Next stop, Rome
My formation process was going on normally in my beloved Archdiocese, when suddenly, at the beginning of this year, a proposal changed all the “human plans” I had. Indeed, it was the possibility of continuing my theological studies in Rome.
At that moment I remembered that phrase of Ratzinger “the ways of the Lord are not comfortable, but neither are we created for comfort, but for great things”. In this way, the perspective changed and I feel very blessed to be able to continue my formation in the heart of our Holy Mother Church counting on the support of my family and the prayer of my bishop.
I have been in the Eternal City for two weeks now and during this time I have been able to realize that, like me, Jesus has also called many young people of different languages and nationalities to follow him and become brothers. The Maria Mater Ecclesiae Seminary is now my new home, the house where I will continue and deepen what I have been learning with the grace of God. The heat of the weather (high since our arrival) has been derisory compared to the human warmth offered by the brothers of the community and the attention shown by the formators.
In particular, a few things have surprised me so far: the first has to do with the grace of being able to participate in Eucharistic adoration every day. The second is reflected in the fraternity experienced by the team of formators. And the last one is related to all the richness of faith, culture, gastronomy, language and architecture that Rome presents to us. With this I conclude that, being here, every seminarian should not forget where he came from and why he came here, but also, he should take advantage of this new horizon to imparare Rome, that is, to allow ourselves to be transformed by all that I have mentioned before in order to know more and serve better.
Jorge Eduardo Ruilova
Archdiocese of Cuenca, Ecuador
