Deacon Mauricio Pineda will be ordained a priest June 7 at
the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington. The Salvadoran
native, 33, is still amazed that a man who, up until the age
of 17 was a practicing Seventh-day Adventist and who could
not speak English when he came to the United States, will
soon be on the altar as Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde lays
his hands on his head to bless the new priest.
Deacon Pineda was born in Cojutepeque, El Salvador. His
family was Catholic in name only, and when he was 5 years
old, he began to wonder why he never went to church.
His mother told the boy to go to his neighbors and they would
bring him to church. His neighbors were Seventh-day
Adventists, who went to worship services on Saturdays. The
church believes in the imminent second coming of Christ.
As an Adventist, Deacon Pineda went to church every Saturday
and believed he would be a Seventh-day Adventist pastor. His
mother was alarmed by the sudden transformation of her son
into a church-going Protestant. She never expected him to be
so involved in the Adventist faith.
In a reaction to his new-found religion, his mother enrolled
him in Catholic school, where he went to Mass and was forced
to make his first Communion. But he was just going through
the motions. The Adventist church, he believed, was where he
belonged.
When he was about 17 years old, two friends, who were active
in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, asked him to
come to a meeting.
“Will there be beautiful girls there?” he asked.
“Of course,” they answered.
There were more than 500 people there, and this impressed
him.
“In my heart, something changed,” he said, after seeing the
large group filled with the Holy Spirit.
After this, he looked at the Seventh-day Adventist service as
“spiritually empty.”
He was still going to Mass, but “this time it was totally
different,” he said. “Everything was falling into place.”
Deacon Pineda continued to go to Catholic Charismatic Renewal
meetings and Mass and even began confirmation classes to
fully enter the Catholic Church.
There was, however, one small sticking point. For so many
years as a Seventh-day Adventist, he was told that Catholics
worshipped the Blessed Mother.
“The Blessed Virgin Mary was hard for me to believe,” he
said.
That lack of love for Mary dogged him for years, but he
continued growing in his faith.
By 1999, he was in full communion with the Catholic Church.
His acceptance, he said, was always there.
“It was a desire in my heart,” said Deacon Pineda.
After his acceptance of the faith, he left for the United
States, and settled in Miami for a year before moving to
Northern Virginia. He took jobs in construction, fully
expecting to return to El Salvador in a few years.
Deacon Pineda joined some youth groups and men’s groups,
becoming more on fire with the faith.
Ironically, he became involved in Stabat Mater, a Marian
secular institute based in McLean. Despite his early
reservations, his appreciation and love of the Blessed Mother
was growing.
At his youth meetings and men’s groups, he would ask
attendees if they ever thought of becoming a priest. Finally,
he realized that maybe he should ask himself that question.
“I need to try it,” he said.
In 2005, he visited Father Brian G. Bashista, diocesan
vocations director, to talk about the priesthood. Deacon
Pineda thought that there was no way the diocese would accept
him into priestly formation. He figured he would be turned
down, and he could continue to grow as a lay Catholic.
One of the obstacles he faced was the fact that he couldn’t
speak English that well.
He met with Father Bashista for about 45 minutes. Father
excused himself, and then came back with an application.
He applied and was accepted into St. Charles Borromeo
Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa. He had to study English for a
year, but he graduated with a degree in philosophy and then
immediately went to study at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in
Emmitsburg, Md. He is still amazed that he is about to be
ordained in just a few days.
“It’s hard to believe. I entered the seminary speaking no
English,” he said. “I feel like anything is possible.”
His family will be here for the ceremony. His mother is now a
practicing Catholic.
After ordination, Deacon Pineda looks forward to every aspect
of his new life as a priest, although he is especially
interested in evangelizing like the apostles. He said it’s
the duty of every Catholic to spread the faith and to not be
afraid of bothering people.
“I think people need to be bothered,” he said.
