By Eileen Connelly, OSU
Four men – Jimmy Beh, OFM, Jesus Lara Romero, OFM, Ricky Ferrer, OFM, and Christian Gonzalez, OFM - said yes to God and entered the Franciscan novitiate on July 16 at Old Mission Santa Barbara in California. During their novitiate year, they will deepen their relationship with Jesus and St. Francis through prayer, study and their experience of fraternal life.
Their backgrounds vary, but each man was drawn to the Franciscan Order to grow closer to God and serve others.
Br. Jimmy, who grew up in Washington, D.C., met the friars through Br. Gino Correa, OFM, at the University of San Diego, and later had the chance to meet and engage with more friars. He is most attracted to fraternal life and the friar’s values of simplicity, inclusion and itineracy.
Br. Jesus was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, where he was introduced to the friars. As a Franciscan, he hopes to serve others as an ordained friar working in a pastoral or educational setting. He is most attracted to life in fraternity and community, the example of St. Francis and service of the Order.
Br. Ricky served as a Franciscan volunteer in Philadelphia and ministered with friar communities in Boston; New York City; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Loudonville, New York. He looks forward to getting to know the Franciscans on a deeper and more spiritual level.
A native of the Bronx, New York, and Union City, New Jersey, Br. Christian is a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps. His proximity to New York City allowed him to engage with various friar communities. Having witnessed the friars’ fraternity and outreach ministry, he cites the Franciscan hallmarks of brotherhood and service that attracted him to this vocation.
During his homily, Br. Gene Pistacchio, OFM, said, “We are a community that is always welcoming new life. And it is a joy to welcome you here today. So, Jimmy and Christian and Ricky and Jesus, we are very happy that you are here. We begin again as a community of faith, of hope and of love. And so today you are beginning your journey with the Franciscan family in a new way.”
“You've already had a year of postulancy, and you have begun to understand the life of community, but you have asked to come a little closer,” he added. “This novitiate year provides you with the opportunity to open up your hearts and your minds to God in a way that you might be very surprised. You know, God is a God of surprises. With that surprise, God is going to bring out something new in you, but not only in you, in us as well. We're always ready to give birth to something new.
“And so, as you enter into the Order of Friars Minor in a more official way, you are being received not into a company, not into a corporation, but a living, breathing body of men who is striving to live their lives more closely to the pattern of the holy Gospels,” he concluded.
Please pray for our novices as they continue their discernment.
Do you know someone who is being called to be a friar? Invite them to contact our vocations office.
Brothers Christian Gonzalez, Jimmy Beh, Jesus Lara Romero, and Ricky Ferrer.