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Congratulations to Father Mario Galindo, MSF
who was ordained to the priesthood on April 13, 2007!
You can read about his ordination here.
His seminarian biography is included below for informational purposes
I was born the fourth
child of six children to Isidoro and Martina Silva Galindo. Before
my parents moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, they were field workers
moving from town to town working on what was available to them.
However, after settling in Corpus Christi my father got a permanent
job as a laborer with Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. My mother
stayed at home taking care of us. It was not until my youngest sister
was in school that my mother began working as a cleaning lady with
a hotel. We had become a two-income family. Schooling was strongly
stressed to us by our parents and for this reason all of us graduated
from high school. My brother and I were the only ones to continue
and receive a college degree. Besides making sure that we received
a good education my parents made sure that we received strong moral
values. Therefore, not only did we learn our morals from the Church
but at home as well. For example, one phrase that is very vivid
in my mind and that I still live by is: Lo ajendo se respeta giving
us a clear understanding of the seventh commandment, which is “thou
shall not steal”.
The
Church played a great role in our lives. Sunday was a day of staying
home with the family after we had gone to Mass. The church we attended
at the time was Sacred Heart, Corpus Christi, which was a parish
that was served by the Missionaries of the Holy Family. It was not
as if I knew the difference of who the Missionaries of the Holy
Family were from any other consecrated religious group or from members
of the Diocese of Corpus Christi. I did know the names of some of
the pastors at Sacred Heart like Father Henry Romer, M.S.F., and
Father Anthony Elsing, M.S.F. The religious instructions I received
from church were to be observed and were definitely reinforced at
home by my parents especially my mother. I have fond memories of
praying the rosary to our Lady of Fatima being that Sacred Heart
Church had a beautiful grotto erected in her honor. In the month
of May the parishioners would gather in front of the grotto to pray
the rosary led by the priest for the conversion of the USSR. During
these years I learned to love and respect the Catholic Church for
all it’s teaching and am able to maintain my faith regardless of
the difficulties that I might encounter in my daily life.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Music Education degree from
Texas A&I University, I started working for the public school
system and taught 32 years until I retired in the year 2000. After
my retirement I applied for admission into the Missionaries of the
Holy Family and the provincial Father Robert O’Hara, M.S.F. accepted
me into the community. However, my calling did not come all of a
sudden as throughout my life I had always wanted to be of service
to the church, whether it was in singing with the Abbey Singers
during the 70’s or as a lector. I believe that the call was always
present in my life but the “noise of daily living” and my great
love for teaching deafened my ability to listen to God’s call. It
wasn’t until a few years before I retired that everything fell into
place. I was ready and able to respond to the call. Upon being accepted,
I enrolled at Oblate School of Theology and I am now doing my novitiate
with Father David Tonary, M.S.F. , Father Jack Kilburg, M.S.F.,
and Brother Rolland Kapsner, M.S.F. at Our Lady of Guadalupe CC
in Seguin, Texas. It is important for me to point out that I assumed
that the Missionaries of the Holy Family were looking for young
candidates for the congregation; they nonetheless accepted me as
an older vocation, as this is part of the MSF charism.
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