Ordination to the Transitional Diaconate: Jorge Martinez Gómez

Friday, Jun. 19, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — On June 19, Jorge Martinez Gómez, a seminarian for the Diocese of Salt Lake City, will be ordained a transitional deacon by the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe, who accepted Martinez to the seminary.

The ceremony will take place in Martinez’s home parish, Nuestra Señora de La Asunción Parish in Misantla, Veracruz, Mexico.

Martinez discovered his vocation to priesthood at a very young age.

“I discovered that God was calling me before I was even born, and I am not exaggerating; since I was very little, before I started reading, I loved to see the images in the books called ‘The Beautiful Stories in the Bible,’” he said.

He also enjoyed when his mother would take him to a small monastery near his home.

“When I was around 8 years old, I used to love to go to the sanctuary. The peace and silence there were amazing, and when I was 12 years old I told my mother that I wanted to enter the seminary, but she told me that I was very young and I had to wait,” said Martinez.

After that he entered middle school and started to make other plans, putting the idea of the seminary in the back of his head.

“But in a CMVC retreat I heard Saint Mark’s Gospel that was saying ‘For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?’ This was like an electric shock,” said Martinez.

Comunidades Misioneras de Vida Cristinana (CMVC – Missionary Communities of Christian Life) is a movement that emphasizes renewing the baptismal promise. It was here where Martinez discovered the beauty of the Church, he said.

After that Martinez heard the words of Pope John Paul II: “Do not be afraid, God loves you… “and I started feeling very thirsty, a sensation that only ceased when I was in the church,” said Martinez.

He responded to this call and entered the seminary.

His life as a seminarian has been filled with moments of joy but also with a bit of sorrow, he said.

“But always with the joy of knowing that I am walking next to God,” said Martinez, sharing one of his memories of tremendous joy, when the Franciscan monk who was his spiritual advisor gave him approval to enter the seminary.

“It was like an explosion. I wanted to start screaming and jumping out of joy,” said Martinez, adding that his journey as a seminarian has been a time in communion with God, knowing Him and learning about Him.

“I have learned that this is not just an emotion, it is a true calling of God to be a servant of the Church,” said Martinez.

Now, a few days before his diaconal ordination, which is one of the final steps before being ordained to the priesthood and a time in which the deacon acquires practical experience and receives guidance in caring for the faithful in a parish setting, Martinez said that it has been like an internal battle.

“I am very happy knowing that I will be totally giving my life to God and to his people, but on the other side I see my weaknesses and hear a voice saying that I won’t be able to. … But God is always with me, and I know people are praying for me a lot, so we are always confronting fears,” said Martinez.

The support that he has received in the Diocese of Salt Lake City has been gratifying, he said.

“This has been a marvelous experience. Words are not enough to express how grateful I am for all the support I have been receiving,” said Martinez, who will return to Saint Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif. to complete his studies; he is expected to be ordained a priest next year. 

“If you feel that God is calling you He won’t ever leave you alone,” said Martinez, asking people to pray for him while he takes this new step toward the priesthood.