- What a joy to be able to have this chat with you, Pablo and Luis, for our Spanish-speaking readers... I love your videos and I think they are very useful for the evangelization and Christian formation of young people. You know, I have always been very curious to know who was behind these extroverted guys from your program Catholic Stuff....
Paul, (P): Well, here we are! I am Brother Pablo Fernández, Servant of the Home of the Mother. I am 26 years old and the middle of three siblings. My mother is German and my father is Spanish; although we have moved around a lot, I have spent most of my childhood and adolescence in Zaragoza. I must admit that my family has been the first vehicle that has transmitted the faith to me. In the bosom of my family I learned to pray and to relate in a natural way with the Lord and the Virgin.
My father has always tried to provide us with the best environment in which to grow spiritually. To this end, he has continually provided us with all the facilities so that we could attend an endless number of Catholic activities with other young people. And, although I have been able to participate in activities of various realities in the Church, there are two that have marked my personal journey of faith in a special way: the Opus Dei, I met in 2002; and the Mother's Home, who came into my life in 2010. Thanks to these two realities all my childhood and adolescence has been full of many good moments, in a healthy environment, surrounded by great people.
Luis, (L): And I am the Brother Luis Escandell, I am 28 years old and the third of five. In my case, I am Spanish on both sides. I was born and raised in Madrid until the age of 19, when I responded to the Lord's call and joined our community. Several people in my family belong to or maintain a regular relationship with Opus Dei, and this is also how I was formed in the faith during my childhood. I remember with great affection the many activities we did with the Llambria club, the formation circles, excursions, summer camps... I learned to pray from the book The Way, and it was also a great help to me to learn to pray. within Opus Dei where I first heard the voice of God that invited me to follow him more closely (but we'll talk about that later).
- With these roots in Opus Dei, both of you have found a particular vocation within the reality of the Servants of the Home of the Mother, small, but already with a great path of holiness: what is its characteristic?
P: Our community was born during the pontificate of St. John Paul II, and a great part of our charism responds precisely to the interests of this great saint. Our missions in the Church are: the defense of the Eucharist; the defense of the honor of Our Mother, especially in the privilege of her virginity; and the conquest of young people for Jesus Christ.
As priests or aspirants to the priesthood, we try to make real that phrase of John Paul II: "The Holy Mass is absolutely the center of my life and of my whole day". In the sacramental actualization of Christ's sacrifice, we try to offer ourselves each day with Him, Priest and Victim, to the Father for the salvation of mankind.
L: And just like St. John Paul II, the Home of the Mother also feels like a place of peace and peace. wholly owned by the Virgin Mary, totus tuus, chosen by her. Moreover, since we were born at the tomb of St. Peter, we want to remain faithful to Peter. Only in him do we have the guarantee of truth. His Magisterium is not for us something that restricts our freedom, but a luminous beacon that shines in the midst of the confusion that envelops us, a sure path that leads us to the Truth.
- Great! And how did you feel the vocation to be part of this reality and to be priests?
P: In my case, there was no specific moment when I clearly discovered my vocation. It was rather something gradual, a story intertwined with many small graces. My father always conveyed to us the importance of following one's vocation, of following God's will. I grew up with the clear awareness that God created us for something and that we can only be happy and reach fulfillment, holiness, if we follow God's plan. In this search, the priesthood appeared as an option as early as my first communion. I have the grace of having had good priests close to me, priests in love with the Lord and their vocation. That good example made me feel somehow attracted to the priesthood since I was a child. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Colegio de Fomento Montearagón and the youth center of the Obra Jumara of Zaragoza for all the help they have given me in my human and spiritual formation in this journey of faith.
But, although it is true that the idea of the priesthood has always been present in my life, it has not always been present in the same way. There have been its ups and downs in the process: it has not been a continuous ascending process, but there have been moments where it was in the foreground and others where it was in the twelfth plane. However, there it was going around in a way. But from the moment I made the decision, on a pilgrimage to Fatima, until I finished my second year of high school, it was like an obstacle course. The devil did not want to make it easy for me and made a thousand excuses so that I would not do what the Lord was asking me to do.
"It is in silence that God touches hearts and transforms them. All the activities we carry out (retreats, camps, pilgrimages, retreats, use of the media, etc.) are focused on this encounter.".
- ...Like Airbus...
