Father Juan de Cáeres of the diocese of Santander, Spain. Before becoming a priest, he was a bartender in a bar. I wanted to refuse the call to become a priest. But God has a plan for his life. The Lord was so persistent in His pursuit to convert and make me a priest.
A bartender - a bartender who has not attended Mass for 15 years, has become a priest. How could it happen? The only reason for that is God's perseverance. He persistently pursued that young man's heart and persistently revealed to him His call. The young man of that day is now Father Juan de Cáeres of the diocese of Santander, Spain.
After graduating from high school, Juan enrolled to study law. But he was not a good student. In 2006, at the age of 28, Juan decided to drop out of school and open a bar in the city of Santander.
Unfortunately for Juan, at that point the economic crisis in Spain began to erupt; What initially promised to be a successful business became the reason for his financial problems. In addition, Juan also had the crises of his 30s and felt a lack of direction in life.
Father Juan de Cáeres told El Diario Montañés newspaper: “I was a complete failure, engulfed in debt and in economic crisis; Almost no guests. They started a family and no longer dated. I feel alone."
By then Juan had been away from the church for 15 years, not attending Mass. A friend of his invited him to attend prayer sessions and it turned out to be a turning point in his life.
At first, Juan went to sharing sessions just to accompany his friend. But something inside him was changing slowly, little by little. Juan started going to Mass again, then went to confession and re-enrolled in school. Juan's life began again and then two years later he felt the call to become a priest. But Juan's first reaction was "say no."
Father Juan said: “I gave all sorts of reasons to say no: it was my job, then the debt, and my life. I think what I needed to do at that time was to settle down, meet a woman who could make me really happy and then start a family. But God is so persistent! And from then on, God didn't let that idea go out of my mind."
When Juan decided to discern his vocation, he asked Bishop Vicente Jiménez, then Bishop of the diocese of Santander, to allow him to enter the seminary in another city, because he had to get away from his past life. . Juan entered the seminary in Pamplona, about 200 kilometers from his hometown. Father Juan recalls: “I worked at the bar until the day I went to the seminary in Pamplona, where I spent three wonderful years.” During this time, Father Juan also worked with the Catholic community. Chinese people.
In January of this year, Juan was ordained a priest and received assignments to serve four parishes in Santander. Father Juan also teaches religion to young people, three days a week.
The experience of a former bartender helped Father Juan a lot in his priestly ministry. Previously, as a bartender, Juan had heard from so many people that Father Juan now feels “then I was like a confessor for everyone.”
Father Juan also helps with vocations in his diocese now, because he understands that there are many people who feel the same vocation as him but they cannot know how to pursue their vocation so he listens and directs them. guide them.