{"id":229684,"date":"2026-05-19T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/?p=229684"},"modified":"2026-05-19T13:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:15:18","slug":"alegria-ser-sacerdote-testimonio-padre-hernando","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/alegria-ser-sacerdote-testimonio-padre-hernando\/","title":{"rendered":"The joy of being a priest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hernando Jos\u00e9 Bello Rodr\u00edguez has had in the Virgin Mary and in St. John Paul II two great protectors and guides in his life and in his vocation to become a priest, which has left a great imprint on him. After several events that would mark his life, this young priest born in 1993 now serves as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi, in the city of Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), while serving as delegate of Vocational Ministry of his diocese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with the CARF Foundation, Father Hernando Jos\u00e9 tells us that he grew up in a Catholic family with a deeply rooted faith, \u00abespecially my mother who instilled in me since I was a child the fundamentals of the faith and Christian morals\u00bb. But it was when he was just 16 years old that a book changed his life forever. It was a long work, about 1,300 pages long and that, a priori<\/em>, would never have been of interest to a teenager. But God had something big in store for this young Colombian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abWhen I was in the penultimate year of high school (which in Spain would correspond to the first year of Bachillerato) I discovered my priestly vocation when I read a biography of St. John Paul II (the Pope's biography).Witness of Hope,<\/em> by George Weigel). That book made me discover a little flame in my soul, which was later rekindled by a moment of prayer in the oratory of my school. In front of the tabernacle, I felt the impulse to give my life to the Lord in the priesthood. At first I said yes with fear; then my fears and doubts were dissipated, thanks to prayer, formation and good spiritual accompaniment\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hernando Jos\u00e9 stresses that this flame was fanned and not lit, because, as he tells us, \u00abthis little flame was already lit in me since my conception: I owe my priestly vocation to the Virgin Mary. Thanks to her I came into the world. My mother could not have children, and together with my father, she prayed to Our Lady, in her Medjugorje invocation, to be able to have them. I was born just at the beginning of the month of Mary: May 1st. That is why Our Lady and St. John Paul II have been so important in her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"hernando<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The experience of training in Pamplona<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

His spiritual director had a lot to do with this discernment process, who recommended that it would be good for him to study a civil career before deciding whether to enter the seminary or not. He told him about the University of Navarra, in Spain, and after discussing it with his parents, he traveled to Pamplona to study philosophy and journalism. He assures that these two careers helped him to put his feet on the ground, while strengthening the call of God, which ended up being for him a time of preparation prior to the seminary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God willed that while still a seminarian in the archdiocese of Cartagena de Indias, he returned to Pamplona to train to become a priest, a period he remembers as a truly marvelous experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abFor me priestly formation<\/a>, I lived both in the Albaizar Hall of Residence and in the Bidasoa International Seminary. In both places, I lived surrounded by people with a great love for Jesus Christ; this undoubtedly helped me a lot,\u00bb he says. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same thing happened to him with his studies in Spain. She confesses to having been very happy to have been able to study at the School of Theology of the University of Navarra<\/a> for \u00abtheir fidelity to Tradition and to the Magisterium, as well as for their broad vision of reality, without narrow-mindedness,\u00bb which, he adds, \u00abmakes me feel confident and proud of the formation I received. I owe an immense debt to each of my professors\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning what it means to be a priest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In this way, Hernando Jos\u00e9 Bello points out that his priestly ministry and his pastoral work are truly marked by his formation in Navarra. \u00abWhat I could call \u2018the formative environment\u2019 permeated me and I carry it with me, because I owe my way of seeing and living the faith, spirituality and priestly ministry to my stay in Pamplona,\u00bb he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He especially emphasizes a very concrete aspect that he took away from Navarre: the lesson of what a priest should be. For him, he should be \u00aba man of God, a man of faith and for the Eucharist, a man to minister spiritually to the faithful.\u00bb.<\/strong> In short, this stage helped him \u00abto be clear about the identity of the priest and his priorities\u00bb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back, he says he has seen fulfilled in his life the beautiful quote of Benedict XVI: \u00abGod takes nothing away and gives everything\u00bb. \u00abI am surprised at how God has given me more than I was afraid of losing when I thought of a priestly vocation. Undoubtedly, the Lord's promise is true: He gives a hundredfold in this life and then in the eternal life. It is a great responsibility that the priest has in his hands,\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, he has a special thanks for the partners, benefactors and friends of the CARF Foundation who have collaborated in God's plan for him to become a priest: \u00abGod repay you, thank you for your great generosity. Count on my prayers\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"La<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Who is a priest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pope Benedict XVI<\/strong>, In the audience of June 24, 2009, the year of the priesthood, he said: \u00abAlter Christus, <\/em>the priest is profoundly united to the Word of the Father, who in becoming incarnate took the form of a servant, became a servant (cf. Flp<\/em> 2, 5-11). The priest is a servant of Christ, in the sense that his existence, ontologically configured with Christ, assumes an essentially relational character: he is at the service of mankind. at <\/em>Christ, by <\/em>Christ and with <\/em>Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Precisely because he belongs to Christ, the priest is radically at the service of men: he is a minister of their salvation, of their happiness, of their authentic liberation, maturing, in this progressive acceptance of Christ's will, in prayer, in \"being united in heart\" to him. This, then, is the indispensable condition of every proclamation, which entails participation in the sacramental offering of the Eucharist and docile obedience to the Church\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What and who is it?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When a priest is formed and receives the Sacrament of Holy Orders, he is prepared to lend his body and spirit, that is, his whole being, to the Lord, making use of him, \u00abthe priest is asked to learn not to hinder the presence of Christ in him, especially in those moments when he performs the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood and when, in the name of God, in auricular and secret sacramental Confession, he forgives sins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration of these two Sacraments is so central to the priest's mission that everything else must revolve around it. Other priestly tasks-preaching and instruction in the faith-would be without foundation if they were not directed to teaching how to treat Christ, how to meet him in the loving tribunal of Penance and in the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary, in the Holy Mass\u00bb (St. Josemar\u00eda, Priest for Eternity, <\/em>43). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mission of a priest<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u00abThe Spirit of the Lord upon me\u00bb (Lc<\/em> 4, 18). The Holy Spirit received in the sacrament of Holy Orders is a source of holiness and a call to sanctification, not only because he configures the priest to Christ, Head and Shepherd of the Church, and entrusts to him the prophetic, priestly and royal mission to be carried out in the person of Christ, but also because he animates and vivifies his daily life, enriching it with gifts and demands, with virtues and strengths, which are summed up in pastoral charity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This charity is the unifying synthesis of the Gospel values and virtues and, at the same time, the force that sustains their development to Christian perfection\u00bb (St. John Paul II, exhortation Shepherds Dabo Vobis<\/em>, March 25, 1992).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the reason for the dignity of priests, which is not personal but ecclesial. The dignity of the mystery they perform, each time they convert the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord, is the reason of faith that gives meaning to all of Christianity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these priests, we admire the virtues proper to any Christian and any honest man: understanding, justice, a life of work (priestly work in this case), charity, education, gentleness in dealing with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We, the Christian faithful, expect the priestly character to be clearly emphasized: That the priest pray; that he administer the Sacraments; that he be ready to welcome all, be they of whatever kind; that he put love and devotion into the celebration of Holy Mass; that he sit in the confessional, that he console the sick and the afflicted; that he have counsel and charity for the needy; that he impart catechesis; that he preach the Word of God and not another kind of human science which, even if he knew perfectly well, would not be the science that saves and leads to eternal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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