By Michael Gresham
The Texas Catholic
Father Samuel Rendon’s journey to the priesthood began 19 years ago and more than 5,200 miles from his hometown of San Antonio while at World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, surrounded by friends and strangers, all united in faith.
“World Youth Day was an amazing experience, because it was there that I began to understand that I am not alone. There are so many youths who love their faith,” Father Rendon, 32, said. “I was able to open up and express what I wanted to do with my life. There was truly a joy that I felt.”
Father Rendon was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Dallas along with three other men on May 18 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Frisco.
Father Rendon grew up in San Antonio, the fifth of seven children of Manuel and Maria Rendon. His older brother, Father Daniel Rendon, is also a priest, ordained by Bishop Edward J. Burns in 2016, and currently serving as pastor of San Juan Diego Catholic Parish in Dallas.
While the World Youth Day experience provided the spark, Father Rendon credits joining the Neocatechumenal Way in 2005 for helping ignite his passion for a vocation to the priesthood.
“The Lord used this as an instrument to help me rediscover the baptismal promises one makes,” Father Rendon said. “In this community, I discovered the profound love of Jesus Christ and how God has loved me. It changed my life completely.”
As a middle school and high school youth, Father Rendon attended a pre-vocational group in Texas where he began to discern his vocation to the priesthood, discussing the “joys and sufferings” of his discernment while determining if he would be ready to join a seminary.
“The catechist team was always there to help me, and I loved that a lot. I could express myself and hear the experiences of the older guys,” Father Rendon said of the pre-vocational group. “It really helped me, because I knew that I was not alone. Whatever struggles or whatever doubts I may have, there are others who have been through the same battle. For me, that was really encouraging.”
Father Rendon began attending Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Dallas on June 6, 2010, beginning a formation process that would 14 years later lead him to ordination into the priesthood.
“I have seen how the Lord has helped me throughout this time,” Father Rendon said. “It has been the Lord who has marked my vocation with His faithfulness and love. It is very clear in my life that the Lord is the one who has called me.”
Father Rendon often gets asked if his brother’s vocational call inspired his own, but he said that wasn’t the case.
“He’s excited for me, he has encouraged me when I have needed it, and he has been ready for me to be out of seminary and join him in the priesthood,” Father Rendon said, “but this has been my journey. This has been my call to answer.”
A mission to serve
As a missionary seminary for the Diocese of Dallas, Redemptoris Mater Seminary requires its seminarians to participate in missionary work. Father Rendon said that experience helped shape his calling to the priesthood.
“Those three years, that pastoral assignment, were the best time for me. It was a time that I truly saw that this is what I want to do,” he explained, adding that his missionary work led him to Tulsa, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Belize. “At that time, the Lord kept me really busy, but that was a good time for me to fall in love with Jesus Christ again. All of this, through the Lord, helped me confirm my vocation to the priesthood.”
One aspect of that missionary work — ministering to the homebound — particularly inspired Father Rendon.
“One of the big things that touched me during my time in the seminary was visiting the sick and the homebound,” Father Rendon said. “I grew a love for the sick, for the old, for the infirm…I want to announce that love for Jesus Christ to them, help them out in any way, and bring them to Christ.”
Throughout his life, Father Rendon said, there have been many men of faith who have inspired him along his journey. One of them was Father Louis Jaspers of St. Gabriel Catholic Church in San Antonio.
“He was always loving, always caring. In the confessional, he was always merciful with me,” Father Rendon said. “He always picked me up when I was down. I saw that it was through him — through what he did — that helped me to discern the priesthood.”
Father Rendon also credits a married couple, Gilbert and Tasha Partida, members of the Neocatechumenal Way in San Antonio, for helping him forge his faith.
“They were always taking care of me during my time of discernment,” he said. “They were like an older brother and sister to me.”
The newly ordained priest found support throughout the community of the Neocatechumenal Way, both back in San Antonio and here in the Diocese of Dallas. Among those supporters is Nohemi Rocha, a 17-year parishioner at St. Augustine Catholic Church, which Father Rendon has considered his home parish in Dallas.
“Samuel has many wonderful qualities that make him a great priest,” Rocha said, who met Father Rendon eight years ago. “Among those qualities, I see patience, the love for serving others, and his loyalty as great gifts for all of us in the Church.”
Throughout the priestly formation process, Rocha said Father Rendon “has been patient and firm, and he has been an example of wonderful virtues for the Church.” Rocha said she believes his experience growing up in the Neocatechumenal community has helped prepare him for his vocation.
“He is going to be a priest who can inspire both young people and couples to build better relationships with God and to truly serve the Church,” Rocha said. “He will be a great priest for the diocese.”
Now ordained a priest, Father Rendon said he is excited to serve the people of the Catholic Church, sharing the Gospel and the love of Jesus Christ.
“I see what the Lord has done for me — all the great and wonderful blessings in my life,” Father Rendon said. “So, why not continue to better myself and learn so as that I can serve the Church? I fell in love with Jesus Christ. I want to help others do the same.”