P: Of course! One of the biggest distractions, then, was a work-study offer I got from the aerospace company Airbus. The truth is, when the Airbus thing started, I didn't have any hope that it would go ahead. I applied a bit without thinking and, long story short, in the end I was included among the students selected by the company. Those selected would not only be paid for their engineering studies in Germany, but would also be given a monthly salary for the years of their studies. After that, a permanent position with a high salary was guaranteed. And there I am, 17 years old and without having given a stick in the water, with a secure future. What to do? I want to emphasize that the choices at that time were not Airbus or priesthood. What if, at the end of the year, I saw that God was not asking me to be a priest? What if he was calling me to be an engineer? I took it to prayer and saw that it was a temptation. So I took the leap of faith and the Lord sustained me.
Finally, I was able to go to live with the Servants after the summer of my sophomore year of high school and there I received the final touches to open myself completely to God's will. All those little graces I had received about vocation for so many years became very clear. The pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly and the picture became clear. On November 1, 2014 I entered as a Servant of the Mother's Home and the adventure began.
- And you, Luis.
L: My first memory of God's call to the priesthood dates back to the age of 14. At that time, I was studying at the Fomento El Prado school in Madrid, and thanks to a very intense spiritual life, I was very open to whatever God wanted from me. One day when we were shown a short video on the priesthood, upon hearing the Lord's words to Peter: "From now on you will be a fisher of men" (Lk 5:10), such a desire was awakened in me to give myself entirely to God that I left the projection room jumping for joy: "I'm going to be a priest!!!"
However, that first enthusiasm was soon extinguished when I started high school in another school. On the one hand, the self-demanding nature of my studies had caused me a nervous imbalance that manifested itself repeatedly in long sleepless nights; and, on the other hand, bad friendships brought me into contact with the dark world of the heavy metal, within which I discovered a new ideal of happiness totally opposite to the one I was taught as a child and which, at times, seemed to fulfill all my desires.
The Christianity I professed as a child was, I thought, a great lie that, under the promise of a future eternal bliss, hid the bitterness of the constant renunciations demanded by God. The funny thing is that I never, at least explicitly, denied the existence of God, but my idea of Him was that of a grumpy old man who somehow enjoyed frustrating the illusions of poor mortals. Therefore, the only way to be happy was, as far as possible, to contradict God in everything. Everything lived until then was a fantasy, a wasted life.
Thank God, even in the worst moments I still retained some common sense, and this project of breaking with my former life as a Christian proved to be more difficult than I first thought. The more I immersed myself in sin, the more I was overcome by a terrible feeling of dissatisfaction. which, little by little, degenerated until I became disgusted with myself. That question that I used to be able to answer in all simplicity now made me experience vertigo: who am I, a piece of meat walking from misery to misery towards absolute nothingness, because after death there is nothing. This idea horrified me. Something inside me, that part of my childhood that still survived, refused to accept it, "There must be something else!" From time to time, I would turn to the Lord crying out with all my being, "God, if you are there, get me out of this situation!!!" The answer presented itself, in a totally providential way, at Christmas 2013-14.
- ...And you were telling me that you come from a family of philosophers...
L: That's right! My father, José Escandell, is a philosopher. In fact, in my family there is a great philosophical tradition: my grandfather, Antonio Millán-Puelles, was also a philosopher, as was my uncle, Tomás Melendo, and many others. In those days, then, the Servants of the Home of the Mother invited my father to give them a series of private philosophy classes, and he wanted to take some of his children with him, including me. Although my disposition was against God, I had nothing against those who live the faith, so I joined without any resistance. The joy I saw in the Servants shook up all the absurd jumble of theories that were shaping my life, like a cannon shot aimed at a straw hut. Those men, although they had renounced everything the world considers desirable, radiated a peace that was not of this world, while I could only look at myself with shame. "What if I had made a mistake?", I thought.
Once I got back home, I immersed myself in reading a book that the Servants had given me in which they recounted some of their conversion testimonies. That was the final blow. I remember asking myself one day, tired of thinking about it: "If I admit that this is the truth, would I be willing to give everything, even my life, in order to be faithful?" Immediately, I understood that before I was not looking for the truth, but for an escape from reality, from myself and from God, and that I had never been as happy as when I was at peace with the Lord. Now, could I answer that call I felt at the age of 14 as if nothing had happened? Certainly, God is not like men, capable of holding a grudge, but maintains his plan of love for us even when we have denied him: "The Lord has sworn and does not repent: you are an everlasting priest" (Ps 110:4).
