Deacon Gonzalo Oajaca-Lopez offers Communion to a worshipper during a Mass at St. Brigid Church, Westbury, in May. TLIC photo/Gregory A. Shemitz TLIC photo/Gregory A. Shemitz

Deacon Gonzalo Oajaca-Lopez was born and raised in a very small town in Guatemala where the priest came to his parish just twice a month.

“When I was 13 or 14, I remember that once, during the moment of consecration, at the elevation of the Eucharist, I thought maybe, someday, I could do that same thing,” he said.

When he mentioned the idea to his parents, they discouraged him because they thought it was too dangerous. “It was really dangerous. Priests and catechists had been killed” in the area, he recalled, including, not long afterward, his own parish priest.

“At the funeral, I thought of his martyrdom. He died for our Catholic Church,” said Deacon Oajaca-Lopez, who found himself inspired by that great love.

His parents didn’t have money to pay for his education, so he moved to the capital city, found a sales job and went to night school. He also joined the youth group at the cathedral parish. “I loved to be involved” with the Church, he recalled.

He left Guatemala to study in Spain, working as a nurse with poor elderly and developmentally disabled people. He later went to a university run by the Legionaries of Christ, a religious order, and began to seriously think about the priesthood again.
“I loved the prayer, but the way they lived wasn’t for me,” he decided. Deacon Oajaca-Lopez continued his education, studying theology in Rome and philosophy in Thornwood, N.Y. In New York, he had friends who attended Our Holy Redeemer Church in Freeport. He joined them for Mass and met then-pastor Msgr. Richard Figliozzi. One day, Msgr. Figliozzi asked Deacon Oajaca-Lopez if he had ever considered the priesthood.

“We started to talk,” said Deacon Oajaca-Lopez. Father Tom Coogan, then the diocesan vocation director, told him about the needs of the Spanish-speaking Catholics here on Long Island.

“Many people would naturally like to have the Mass and the sacraments in their native language, but they cannot,” he said. Soon afterward he knew he had found his calling and entered Immaculate Concep-tion Seminary, studying for the diocesan priesthood here.

“I hope to fulfill my calling to be holy, to try to carry more souls to Christ,” he said “Every time I baptize someone, I feel that it is such a great gift.” He is looking forward to being able to celebrate the Eucharist.

Deacon Oajaca-Lopez has invited members of diocesan youth groups to be there when he celebrates his first Mass. He has been working with the young people throughout his time at the seminary. He spent his pastoral year at St. Brigid’s, Westbury, and returned there on weekends after being ordained a deacon last December.

“I love to work with young people. It is their energy. They want to do things for the Church,” he said. Noting the problems of gangs in Latin America, he wants to help provide opportunities for youth on Long Island so they are not attracted to the gang culture. “They have a desire for God. Helping them to know God is the greatest thing I can do.”