This is an excerpt from the full interview on The Life of a Priest, a podcast available in the Tabella Catholic App.
Father Manny Alvarez is the pastor of the Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida. In this excerpt he shares the story of his meeting with Bishop Agustin Roman, which set the wheels in motion on his vocation.
It was an atmosphere that led to a conduciveness of holiness of life to be able to be in an environment where you really didn’t question your faith, because it was part of who you are. As the song said, it’s the air you breathe. It was, it was something beautiful. We, we didn’t live in a strict pious monastery household, although when you’re became a teenager, kind of felt like that.
But no, my childhood memories were so great. ‘Cause we would vacation at the beach or down in the Florida Keys where we would and always brings in together, parallels we to Jesus calling us to be Fishers of men. So that became very clear to me. And so it created this space where it was very easy to say yes to the Lord.
Listen to the entire interview with Father Manny Alvarez on the Tabella Catholic App.