(Bilingual - Spanish and English. Click the link below for the entire article in both languages)

By FATHER DAVID ESQUILIANO
Cathedral Parish Pastor
 
On Monday, we celebrated the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of our nation. While I’ve used that expression—our nation—before, as of last Friday it has taken on another meaning, because I became a U.S. citizen. Some of you already knew this because I shared it on my Facebook page, but not everyone is on social media, and if you will indulge me, I’ll expand a bit on how I got here.
 
I’ve shared before that, growing up, my pastors were Irish missionaries. When I started feeling the call to the priesthood, I always equated priesthood with going to a far-off land, learning a new language, and embracing a new culture. I tried religious life briefly, but I discerned out. I worked for a while, became a computer engineer, and gave up on the idea of priesthood; but God obviously hadn’t given up on me.

 Father Esquiliano, left, was one of 27 immigrants who became a U.S. citizen on Dec. 5.Sometime between the end of 2005 and early 2006, a friend whom I had met while trying religious life asked me if I still felt that God wanted me to be a missionary priest. He was studying for a U.S. diocese, and in fact now he’s a priest in San Antonio, Texas. Even though my first response was “no,” as I was enjoying being a computer programmer, I decided to explore the idea. With his help I contacted some dioceses that, he said, would be willing to receive seminarians from Mexico. 

Months later, in the spring of 2006, Fr. Brian Hughes, then vocations director for the Diocese of Sioux City, came to Mexico and we met. He invited me to come visit that summer or fall and decide whether I wanted to apply to become a seminarian for Sioux City. I applied for a visa, which unfortunately was denied. I tried again months later, and this time it was granted, so on Feb. 21, 2007, I arrived in Sioux City for the first time.


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