Late vocation to the priesthood
Each one has his own history and receives in a particular way the call of the Lord to follow him. In my case, since I was young I belonged to various movements and apostolic groups within the Church in my country and to one in particular, Encuentros Familiares de Venezuela, in which I served God for several years.
Interestingly, this movement focuses on the family and on the personal commitment to create a future family. My life project was focused towards this path, while I always felt God's presence in my professional project, which made me believe that this was also what God wanted for me.
I graduated as a Petroleum Engineer and practiced my profession in this field and as a University Professor. I was at the peak of my professional project: my family was very happy with the results I had obtained so far and my friends admired in a way my achievements at such a young age. I thought that this would be what would make me completely happy, but in reality it was not. I felt a bit empty and I also felt that I was called to something more. It was quite a blow to realize that my project had failed despite the success I had achieved so far and it was then that I set out on a quest.
From that moment on, several events began to happen in which I clearly saw that the Lord was asking me to surrender myself totally to follow Him: to leave my job, my profession, my studies, even my family. My family's reaction was at first a severe rejection. Obviously they did not understand the change that it would mean to leave everything I had built up over the years to embark on a new path.
Julio César Morillo Leal
Seminarian of the Diocese of Cabimas, Venezuela
