Deacon Martinez ready to give his life to God as a priest

Friday, Jun. 17, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — Deacon Jorge Martinez Gomez will be ordained to the priesthood in the Cathedral of the Madeleine on June 24 by the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe and ninth Bishop of Salt Lake City.

“I have a lot of emotions,” Deacon Martinez said. “As a seminarian I have been in formation for 13 years, so sometimes I still wake up and feel that I have to do homework or I have to go to classes. The idea of not being at the seminary anymore is barely starting to kick in with me, so when I think about my ordination it seems so far away, but when I see the calendar I realize it’s just a few days away.”

Having been present at his friends’ ordinations has made him realize that it is something that will encompass his entire soul and body, so “I get very moved and then to think that in a few days will be my turn. I get very emotional,” said Deacon Martinez, adding that he doesn’t see his ordination as a graduation or reaching the end of a race.

“I am very close to being able to start working in and with God’s hands to serve his people, and that’s just wonderful, because being with God I am complete; nothing is missing,” he said.

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

“Since I was very little, before I started reading, I loved to see the images in the book called ‘The Beautiful Stories in the Bible,’” he said. “My mom used to go to a monastery and I loved to go there with her. Its silence was amazing. When I was around 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.” 

He kept at his studies, but one day he learned about the Comunidades Misioneras de Vida Cristinana (Missionary Communities of Christian Life), and it was there where he heard that God was really calling him to the priesthood.

CMVC  is a movement that emphasizes renewing the baptismal promise.

He responded to this call and entered the seminary. Thirteen years later, on May 12, he completed his studies and his life as a seminarian ended at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif. 

Since then he has been serving as a deacon at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

His journey as a seminarian has been a time in communion with God, knowing him and learning about him, he said. “I have learned that this is not just an emotion, it is a true calling of God to be a servant of the Church.” 

Now, a few days before his priestly ordination, Deacon Martinez said that he is very happy knowing that he will be totally giving his life to God and to his people.

“God is always with me, and I know people are praying for me a lot, so we are always confronting fears,” he said.

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 Deacon Martinez, adding that anyone who thinks they are being called by God should trust that call.

“He won’t ever leave you alone. Always trust in God, even in the hard times,” said Deacon Martinez, who shared that occasionally he has heard people say that the seminarians and priests suffer a lot because they are alone and  don’t have their families with them, “but I don’t see that. … This is an indescribable joy to feel that I am able to commit more profoundly to God, and this is not just for me, it is to be able to serve all His people.”

While his family won’t be able to share physically the day of his ordination because they were denied a visa to travel from Mexico, Deacon Martinez is philosophical about their absence.

“They are calm, so because they are calm so am I,” he said.

After his ordination he will travel to Mexico to visit with his family; after his return to Utah he will serve as parochial vicar of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish in Orem.

WHAT: The Laying on of Hands for the Order of Priest for Jorge Martinez Gómez

and Order of Deacon for Stephen M. Tilley

WHEN: Friday, June 24 at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Cathedral of the Madeleine, 309 E. South Temple, SLC 

                 All are invited.