Miguel Angel Ruiz
My name is Miguel Angel Ruiz. I was born in Jalisco, Mexico on August 27th 1991. Born in a very devoted Catholic family, I was baptized a month later on October 6th. My parents and grandparents introduced me and guided me on my journey of faith. As a child, one of my favorite hobbies was to play mass with my cousins. I would use grandma’s ironing board as the altar, a wine glass as my chalice, and my grandma’s dresses as the mass vestments.
When I was ten, on August 2001 my family moved to Long Beach, CA. It was a blessing, as well as a challenge. I spoke no English and my first day of school was on September 11th 2001, an overwhelming day for the United States, where so many innocent people lost their lives. I was scared, confused, and I just wanted to go back home to Mexico. Years later, I completed middle school in June 2005.
As I transferred from middle school to high school, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. After a yearlong battle with cancer, my mother passed away on December 29th 2005. At this time, my older brother was 17, I was 14, and my younger sister was 6. The loss of my mother was very difficult for my family, but with God’s help, we were able to raise my little sister and remain united as a family.
Since I moved to the United States, I would visit my extended family every summer. I have wanted to become a priest since I was a child, but during the summer of 2006, I stop playing mass and began to consider the priesthood seriously. While I was in my hometown for vacations, I began talked to priests, seminarians and religious woman about my vocation. When I came back to the United States I had a goal, finish high school and move back to Mexico to begin seminary studies.
On September 2006, I began attending confirmation classes and I enjoyed each and every one of them. I loved sharing my faith with others. Months later in April 2007 I began helping out at church and I assisted formation classes to become a catechist. I became an usher, then a sacristan and finally an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, everything happened while I was still sixteen years old. On May 25th 2007 I received the sacrament of Confirmation by Bishop Salazar. It was one of the happiest days of my life, because I was able to accept officially the faith my parents had brought me into since my baptism.
At the end of 2007 I started working in a fast food restaurant, Kentucky Fried Chicken. A place I would work for two years.
On June 2008, I attended for the first time an Ordination Mass, where Cardinal Mahoney, in the name of the church, consecrated 12 men to become priests. There are no words to describe such a wonderful mass. Next day, I was the sacristan for Father Angel’s First Mass. There was a bishop, many priests, and hundreds of people. The altar servers were all seminarians, so after mass I had the opportunity to talk to them. They were all surprised when I told them that I was in communication with my pastor in Mexico, and had plans to move back to Mexico as soon as I finished High school and begin the seminary formation. Then, they started telling me about Juan Diego House, a formation house at Gardena, California (equivalent of the college seminary). On the following week, I made an appointment with the director of vocations and had a couple of meetings with him and other people from the board. Months later, after a lot of meetings and evaluations, I was accepted to the Juan Diego House of formation. On June 2009 I graduated from Wilson Classical High School, in Long Beach and a month after I had to quit my job, for my seminary journey was on its way.
On August 16th 2009 I entered Juan Diego House, to begin seminary studies. On December 2011 I completed my general education in El Camino College, in Torrance. Then I transferred to California State University Dominguez Hills, where I graduated with Bachelors in Philosophy on May 2014. On August of the following year I transfer to St. Johns seminary, in Camarillo. I have now completed my third semester of Theology. God willing, I will be sent to a parish on August 2016 as an intern. I am looking forward for this great experience.
Since I was young, I have had a special devotion to our Blessed Mother. As you may guess, even my favorite color is blue. I love reading lives of the saints and martyrs. Learning about their different struggles in life, as well as all the challenges they went trough, even in their church ministry gives me hope. The saints never gave up. They never took their sight away from the eyes of Jesus. The good news is that all of us are called to holiness. All of us are called to follow Jesus and live the gospel with joy! Some of my favorite saints are, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. John Vianney and my patron saint, St. Michael the Archangel.
I hope to meet all of you on December 20th. All of you at St. James Women’s Guild are in my daily prayers. Please continue to pray for vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life. May God continue to bless you and all of your loved ones.
Let us continue our journey in this holy season of Advent, waiting for our Lord, making some space in our hearts to greet him.
In Christ,
Miguel Angel Ruiz