Seminarian Alberto Carrillo: 'We are called to be of Christ; we have to remember to act Christlike'

IC archive photo

+ Enlarge

Alberto Carrillo

SALT LAKE CITY — Alberto Carrillo, a student at Mount Angel Seminary in Bend, Ore., has been called to the ministry of the priesthood for the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

His journey has been joyous, he said, but not without challenges.

Carrillo was born in Mexico City. He, his parents and sister moved to Salt Lake City when he was 8 because they had other family established here. Although he was raised Catholic and his family attended Mass while he was a child, later his parents fell away and stopped attending.

When he was 18 and going through a difficult time, he went to Mexico City to visit his grandmother. She invited him to attend Mass with her. He went, simply to please her, he said, but then he was asked to substitute as a lector for her because she was struggling with arthritis.

It proved to be a profound experience.

“I felt a longing in my heart for Christ; I felt like crying,” he recalled.

When he shared his experiences with his grandmother, she told him Jesus was sad that he was not attending church.

Returning home to Utah, Carrillo embarked on a journey to seek God and to seek the Church. He began attending Mass at his home parish of St. Francis Xavier, and to pray and to actively participate in the sacraments.

“My pastor, Fr. Eugenio Yarce, told me ‘Don’t let Confession keep you away from the Eucharist,’” he said. So, he participated in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and received the Eucharist for the first time.

“That was such a joyous time for me,” he said.

Although he began his journey on his own, today all his family attends Mass regularly and participates in the sacraments.

Carrillo became a lector and a leader in the parish’s youth ministry. When Fr. Yarce asked if he wanted to become a priest, he initially said he wasn’t interested, but his heart began to change as he continued to pray, he said.

While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in science and information systems at the University of Utah, Carrillo began attending the St. Catherine of Siena Newman Center. He led young adult retreats and Catholic social teaching outreach efforts, and ended up living at the Newman Center for a year as he began to formally discern his vocation.

“That was a whole different experience because I was seeking a more intimate relationship with Christ,” Carrillo said. He began to consider the priesthood as he was filled with a desire to serve the people of God. He returned to St. Francis Xavier Parish, where he served as director of religious education for two years while completing his college degree.

Two years ago, he was accepted as a seminarian for the diocese, and is now studying at Mt. Angel Seminary. This summer he is on assignment at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, where he is working in the office, teaching religious education classes and helping with Masses, weddings, baptisms and quinciñeras. He is also helping start a youth ministry during the parish’s transition from the quarantine.

“I’m grateful to God for all the opportunities that he has presented to me and all the blessings,” he said of the past two years. “It has been a learning experience and challenges have occurred. God is always there with me, to teach me to answer his call; with generosity.”

In his ministry, Carrillo draws inspiration from the words of Pope Saint Paul VI: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” (Address to the Members of the Consilium de Laicis).

“If we are willing to change and we are willing to endure all these hardships, then you will be able to portray that to your community,” Carrillo said. “It really starts with one and then it goes out. With all these different things that are going on in the Church, you have to be reminded that we are images of Christ. We are called to be of Christ; we have to remember to act Christlike. It is really easy to have the answer to the question ‘What would Jesus do?’ but to act that in your life, that’s a whole different story. In my path to discernment that is my goal, to always have that.”