I only needed to know where God wanted me to go. That same summer I went with the Servants and other young people on a pilgrimage to Ireland with the intention of opening myself to God. At the Marian shrine in Knock, the Lord finally revealed to me where my place was: the Mother's Home. My entry as a Servant took place on December 1, the Solemnity of All Saints, together with Bro.
"The Priest - whoever he may be - is always another Christ (The Way, 66); or, as the Curé of Ars says, he is the love of the Heart of Jesus on earth. They are the persons chosen by the Lord to celebrate the sacraments and thus perpetuate his presence among us until the end of the world."
- To what needs of the Church do you, the Servants of the Home of the Mother, respond? In fact, we know that there are many young people who follow you.
L: As we have already indicated, the conquest of young people for Jesus Christ is our third mission within the Church. In his letter to young people, St. John Paul II affirms that youth is the time of great questions, like that of the rich young man: What must I do to attain eternal life? What must I do so that my life may have full value and meaning? Only the Lord can offer a fully satisfactory answer, capable of embracing and engaging the whole of life.
Love is demanding, it asks for everything, it is not satisfied with half measures. In young people, this thirst for love manifests itself in a particularly intense way. Ask a young man for something, and he will give you nothing; ask him for a lot, and he will give you a little; ask him for everything, and he will give you more than you can imagine. Young people want great ideals worth giving their lives for. Perhaps without knowing how to express it in words, they sense that their destiny transcends mere temporality, that it is not enough to be comfortable down here: we have been created for greatness, for heaven.
Now, we are exposed to a constant bombardment of stimuli and immediate pleasures that young people, with such a weak will, find it difficult to control. It is necessary to help them overcome mediocrity and cowardice by placing them before the Lord, leading them to a personal encounter with God through prayer. Only when they hear the voice of the Lord calling them to communion with himself will they find the courage to go out of themselves and set out on the way. This is the conquest: to place them in the presence of God.
It is in silence that God touches hearts and transforms them. All the activities we carry out (retreats, camps, pilgrimages, retreats, use of the media, etc.) are focused on this encounter.
At the Home of the Mother we are well aware that our mission is not to conquer young people for ourselves, to gather people to follow us as a group of fans or something like that, but for the Lord. To the extent that the Servant of the Home of the Mother is filled with God, his existence becomes a light for all people, especially for young people.
- Catholic Stuff is a wonderful program, along with all the formation and evangelization initiatives: to whom do you particularly address yourselves?
P: Catholic Stuff pursues no other goal than to bring souls closer to God. Jesus told us: "Go into the whole world and preach the Gospel" (Mk 16:15). As Benedict XVI says, the Internet is a sixth continent for evangelization; and, in the words of St. Paul VI, the media are the new pulpit from which the Church must address the world. We want to use today's networks to bring souls to God, who alone can fill our lives and fulfill our deepest longings.
The series Catholic Stuff is aimed at all those young people who, although they consider themselves believers, do not practice their faith very much. and remain only in the most basic aspects of it. But also to all those who, while practicing their faith, want to go deeper into it. We think that the program can also be useful for catechists who need some innovative and entertaining means to carry out their apostolic work.
We started the project without knowing exactly what we were embarking on, with the sole conviction that God wanted it. One goes to YouTube to search for videos with Catholic content and one's soul falls to one's feet when one sees the quality of the format: Where can you find a video that proclaims the truth of the Gospel in the language of youth? With this in mind, we set out to learn, little by little, how to use the programs necessary for film-style evangelization.
The key, certainly, is that we tell the truth without sweeteners. People deep down are looking for the truth, and they are able to recognize it, even though they may not accept it. We speak of the Truth that is Christ. He is the key to our success. In addition, we try to approach the topics with humor and in a youthful way, with colloquial expressions and jokes so as not to give the typical impression that faith is "boring". God is not boring!
- Luis, a question for you in particular: why did you and several priests and brothers of the Servants choose the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross?
L: For several years now, the Servants of the Home of the Mother have been conducting our studies in the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross for the quality of the formation they offer and the environment in which it takes place. Today's world demands a great deal from aspirants to the priesthood. intellectual rigor capable of integrating reason and faith so that we can, as St. Peter says, "give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for your hope" (1 Peter 3:15). We want to understand in order to live our faith ever more deeply, and at the same time to be courageous witnesses of Christ in a society thirsty for the Truth.
