Welcome
"St. Francis of Assisi struggled with his vocation and the direction of his life as you may be experiencing
it right now"
Fr. Gonzalo Moreno, OFM
Vocation Director
Our Lady of Guadalupe Province
1204 Stinson Street, SW.
Albuquerque, NM 87121-3440
I am Fr. Gonzalo Moreno OFM, Vocation Director of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Province.
Welcome to our Vocation Website. Do you feel called to be a follower of St. Francis?
You may be attracted by the experience of our founder, St. Francis of Assisi. During
the years of his discernment, Francis struggled with his vocation and the direction
of his life should take, just as you may be questioning now. Francis had many options
on his own life that he thought would fulfill his dreams. Yet always in the back
of his mind was the subtle voice of the Lord calling him to something more. St.
Francis had the courage to do something with his life that was radically different
from what his close friends and others thought he should be doing.
In this discernment process, Francis often isolated himself away from the world,
and its distractions, just as many young people do today, in a world that is so
often filled with useless noise and activity. St. Francis would pray from his heart
asking old age questions: “God, who are you? And who am I?” Francis asked the Lord
what he wanted him to do. In his eagerness to respond to God’s call Francis undertook
the renovation of small chapels were he lived and prayed as these buildings were
falling into ruin. Gradually, the Lord showed St. Francis the way he should follow.
The Lord was not speaking of physical buildings or properties. He was calling Francis
by his example to rebuild the Body of Christ, The Church.
As human beings we get to some point in our lives in which we ask the deep question
of where we are going, and how we are to get there, and what we want to be. A religious
vocation is a special call from God and is different fro each person. As unique
as we are in the sight of God, that’s how unique your call to our Franciscan way
of life might be. If you feel that you may be called to explore our ministries as
follower of St. Francis and want to know more about our way of life, one that is
a radical living of Gospel values, then contact us and permit us to assist you in
your personal discernment process.:
God Bless you!