They didn’t see that come. “When Javier was young, he didn’t like going to Mass. He tried to get away with the minimum of Church, the minimum of praying,” his mother, Liz Ebertowski, remembers. “He even didn’t like most of the music.” Her husband Richard remembers that a priest once would say at the end of Mass, “The Mass never ends – you take it with you.” “Javier took that literally – and was quite shocked.”
Yet they both tried their best. All four of their children went on to become altar servers, and going to Sunday Mass was given—both parents came from families with solid Catholic traditions—Liz was from South Texas, and Richard was born in Poland and went to the U.S. in the 1980s.
Yet, Javier was taking a break from Church during his college years. His parents kept praying, and suddenly, their son found Christian friends and hung out with them at their church’s youth center. “They were good boys and challenged him to think about his faith.”
Richard and Liz regret that they didn’t know more about their faith when their children were young: “We couldn’t answer all of their questions – we were not prepared,” says Richard. Later, when he taught CCD classes, he learned much more while preparing the lessons.
Suddenly, Javier met some Catholics who impressed him and helped him grow more in his faith. He immediately evangelized his own family: “You all need to know your faith better.” This cumulated in one evening when Javier told his parents he had to talk to them and shared that he was interested in the priesthood: “We were surprised, but we were so happy.”
Of course, Liz wouldn’t be a mom if she hadn't had some thoughts come to her head: “What’s going to happen to him? Priests can be lonely – what will he do when he retires…?” However, she trusted the Lord: “These are worldly concerns – God will take care of him!”
Parents are often sorry that they won’t have grandchildren, but the Ebertowskis are sure that if God calls their son, it’s joyful: “Every vocation has its struggles and its blessings.”
Liz homeschooled their children for ten years. A fun fact is that Jim Craig, who will be ordained as a deacon alongside Javier and Luis on June 8, was in the same homeschooling group. “He was of the age of Javier’s younger sister.”
His siblings had more difficulty believing in Javier’s vocation: “They thought first It was a joke…” He was an outgoing young man who loved going out with friends – and suddenly, he thought of a religious vocation. However, Javier didn’t wait a moment to tell his siblings that they should convert, too, lest they end up in hell, which his siblings didn’t like. “Since then, he softened a lot,” says his mother.
His parents now go to mass daily and pray a lot. “We have so much more knowledge and are more informed,” adds his father. And these prayers will accompany their son to the diaconate and throughout the journey toward the priesthood. “When my children were born, I always said to the Lord, ‘I give them to you’ – and now, with Javier’s vocation, this becomes more real,” says Liz. “We are surprised but very happy.”