Another peculiarity of the formation received at this university is the harmony existing between intellectual and professional life, on the one hand, and spiritual formation on the other. The professors are not only erudite, but one can perceive in them an existential assimilation of what they are talking about, which is convincing and encouraging, communicating to us the certainty that our faith is not detached from temporal realities, but that it illuminates every aspect of our life and moves it to its full realization.
Finally, the presence of students of different nationalities is very enriching. It thus opens us to the universality of the Catholic Church, broadening our horizons beyond the limits of the region from which we originate to share our faith with other cultures and ways of living the encounter with the Lord.
"Our missions in the Church are: the defense of the Eucharist; the defense of Our Mother's honor, especially in the privilege of her virginity; and the conquest of young people for Jesus Christ"..
- I know that, in spite of being a very young reality, you have already had, in the Servants, many witnesses of sanctity....
P: Yes, in particular Sister Clare Crockett, whose life is recounted in this film.
She was a girl with great artistic talent, a beautiful voice, an attractive physical appearance and an overwhelming personality. At the age of 15, she had already been hired as a presenter of youth television programs on Channel 4 - one of the most important in the United Kingdom - and, at 17, the American channel Nickelodeon had taken an interest in her. However, she experienced such an emptiness that she realized that her life had no meaning if she did not give it to Jesus Christ. Neither her family's pleas nor her manager's promises could stop her. On August 11, 2001, she surrendered her life to God as a Servant of the Mother's Home and became an increasingly docile instrument in the Lord's hands.
There was an image that Sister Clare used a lot and that helped her to put her life in God's hands every day. It was the image of the blank check. Every day I offered the Lord a blank check, so that He could ask Him for anything He wanted. On April 16, 2016, an earthquake in Ecuador, where she had served for years, ended her life and that of five other young aspirants.
To our surprise, the news of Sister Clare's death immediately began to circulate through the various means of social communication throughout the world. We began to receive many messages of closeness and support, but, above all, many testimonies from people who, upon hearing her story, felt moved to return to frequent the sacraments or to live their faith more intensely. Currently, his documentary on YouTube has more than 3,500,000 views in Spanish and 2,000,000 in English.
L: I would also like to mention the P. Henry Kowalczyk of the United States.
He also consecrated himself to the service of God and souls, especially for the sick. He himself was epileptic, and in his later years he suffered frequent crises that increasingly diminished his health and apostolic mobility, but he knew how to carry everything so closely united to the Lord that he left us all impressed.
When the coronavirus pandemic began in Spain, the convent of Discalced Carmelites in Amposta (Tarragona) asked for a chaplain, and Fr Henry volunteered to go. On the morning of April 15, 2020, a new epileptic seizure struck him while he was washing himself and he hit his head against the bathtub, which caused his immediate death. According to the Carmelite Mothers themselves, during his last days "he was happy and in his homilies he spoke of Heaven".
These two are not only an example for us, the Servants, but their life witness is traveling around the world doing immense good to people of all ages and conditions. We recommend that you search the internet for more information about them.
- How strong! Personally, I watched the videos and movies of both of them on YouTube and got very excited. And I recommend them to our readers as well.
And so do we... And something else we want to say to the benefactors of the CARF Foundation, and to all the readers and benefactors in Spain and in the world is that, in Mt 10:42 we can read: "Whoever gives one of these little ones a drink, even if it is only a cup of fresh water, just because he is my disciple, truly I tell you, he will not lose his reward". If the Lord rewards even a glass of fresh water given in his name, how much more will he reward helping the formation of a priest!
"The Priest - whoever he may be - is always another Christ" (The Way, 66); or, as the Curé of Ars says, he is. the love of the Heart of Jesus on earth. They are the persons chosen by the Lord to celebrate the sacraments and thus perpetuate his presence among us until the end of the world. It is a diffusive or expansive choice, we could say. He chooses the priest to reach the whole community and nourish it with the Eucharist, to forgive sins through confession, to give new life through baptism, to be present at the important moments of our life, to accompany us, to encourage us....
To help in the formation of a priest is to contribute to the good of all the people of God. Today more than ever we need well-formed priests at all levels, and making this possible in good centers of study is an enormous help. I can only thank and encourage the benefactors to continue with their collaboration, so important for us.
Gerardo Ferrara,
BA in History and Political Science, specializing in the Middle East.
Head of the student body at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
