Hope in God the Father and in the words and deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially manifested through His body, the Church, has always been a core value and a sustaining force in our family. I was born and raised in Cuba, a place abundant in misery, hunger, and despair, yet also overflowing with faith, love, and profound hope among believers. Since childhood, the biblical account of Jesus feeding the 5,000, found in all four Gospels (Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–15), has been deeply ingrained in my heart. My father always taught us that we must rely on God to provide for His children; just as Jesus fed the multitudes who followed Him, He would sustain us if we remained faithful to Him. During the most challenging times, such as the Special Period in the 1990s, we placed our hope not in government or earthly power but in God and His Church.
Another pivotal moment when my Catholic faith sustained me with hope occurred when we moved to the United States in 2009. We arrived in Birmingham, AL, knowing no English and possessing only the clothes we wore, entering a land completely unknown to us. Yet, we were received warmly by strangers who quickly became family, our brothers and sisters within the Body of Christ. We carried the hope of a new life. God had already planted seeds of generosity and hospitality among priests, religious, and parishioners to support us during that crucial transition.
Throughout my life, hope has been a vital gift from God, guiding me through significant milestones, from starting school in the United States and military service to discerning my vocation and engaging in seminary formation.
Saint Meinrad has prepared me to become a source of hope by emphasizing that hope must be integral to our formation. It has taught me that our transformation into the image of Christ is not merely by our own efforts but through hopeful cooperation with the Holy Spirit, who shapes us into better disciples, configured to the Heart of Christ. Additionally, the dedication, prayerfulness, academic excellence, fraternity, and pastoral sensitivity of my fellow seminarians have profoundly strengthened my hope for the future of our Church. It is this hope that inspires me to strive toward becoming a faithful servant of God, and, God willing, a diligent priest, worker in His vineyard, committed to nurturing His flock and bringing to the faithful and the communities I will serve the same hope nurtured in our seminary. Our seminary community is filled with good, faithful, dedicated, and resilient men who desire to bring clarity to a world marked by darkness and uncertainty.
During my discernment and formation as a seminarian, hope has continually been an essential gift from God. A critical aspect of seminary formation is deep self-awareness and growth in virtue, recognizing those parts of oneself that need to be illuminated by God. This involves transforming such aspects through the Holy Spirit into characteristics aligned with God’s will.
A particularly hopeful moment in my vocational journey occurred after graduating from undergraduate studies. I sought permission from my vocation director and bishop to pursue serving as a military chaplain with the Archdiocese for the Military Services, particularly in the Navy. Given my prior service in the United States Marine Corps, my heart longed to serve those in the armed forces, knowing firsthand their deep need for spiritual shepherds. However, I was also mindful of the urgent need for priests, especially Spanish-speaking priests, in my diocese. Trusting in God’s providence, I was hopeful that if this call-within-a-call was God’s will for my vocation, He would enable me to pursue it. Both my vocation director and bishop generously supported my discernment of this call.
Life at Saint Meinrad continues to cultivate hope in me and my fellow seminarians by emphasizing reliance on the Holy Spirit. Our service and our effectiveness as instruments of God’s peace do not depend solely, or even primarily, on our own abilities, but fundamentally on God’s grace. Our responsibility is to remain willing and fully surrendered to His will, allowing Him to use us according to His divine purpose, bringing honor, glory, and praise to God our Father, through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Francisco Rodriguez, Seminarian, Diocese of Birmingham