Pino is clear: “We really like being a priest in Fuente Obejuna, because it’s a city of faith and traditions.”