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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

Seminarian Biography

Fra. Mario Galindo

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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