Santi was born with a congenital cataract and lost his eye.
He can't see from one eye.
I was always overprotective of him.
After high school, he went to Tucumán to study agronomic engineering.
I was very happy about that since that's my work too
and I loved the fact that one of my children would take it on
and work with me on the farm.
My dream was that each one of my children would raise their own families, and have many children...
He had the same girlfriend for five years.
A very bright girl, we loved her so much. I already had the movie playing in my head:
in my imagination, they were getting married the next day
and they would live close by in Guachipas
While I was living in Tucumán, I got a phone call one day
an invitation to participate in a spiritual retreat. I accepted because I had never done one before.
I wanted to see what it was all about, and it had a profound impact on me.
I felt that
God was asking me to make this an everyday thing
and eventually I realized that He wanted me
to dedicate myself in a more total way.
I needed to travel to tell them this.
One day I came in from the farm, I was sitting with my wife, and he told us he needed to tell us something.
I said: "Dad, wait for me." I called my mom: "I need to tell you something"
I had decided to give myseklf to God as a numerary in Opus Dei. That I was going to be celibate.
It was really a shock: like someone throwing a bucket of water over me.
I had other plans for him. I wanted to see him surrounded by children.
I felt like my heart was breaking...
All of a sudden not having him in that way was a big moment of detachment for her
Inside, I didn't quite accept it, although I did accept it. I saw that it was his vocation...
so then I thought it was good that he was doing what he thought right.
Ricardo's response very much surprised me
He's Catholic, he would go to Church but... well, let's just say that the kids went because of me
I've always been Christian, but not so "practicing" or whatever you call it...
Our children's choices challenge our own paradigms
and even our own confidence as educators, as parents.
It's a good moment to say what's going on, when one of my children throws the dice in an unexpected way.
This can also help the parents to have some guidelines
and ways of communicating better with their children, of passing on the faith within the family
We talked about it among ourselves and said we couldn't believe his decision, we didn't understand it.
I realized that my mom didn't quite...
she wasn't exactly happy about it at the time because she didn't know that much about it.
The next day I felt pretty out of it.
I went on the computer and spent four hours investigating.
As a mother, there were things that I could not understand what was behind this.
After seeing all these videos on the internet, I also spoke with a legionary priest
who told me that all vocations: to the priesthood, religious, or belonging to Opus Dei...
all of it was good if they are following God's path, if it helps them to be holy.
The first thing I would tell you is: go and learn about it with your child. Ring the door bell, see the place.
Meet the person who is helping him, or the spiritual director
or whoever is the point of reference
and then, open yourselves sincerely to what your child wants to tell you.
It needs to be a moment of a lot of trust and honesty for both parents and children
I think it was a good thing that they went out of their way
to get to know this reality better.
As a consequence of this, I began to study a bit more, and to get closer to God.
I went to a recollection and we began to read books together,
to form ourselves a bit more, and to be more united in our marriage
They invited me to an Opus Dei recollection
I went and I loved it. So I began to get to know the people a bit more,
and I began to live a bit more, let's say, "on the other side of the fence"
It helped me to accompany her more,
to be more united in life, to try to form ourselves a bit more,
especially me because I hadn't received much Christian formation before.
Seeing Santiago, I decided to take my own spiritual life more seriously
and the truth is... it's great, you know?
God bless you
because what's happened in this soul is the work of the Holy Spirit
but it is also your work as parents who have prepared him since childhood
to receive God's grace.
90% of it is due to you! Look at what you can do, parents:
provide for their eternal happiness as well as a good portion of their earthly happiness.
They are happy. They see that I am happy and that this helps many other people
to grow interiorly also,
and that this can have an impact on a lot of people.
I can say to all the parents whose children are considering a vocation
that they should take it with joy, and that they should accompany them and pray a lot for them.
They shouldn't be afraid , above all because it's a good thing, it's beautiful and you see them happy.
And this is the most important thing.
The first advice would be to support him or her, because it's something that God sends them from above
and I really think that a family with children who receive a calling is truly blessed
I feel more united to them.
I think there's a different atmosphere now, I can't explain it... a new air that is good for everyone.
To know that our children are not our property, that we are God's instrument, part of His plan.
And hopefully everyone who has to go through this will try to support their children in it esto porque realmente
because it's really very beautiful that something like this can happen.