Alex Piña
St. John Vianney Church
I College
St. Joseph Seminary College, St. Benedict, LA
My journey begins in Mexico-South Texas where I grew up, and where at a very young age began to be attracted to the priesthood. I’m the youngest of five siblings, three sisters and one older brother. All of my siblings happily married with a total of nine nieces and nephews! Growing up I attended Mass with all my family on a weekly basis, and fell in love with the Church and the liturgy. After receiving my First Communion, I began to serve as an Altar Server at my local parish back in my hometown of Eagle Pass, Texas. I served at Sacred Heart parish for ten years, and received the “Knight of the Altar Award” for my ten years of service. During my senior year in high school my family and I moved to Houston where I finished school at Westside High School and later entered college. During this time, the attraction to the priesthood was still there, but life sometimes gets in the way. My life like any other person has had ups and downs, but the one thing that remained constant in my life was the attraction to the priesthood, along with a great love for the Church, service, and most important God. My last job was working in the Office of Children and Youth Formation at St. John Vianney Parish in West Houston. While working at St. John Vianney Parish my calling to the priesthood became stronger along with a great desire of service to Christ’s ministry. After constant prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament, one day I decided to apply to the Seminary and put it in God hands. I made this decision after following a discernment process which included a lot of prayer by me and my family. On April 16, 2010 I was accepted into the Seminary for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. As a new Seminarian I am looking forward to the years to come at the Seminary, and pray that I may become God’s instrument to His people and Church. This is by far the greatest journey I have begun. Please pray for us Seminarians and pray for more vocations to the priesthood, and remember the words of Jesus Christ: “Follow Me.” John 21:19