The best way to teach is always by example, and to transmit all the good things that one has received. This is what Saúl Ruiz García does every day, priest Mexican, 38 years old and currently rector of the diocesan seminary of Tabasco, where he is responsible for the formation of future priests. And for this very important mission, he himself draws inspiration from all that he learned and experienced during his years in Pamplona in the Bidasoa international seminar and at the University of Navarra.
Saul tells in an interview with CARF Foundation that before becoming a priest he lived an intense life. He graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and had a good job in road construction in Mexico. However, God was strongly anchored in his life and ended up giving a total turnaround to the plan he had for his future.
«I grew up in a believing family, although not a practicing one at all. I used to go with my parents to Mass on Sundays and only that. At home we were taught to pray and always motivated us to attend children's catechesis. But only up to that point,» he says.
However, he experienced something that only years later could give it the meaning it had: «Since I was a child, I was marked by seeing my father every morning while he was getting ready to leave for work, praying in his bed in front of an image of Jesus on a small altar in his bedroom.
That seed of faith would have a greater value than he imagined. Over the years," he points out, "he followed a path that would eventually lead him to become a priest and to seek perfect identification with Christ. It was progressive and there was apparently no one event that marked him in this call, but rather small milestones that marked his path.
«When I was 15 years old, I lived a retreat experience in the Rainbow Evangelizers Adolescent Encounter Movement. During the time that I persevered in that movement, it was during that time that the vocational concern, and it was then that I started to seriously consider the possibility of to be a priest".
«Many things happened: testimony from the parish fathers, people who suddenly told me that I was going to be a priest without my having said anything, because it was something I always kept secret. But the event that marked me the most was a priestly ordination I discovered with certainty that God was calling me to be his priest.
While still in the seminary, his bishop decided to send him to study in Pamplona thanks to the help of members, benefactors and friends of the CARF Foundation where he studied first the Theological Baccalaureate and later the Licentiate in Biblical Theology.
«My experience was very pleasant, the training I received in the Bidasoa international seminar helped me to consolidate my response to God's call to me. The The personal accompaniment of my spiritual director and my formators has been a very special tool for me. for my formation. I learned a lot from them, especially the perseverance to remain united to the Lord in prayer and work,» he confesses.
He had the same experience during his time at the University of Navarra. He admits that at the beginning it was difficult for him to adapt to the study and teaching methods, as well as the high level of training at this university. But with the passage of time and the support of the trainers, he assures that he was able to reap the many rewards of his time at this center.
«The studies carried out in Pamplona have been a very pleasant tool for my ministerial experience. On a personal level, the theological studies have helped me to lay solid foundations in my faith, because understanding the doctrine of the Church allows me to enter into dialogue with the reality in which I live and in which the world finds itself today; a reality that is constantly changing and that demands me, as a Christian, putting God first in my life to deal with such complex situations that are often presented to us disguised as good,» he explains to readers of the CARF Foundation.
To this experience he adds more spiritual goods, because he considers that thanks to the testimony of prayer that he found in Bidasoa and at the University of Navarra, he received important tools to «commit myself to transmit that same testimony in a world where the relationship with God can become superficial or scarce».
From those years he has a special memory that has marked his priestly ministry: the death of Don Juan Antonio Gil Tamayo, a priest «cheerful, dedicated, intelligent and with a very special charisma», whom he had as a formator in Pamplona.
«It was a difficult time for those of us who were seminarians, and for the whole seminary in general. But I am left with the pleasant experience of having known such a special human being, a priest who, despite the difficulty of his sufferings, never expressed a complaint, on the contrary, he lived his last years in generous dedication to God».
«I remember the words that a professor pronounced in the faculty shortly after the death of Don Juan Antonio: "here walked a saint". This event has deeply marked my life, first as a seminarian and now as a priest,» Saul recalls with emotion.
These years of ministry have allowed him to get to know the great challenges that priests face. Thus, he emphasizes that in these years he has experienced that «as a priest you need to only one thing: to be in communion with God».
He adds that the life of the sacraments and prayer is what «strengthens the priestly ministry in order to be able to give ourselves fully to the people God entrusts to us. And he warns: »anything that for the priest does not come from God, far from strengthening him, evidently weakens and loses him. Outside God, nothing; with God, everything«.
Finally, Saúl Ruiz has a very affectionate memory for the benefactors and friends of the CARF Foundation: «Never tire of collaborate in this great foundation. Rest assured that your help is bearing abundant fruit in many parts of the world. But above all, pray! Your mission does not end with each formation course, your mission is always extended in prayer for each seminarian and priest who has received your valuable help in our formation as priests. Thank you very much.
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