César David Villalobos is a seminarian of the Diocese of Cabimas, Venezuela.
"Having a life project already established as any young adult in search of freedom and new challenges; I decided that my life would be oriented to the professional area.
I studied engineering at the university, passionate about technology and influenced by a relative, I found my vocation among cables, binary codes, computers, many hours of study and work, what I thought was my happiness.
Without being too close to the church my life was going on as it was, studies, work and helping my family. Nothing would stop me from reaching my dream goals.
From one moment to the next things were not going as planned and almost hitting rock bottom I decided to go to the church to learn a little more and find the peace that so many people talk about and I wanted.
My story begins with that first contact, a spiritual retreat that would not only mark my course. A before and after meeting the love of loves, Jesus Alive in me, but it would be decisive without knowing it in the destiny of my life and that of my family in the hands of the Lord.
My integration into the service of the parish in the charismatic apostolate, prayer and study of the Holy Scriptures led me to understand the true meaning of life, why God is our father and how much he loves us. Eucharistic adoration, my great avenue for prayer, was the foot that would later give me the strength to leave everything and follow him even more closely.
One day I asked myself what it was like to be on the other side of the altar, I was so curious that I asked my pastor and he told me "I was waiting for this question" he would give me some directions and pray for a long time, without knowing it I was one step closer to entering the seminary.
A few weeks later, the person in charge of vocations called me from the seminary to invite me to the meetings. I was very fearful and began to attend, not knowing what would come next. With the help of great brothers in the Faith I decided to enter the experience in the propaedeutic seminary of Cabimas.
At first my family took it with sadness, they all thought I already had my life established, but what they did not imagine was that God would change my plans written on simple sheets of paper.
This was the beginning of my adventure to the priesthood with much dedication and desire to move forward, abandoning a lifestyle to embrace that of service to the Lord.
After the introductory year I was promoted to the Major Archdiocesan Seminary of St. Thomas Aquinas in Maracaibo, Venezuela where I began my discipleship stage with philosophical studies.
Many experiences lived, many brothers and sisters in the Faith who help you along the way, extraordinary people who mark the path to follow.
In the meantime my family had changed their mind and now they saw me as the future priest with joy and happiness in the Lord; God is the one capable of doing it, changing hearts, plans, ideas. At the end of the discipleship stage my bishop told me that he had decided that I would continue my theological studies at the University of Navarra and during my stay in Spain I would reside at the Bidasoa International Ecclesiastical College.
My astonishment was such that I did not believe that something like this could happen to me, in this way all the procedures for my trip to Spain became very difficult due to the pandemic and the bureaucracy. An anecdote is that at all times until the last day of my stay in Venezuela I had to throw myself into the abyss and trust in God that the angels would help and protect me. Nothing of what I planned happened, God changed until the last day Everything. The best and most extraordinary decision I have ever made in my life.
All to the glory of the Lord Jesus. St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us".
