José Alonso
Prince of Peace Church
I College
Holy Trinity Seminary, Dallas, TX
I was born in Guatemala City in 1988. I grew up there and most of my life I studied in Lehnsen School “Las Americas”. It was during ninth grade when I began asking myself what I wanted to be in life; during this time I began to feel a strong inclination towards priesthood. I began looking up information about priesthood and asking priests about this call that I was experiencing. As God began drawing me closer and closer to Him, through Mass and the great sacrament of Reconciliation, my call began to get stronger and stronger. I spent from ninth to eleventh grade discerning if I should enter the seminary. It was on January 20th 2008 when I entered to the Seminary in Guatemala. I spent a year and 4 months in the seminary, but, unfortunately, due to health reasons I had to leave. In December 2009, I came to Houston to see if it was possible to continue my studies in the seminary. For the past six months I lived with my uncle and aunt, and attended Prince of Peace, helping there with the Youth Ministry, both English and Hispanic and serving at Sunday Masses. It was during this time when I discovered two favorite Scripture passages; one of them is “take courage, I have conquered the world” (John 16, 33) and the other one is “do not be afraid” (Mark 5, 36); these are my favorite because, throughout my journey, God has shown me His endless Mercy and Love, inviting me to trust in Him more and more every day, and not to fear, because He walks with me every step of the way. Fortunately, I was accepted to the Seminary and now I am currently attending Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas. With God’s grace and help, I will continue my discernment and formation towards priesthood.