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 recalls his experience during an Ignatian retreat which set his heart aflame for the Priesthood. Below is the transcript of this segment:
…There was a cross that was right behind the priest that said, “What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What shall I do for Christ?” And that kind of, you know, hit me hard. So that Saturday morning I wake up and we had the first talk and then I go into the chapel as he asked me to. And so I’m sitting there and I’m asking: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
And it was in that moment, seeing the sun peering through kind of like coming to myself: “Here I am Lord… I come to do your will.” That I just start sobbing uncontrollably. Because whenever, and I always say this to people, when God intervenes in your life in such a dramatic way, think of St. Thomas realizing Jesus was in front of him and Jesus was risen. What does he do? He falls to his knees and says: “My Lord, my God.” And so… when God intervenes directly in life in such a, in such a dramatic way, you have no choice, but to sob. It became very clear to me. That’s what God wanted me to do. But even then, because you know, you’re a teen and you’re kind of stubborn. You don’t wanna admit it to yourself.
Listen to the entire interview with Father Manny Alvarez on the Tabella Catholic App.
