“Around the age of 18, I entered a total confusion. I started asking myself, ‘Who am I?’, ‘Why am I on this earth?’, and ‘What is God’s plan for my life?’”
George struggled between his own dreams and God’s calling. “At one point, I thought of making a deal: ‘Let me achieve what I want, and then if this desire to become a priest still exists, I’ll say yes’… But instead, [God] wanted answers right away.”
At the age of 18, George participated in the Franciscan March, which he says was decisive for him. “I asked the Lord for signs,” he said. “I didn’t want to start something and then turn back. Why have you chosen me? I am a sinner, not a saint… I felt unworthy.”
The Franciscan March is a walking pilgrimage for people ages 18–35 spanning several days once a year. Originating in Italy in 1980, it has expanded to many countries where Franciscans are present. In addition to the walk, there are catechesis sessions, times of prayer and meditation, and communal gatherings inspired by the Franciscan spirituality and the charisma of St. Francis of Assisi.
During the march, the group stopped for Mass at a home for the elderly where George noticed a woman with mental problems who was at times disturbing the Mass. Afterward, George made himself available to feed the elderly and happened upon the lady. She was the last person he wanted to be near, he recounted. Toward the end of the meal, she said, “No, Father, I don’t want any more.” Hearing her call him “Father,” at a time when he was thinking about a priestly vocation and asking God for signs, jolted him. For him it was a sign.
From there, his “yes” flowed. “I am not called because of merit or because I am worthy but out of love,” he relayed. A few weeks later, in September 2014, he began his journey as a Franciscan, which then led him to the priesthood.
“For them I consecrate myself” (Jn 17:19) is the phrase that has accompanied him during these years and that he has chosen as his priestly motto. “Like Jesus and with Jesus, I want to consecrate and sacrifice my life to save souls. I want to be the hands of Jesus, his feet, his heart. The Lord embraced me with his hands, accompanied me with his feet on this journey, and loved me. This is how I want to bring him to others.”
Meanwhile, Johnny was fascinated by great saints, especially St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and wanted to become a doctor. “With the outbreak of the war, something began to change; I grew up faster,” he recounted.
His familiarity with prayer and personal relationship with the Lord gradually prepared his heart: “This desire to become a doctor grew during the war years: I saw people on the streets, the wounded, and thought that if I could alleviate some of their pain, I would have already done something good in my life.”
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The plan was to finish high school, move to the Netherlands, and study medicine there. “But I felt that gradually that desire was fading, diminishing, and another desire was growing — to give my life in a different way.”
One day while praying the Our Father, Johnny paused at the phrase “Thy will be done.” “It was as if someone slapped me… ‘You have always done your will, you always wanted to be a doctor for bodies, but there are many doctors for bodies while there are few doctors for souls.’”
His desire to become a doctor to alleviate physical suffering turned out to be a prompting to become a “doctor for souls”: a Franciscan in the Custody of the Holy Land and a priest.
“Give me the souls, take the goods for yourself” — this phrase from Genesis (Gen 14:21) marked Johnny’s life and vocation, becoming his priestly motto.
Pastoral experience during his years of formation brought forth the desire to “save souls.”
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