Parents taught him to be a man of God

Five-year-old kindergartener Carlos De La Rosa decided to be a priest for Career Day at Meadowbrook Elementary. He’s holding the “Day by Day Bible” storybook, which his mother Janida would read to him every day until he eventually memorized the stories. His mother still has the book.

Contributed photo
 

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Carlos De La Rosa, 24, was a young child when he first thought about becoming a priest one day. As he grew older, the feelings waned and he didn’t think much more about it. But as a sophomore at St. John Paul II High School, he began reflecting on it again and then had a powerful experience in the sacrament of reconciliation.

“The priest told me: ‘Your sins don’t define you.’ And that was profound for me,” he recalled. “I feel like God told me ‘It’s time for you to take down the boundaries you created between you and what you know is my call for you. I want you to be my priest.’ And I have not looked back since.”

De La Rosa is currently in his pastoral year of the seminary, serving at St. Peter Prince of the Apostles in Annaville. 

His parents, Carlos and Janida De La Rosa recall he was four years old when he would use a tape recorder with a microphone and pretend to preach to his family.

“We thought it was cute. Then when he was in kindergarten, he wanted to be a priest for a career day. He brought me his black turtle neck and asked me to sew a little white block in the middle,” she recalled fondly.

They also clearly remember the time they learned from their son Carlos that he was interested in pursuing a life dedicated to God.

“Our youth director at Our Lady Perpetual Help at the time, Deacon Alfonso Ramirez, invited Carlos to a luncheon with the bishop for young people discerning vocations. He had already been to a retreat and had not said much, but after the luncheon, he confirmed he was ready,” she said.

The couple was thrilled at his decision. 

“We were happy and honored,” Janida said, fighting back tears. “We thought, oh my goodness, he is truly ready. We pray for our children all the time that they stay on the path that God has set before them. That is really all we can do.”

Janida pointed out she and her husband were careful not to discourage either of their children to consider the priesthood.

“God gives them the call. We didn’t have anything to do with that,” she said. 

Seminarian Carlos De La Rosa explained his parents raised him to be a holy man of God. 

 “That’s really the fundamental spiritual foundation I received growing up. My parents taught me about being a man of God. As I continue in formation, I keep trying to grow in that. I’m grateful for the foundation they gave me,” he said.

Janida said when their parish received a new priest after Carlos had entered the seminary; she asked if they could start a vocation awareness ministry.

“This November it will be five years since we started the vocations ministry. Every two weeks we have a family in the church that gets the traveling crucifix and they pray for all of our seminarians,” she said.

Janida said she and her husband Carlos are approached frequently from parents of young adults asking what she and her husband did to raise a priest.

“I can’t answer that question. That is from God, not from us,” she said. “But it was the hardest thing we have ever done, hand our son over to God,” added her husband. “We raised him for 18 years and then gave him to the church with faith he would be well taken care of, which he has.”

Even before graduating from high school, De La Rosa wasted no time starting his new life with God. Bishop Mulvey accepted him into seminary school on a Thursday morning, graduated high school later that day and the next Monday he was working his first assignment at Mother Teresa Shelter.

From there, he attended Holy Trinity Seminary and obtained his bachelor's degree in philosophy. Upon graduating, Bishop Mulvey personally asked him to proceed to The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. 

At first, seminarian De La Rosa was hesitant and expressed his concern to Bishop Mulvey. 

“I had heard it was a challenging environment. The school is really well known and home to many intellectual giants. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle it. I remember Bishop Mulvey’s response was: ‘Carlos, it’s the will of Christ that you go there.’ How could I argue with that,” he chuckled.

He obtained his master's degree at the Theological College at Catholic University and after finishing his pastoral year at St. Peter, he will return to Catholic University for two more years of studies. At the end of one year, he will be ordained a deacon and at the end of the second year, he will be ordained a priest.

For now, the plan is for him to return home once he is ordained a priest, where he will serve somewhere to be determined within the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

“In my experience, the most important aspect of discernment is not to get in your own way,” he said. “Father Jacques Philippe, one of my favorite spiritual writers, wrote: ‘The biggest obstacle to holiness may be to cling too closely to the image we have of our perfection.’”

The De La Rosas encourage others to pray for vocations, including sending notes of support directly to each seminarian. For addresses of each seminarian or for more information on vocations or discernment in the Diocese of Corpus Christi visit ccpriest.org/meet-our-seminarians.  

The De La Rosa family gathered for a photo last Christmas at their home parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Corpus Christi. From left to right: Carlos De La Rosa, Cristian, Seminarian Carlos De La Rosa and Janida. Contributed photo