Axel David Castillo Cardona is a seminarian of the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima, Guatemala.
"St. John Paul II said that "vocation is gift and mystery"My parents took me and my two younger brothers to the Eucharist every Sunday and formed us in Christian values and teachings.
It was when I was a teenager, after the sacrament of Confirmation, that I joined the service of my parish community, I started as a lector, then as part of the youth ministry of my community; then I was responsible for the youth ministry of my parish and later for the youth ministry of the Diocese; I also accompanied the pastoral council and the missionary work of my parish.
All this, in parallel to my university studies at the University of San Carlos and the work I did every day. In the midst of my service and daily work, I discovered a special call to consecrate my life to the priestly ministry.
It was not until 2017, after finishing my university studies, that I expressed my vocational concerns to my pastor. He guided me to participate in the meetings of candidates and then I entered the National Major Seminary of the Assumption in Guatemala, where I began my formation in 2018.
A totally different experience, a new lifestyle based on a continuous encounter with Christ and with the other brothers, an assiduous life of prayer, integral formation and fraternal coexistence have been the pillars that strengthen every day my vocational option to serve God and my brothers.
After beginning my philosophical studies, I was given the opportunity to continue my formation at the Bidasoa International Ecclesiastical Seminary and theological studies at the University of Navarra, a totally edifying experience; the sacramental life, the excellent academic formation, the spiritual accompaniment, the prayer life and the fraternal living together with a diversity of brothers from many countries and of different languages, have strengthened my vocational convictions and opened the horizon towards the universality of the Church.
