Joseph Naval

I used to hesitate when people asked if the diaconate was a calling. I would tell them “yes,” but in the back of my mind, I struggled with the idea. How could someone as ordinary as me be called by the One True God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth? I felt insignificant and uncertain because I couldn’t fathom how I could somehow fit into the mystery of God’s plan.
But that’s exactly where I kept encountering Christ: in the ordinary. Getting the kids ready for school, running errands, trying to sit down together for dinner. These moments are easy to overlook, but that’s where God pours out His grace, right in the middle of everyday life. If we’re not present to it, if we’re not paying attention, we might miss how sacred the ordinary really is.

For more information about Joseph, click here.

Junior Coronel

Junior is pleased to announce that he has been accepted to Candidacy for the Permanent Diaconate program and is expected to be Ordained in the Summer of 2027. Please keep his family and him in your prayers as he continues to grow in his spiritual journey.

For more information about Junior, click here.

Isabel Essex

For the past two and a half years, with the help of my spiritual director and the Carmelite Vocation Directress, I’ve focused on discerning a vocation to religious life. I would like to pursue this vocation wholeheartedly by entering into Candidacy with the Carmelites of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles in Alhambra. I need your prayers and your help financially to make this happen!

For more information about Isabel, click here.

 

Greg Skiano

After a period of discernment with the order of St. Augustine, Greg Skiano will be joining the Augustinians in August 2025. He will begin formation with a pre-novitiate year here in San Diego, followed by a novitiate year in Philadelphia, and theological studies in Chicago.

For more information about Greg, click here.

 

Jesus Antonio Villanueva

Jesus Antonio, is in his second semester, minor seminarian, from the village of San Miguel Allende, area San Jorge Nuchita, Diocese of Huajuapan de Leon, Oaxaca.

The OEF (Oaxaca Education Fund) was founded for the children and young people of the Sierra Mixteca, Oaxaca, Mexico. Our Lady of Mount Carmel has ministered spiritually and physically to the people of Oaxaca since 1985.