-
December 23, 2020
Seminarian Miguel Sotelo
Seminarian Elijiah Thomson
I have felt the call to priesthood almost all of my life. I remember when I was 5 years old, I realized a feeling of being called to the priesthood. My family and I are very close with each other and as I was growing up we would pray the rosary daily and go to Mass together. It was my junior year of high school that I took prayer life more seriously and felt very close to the Lord, especially in the Blessed Sacrament. It is because of this love and encounter that I seek to serve God and the people of Dallas because this is how I feel God is calling me to live happily.
I’m excited and look forward to every aspect of priesthood. From celebrating the sacraments with the people to the friendships and relationships that will be formed in the parish. Most particularly, I look forward to Confessions and spiritual direction. It is my deep desire for people to know that God loves them and that he has come to set us free from our sins beginning with his mercy. And that through spiritual direction , they may know God who walks with them in every aspect of life.
I can still rememb
er thoughts, prayers, and conversations from my early childhood that make me wonder whether the Father has been calling me to the priesthood since I was a boy. My parents, in the witness of their lives, taught my sister and I to help those in need and to consider the needs of the poor. Th eir loving example and witness of (then) Fr. Greg Kelly, pastor of St. Gabriel's (at its beginnings), had a powerful impact on my childhood and nurtured a desire to generously serve God.
But when I came to college in 2006, I began to consider the beauty of marriage. The Lord blessed me with several good relationships, one after another. At the same time, the Lord was gently drawing me to Himself inadoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In between hours at the Architecture building, despite my fatigue, I experienced a longing to go and pour out my troubles to him. There in those nightly visits to the tabernacle of Christ the King in Lubbock, TX, I would continually encounter Jesus Christ as a real person, hidden under the veil and silence of the Eucharist. He became my closest friend. He kept me faithful in prayer and slowly changed my heart, so after graduating I decided to evangelize on college campuses through a missionary organization called FOCUS. Here a fire of love for the Lord began to grow which opened me to the priesthood. Sharing the gospel with college students and the poor on the streets of NYC fanned the flame. I had to know whether the Lord was calling me, so I took a leap of faith. I broke up with a girl whom I was seriously discerning marriage, and I moved back home to Texas. After FOCUS, I began down a path of discernment of many different Religious orders. During this time a cross in my health (which I had been carrying for many years), began to increase in weight and brought all my activity to a halt. Within that same year, however, a profound healing in June of 2015 occured, and I found new strength to enter Diocesan seminary. There at Holy Trinity Seminary beneath the serene image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I gave my vocation to her, and have continued this practice daily throughout my graduate time at Notre Dame's (Our Lady's) Seminary. She has guided me and kept me safe, nurturing my vocation.
Sister Clare Marie of the Holy Eucharist, FDM
Sister Clare’s family joined the St. Gabriel parish in June 1996, many knew her as Annette Borchard, the daughter of Joe and Mary Borchard. Sister Clare is the first parishioner to enter a religious order. From the beginning, Sister Clare was an active member in many ministries and activities at St. Gabriel, one particular ministry special to her was the St. Gabriel Pro-Life ministry. Other important parish activities included mission trips to Mexico, to Mississippi after hurricane Katrina, and a mission trip to Quito, Ecuador with her family. She served in the Adult and Youth Faith Formation group, CRHP, Pro-Life Youth group, and the Sound and Clown Ministries. Sister Clare also volunteered to run the sound board for the choir during Mass, tutored students at Webb Elementary with the CIS program and taught at the Heard Museum.
As a young girl, Sister Clare had thoughts of becoming a Pilot, a Paleontologist, an Entomologist or an Astronaut. However, she was easily able to eliminate Astronaut from the list when she realized she would not be able to receive the Eucharist while in space. Her focus on careers changed in high school when she felt a call to religious vocation after reading a book about St. Francis of Assisi. After high school, Sister Clare went on to attend the University of Dallas and in 2009 graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics. Soon after, she began her search for a religious order with a Pro-Life charism and she discovered the Franciscan Daughters of Mary in Covington, Kentucky.
Sister Clare Marie of the Holy Eucharist entered the Franciscan Daughters of Mary, as a Postulant, on March 25, 2011, the Feast of the Annunciation. On March 2, 2019, Sister Clare professed her perpetual vows. The charism of the Franciscan Daughters of Mary is “To Serve the Lord Jesus Christ, the Author of Life, with Joyful Simplicity upholding the dignity of every human person in the Spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi”.Seminarian William Mobley
My name is William Mobley and I am in my fourth year of seminary. I am currently studying theology in Washington, D.C. at the Catholic University of America. After three more years of schooling, I will be ordained a priest in the Diocese of Dallas. In addition to normal theology studies, Bishop Burns has asked me to do extra studies in church law so I can become what is called a canon lawyer. I won't be in any court rooms, but I will help settle issues that arise within the church.
I grew up in the St. Gabriel community. I didn't always know I wanted to be a priest. I actually went to college to become a doctor, then I changed my mind and decided to become a chemistry teacher. I love science, especially chemistry, and I graduated Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas with a degree in biochemistry. In my last year of college, I realized that God had other plans for me. I went to Mass almost every day that year, and I spent a lot of time in prayer asking God what he wanted me to do with my life. I thought maybe he would help me know where I should teach or if I should get another degree, but God made it clear to me that he had chosen me for something a little different. I felt called to the priesthood, so I applied to seminary and began studying to become a priest.
In seminary, we spend a lot of time praying and studying theology, but we also have plenty of free time. I love to read! Some of my favorites include the Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of the Rings. I also cook and bake whenever I get the chance. I don't play any sports because I have no coordination, but I enjoy running.