Fr. Geronimo Gonzalez

Now serving at: St. John the Baptist, Longmont

Q: Describe your educational and professional background before entering formation.
A: I entered seminary after I graduated from Aurora Central High School (Aurora, Colo.) in 2002.

 

Q: What first interested you in the priesthood?
A: I remember going to Mass when I was a child and wanting to sit at the edge of the pew on the center aisle so that I could see the priest. Something about the priest fascinated me. As I reflect on this experience now, I know that it was Christ himself in the person of the priest that attracted me. He was calling me.

 

Q: When did you first feel called to the priesthood?
A: Since I was a child I have felt a call to the priesthood. That calling has deepened as the years have passed.

 

Q: What ultimately led you to enter the seminary?
A: As I grew older the idea of becoming a priest did not wane so, when I was about 15, I joined RAD (Radical Awareness for Discipleship). This program, run by the Vocations Office of the Archdiocese of Denver, helped me to dive deeper into my call and helped me make the decision to join the seminary here in Denver.

For me, it was never a question of “if” I was going to enter seminary; it was a question of “where.”

 

Q: Where did you find support for your call to the priesthood?
A: Throughout my life God has provided many people who have supported my vocation. My family has been a great support as well as many priests and friends.

 

Q: What are you most looking forward to about the priesthood?
A: I look forward to celebrating the Eucharist and bringing people to Christ who is present in this sacrament.

 

Q: What do you find most daunting about the priesthood?
A: Being a priest is not easy. This is something I have come to learn in the seminary although I have not experienced it myself.

 

I think what I find most daunting about the priesthood is being a spiritual guide for countless souls who will look to me to be another Christ for them. The responsibilities inherent in the ministry are enough to drive anyone away, but I know that this is who God wants me to be.

I have faith that He will bring to completion the good work he has begun.

 

Q: What is your favorite pastime?
A: I like gardening, playing foosball, and spending time with family.

 

Q: Is there a particular talent or gift you feel you bring to the seminary community and, eventually, to the Church as a whole?
A: I think one of the biggest gifts/talents I have received is that of being bilingual and bicultural. This talent will be indispensable for my future ministry.

 

Q: In today’s world, a call to celibacy is seen as radical, if not impossible. How have you reconciled the priesthood’s call to celibacy with this challenging cultural perspective?
A: A call to celibacy is radical but not impossible. I desire and love the Lord and this love, as imperfect as it may be, drives me to want to give myself entirely to Christ.

Celibacy is a way of expressing and living the love between the loved and the Beloved as St. John of the Cross would say. Christ fulfils all human needs and desires. It is for Him that I will live my celibacy in the context of my priesthood. In this way, I will be utterly receptive to him and to the needs of his Church.

The world will never fully understand the “why” of celibacy because it does not understand what love truly is.

 

Q: Can you recall a particular moment when you have been called to give testimony to your faith, or more particularly, to your vocation to the priesthood?
A: From very early in my life I remember giving testimony to my faith and to my vocation. When I was in high school teachers would ask me what I was planning to do with my life. I always said I wanted to become a priest. Such on answer always meant strange looks and sometimes an explanation.