‘With God, everything is possible’

Bishop Michael Mulvey recently assigned Deacon Marco Anes and his wife Irene to serve at Nuestra Señora de San Juan Madre de la Iglesia Parish to minister to parishioners, especially to children and the youth.

Deacon Marco and Irene have embraced this assignment with great enthusiasm, as they have had many years of training both in service at Holy Family Parish and in their own family. “We want to take charge of the youth ministry because we have grown with the problems of our daughters and grandchildren. We have acquired training and practice since we began to collaborate with this ministry.” 

They want to lovingly provide a safe place for the children and young people in their parish. They want to guide them in their faith to understand God as their Father and Mary as their mother. “It is a wonderful opportunity,” Deacon Marco said.

Their faith and trust in God have strengthened their marriage, family life, and vocation to serve the Church. They see the Church as the home that God has given them on earth. Because it is their home, they must protect and care for its members, from the youngest to the oldest, in order that everyone can feel united, loved and appreciated.

Their love story began when they met in a nightclub 29 years ago. Irene, who did not know how to dance, felt like the queen of the dance floor, and Marco was delighted. That night was unforgettable.

After three years of knowing each other, Marco asked Irene to marry him. Marco proposed to Irene at a quinceañera dance. 

They were then civilly married as she had been previously married and had a daughter from her first marriage. Irene never stopped practicing her religion, but Marco did. He began going to Mass on Sundays with her.

After ten years of marriage, they approached Father Frank Martinez and told him they wanted to be married in the Church. He was enthusiastic about their decision, and offered them much encouragement. Marco attended Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) classes, and Irene consulted with Deacon Manuel ‘Manny’ Maldonado about her previous marriage. 

After a month, they met with Father Martinez, but when asked if they were ready to get married, Marco said no and Irene, surprised, asked him, “why not?” 

He said he wanted to complete the RCIA process and receive his other sacraments. 

“I have to prepare well. Now that I have a relationship with God, how can I get married without being able to give Irene what she deserves – a good relationship with the Lord,” Marco said. While he was studying the Holy Scriptures, he was learning the prayers and about the life of the Church, and he loved it. 

“It feels different, and you know the difference,” they both said. It’s very different to be married in front of God. 

The difference, says Irene, lies in doing the right thing. It’s a feeling that we are doing things well and that everything is putting itself in its place, it has been a great blessing, and we have made many changes in our lives.

After they were married in the Catholic Church, their lives began to change. Now that God was the center of their lives, their family became involved in parish activities and different ministries. They understood that the family unit to which God called them to was very different from the one they had belonged.

Irene and Marco have two daughters: Amanda, the eldest, is 33, and Isabel is 22. They also have three grandchildren from Amanda. The entire family is involved in the life of the church. They have welcomed the change from Holy Family to Nuestra Señora de San Juan Madre de la Iglesia with great joy and acceptance because they know that they are following God’s plan.

Their marriage is different. “It is the unity with God and my fellow men that makes me feel happy. It is the unity that will give me eternal life,” said Deacon Marco, adding, “One of the most significant changes I made was to leave the supermarket company I worked at for 20 years. Through prayer, reflection and discernment, I have learned to listen to God’s call, and one day I realized that in my work, there was a type of unity and growth motivated only by money,” he said. “Not that it was bad, but God asked me to stop, and I did. I had no problem with the company or anyone in it – it was easy. I wrote my resignation letter, and I left my job. The only thing I had was my trust in God. 

“People of the Church supported my decision. The love and that unity was the blessing that made me the happiest.”

For Irene, resigning from her job was came after attending a retreat. She says she went to a retreat and that in a moment of deep meditation in front of the Blessed Sacrament, she heard the voice of God say to her, “Look, Irene, here in this book, you narrate the first part of your life, how are you going to narrate, in these pages of the second stage? I was not proud of that first part, and I told him, well, I don’t know how to write the second part of my life. I only know that I am with you and I love you very much and that I have to put myself in the right place.

“Marco has taught me to be quiet and reflect because I am more talkative. I believe that we are all special in the eyes of God, and if we allow him inside and listen to the plan that he has for us, it will be much better. Being Apostles of Jesus giving testimony to the world of our faith is what makes us special,” Irene said.

Deacon Marco and Irene have recognized and accepted the call of God. It has filled their lives with happiness. Problems and difficult circumstances will not stop occurring, but the love they have nurtures their life with the light of the Holy Spirit. Their faith has taught them the purpose of their life. Through prayer, reflection and meditation, they have learned to listen to each other, to others, but most importantly to God. 

Despite their limitations meeting with young people from their new parish (due to the pandemic), they have begun to get to know and learn from them through dialogue and social distancing. They want to share their faith with them.

Jesus came to serve, we are here to serve, and we teach them that, we lead them to participate in the needs of the community, so that what they truly learn becomes a living experience,” Deacon Marco said.