New seminarian loves to serve, make music

Abran Leal was torn between his love for music and the idea of becoming a priest. The call to the priesthood won out and he will enroll at Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas this fall.

When his family moved near Most Precious Blood Parish, they began attending church where Father Bob Dunn would take Leal under his spiritual wings. “Father Dunn was the first person to recognize that I should go into the seminary. He watered that seed and guided me in that direction,” Leal said.

As his faith grew Leal became interested in scripture. He began to research the priesthood and after reading Mother Teresa’s biography he realized he liked her hands-on approach to ministry and the best way for him to know if he wanted to be a priest was to be of service.

He participated in ACTS, an acronym for Adoration, Community, Theology and Service, and Search retreats; he became an altar server; and he helped with Serving Hands of Christ, a ministry of feeding the homeless.

“I interviewed priests and asked them how they received their calling,” Leal said. He wanted to make sure it was God’s will, and not his own. Although being a priest was a fine vocation he felt he had a calling in music.

Leal was a self-taught musician since the age of six and saw himself becoming a conductor and traveling the world.  “With God’s Grace,” he had been working on an ensemble called the “Rising Philharmonic.”

As an upper classman at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Leal asked the Dean of Music Sam Logsdon to allow him an opportunity to create his own symphony. After a year of practicing and gathering other musicians from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Del Mar College he had 60 musicians.

“It was an awesome concert and the first ever student-run symphony,” Leal said.

Yet, it was then that he was convinced that he wanted to become a priest. The experience of conducting his own symphony made him want to choose a different path.

“I was offering all the rehearsals to the Blessed Lady,” Leal said. “One day, while conducting, I realized, I don’t want this–I want to be a servant. I love the idea of giving myself totally to Christ specifically in this vocation.”

He attended the Melchizedek Project put on by the Office of Vocations in the Diocese of Corpus Christi and that really helped reassure him. “It’s a beautiful program, amazing,” said Leal.

He has since completed the application process to become a seminarian and will begin working at the Mother Teresa Shelter on June 1. He will take pre-theology courses in mid-August at the University of Dallas while he is enrolled at Holy Trinity Seminary.

“I feel complete–it feels like I’m home,” Leal said.