Class: Senior
Diocese: El Paso
Hometown: El Paso, TX
Home Parish: El Buen Pastor, El Paso
Javier Francisco Valles, Jr.
When I was a kid I wasn’t the best Christian, but then again who is? I remember running up and down the church and as a teen I remember falling asleep at Mass. All this changed when I attended my first retreat and started to experience life in ministry. At the time of my calling I was a college student and realizing I wasn’t where I wanted to be, so I dropped out of college to enter the work force and find myself. During this time I found that I enjoyed not only ministry life but also the life of service and charity. I decided to join the seminary after that, and my attendance at World Youth Day in Poland confirmed that this was the right decision.
Favorite Quote or Bible Verse
“’My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in my weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9,10
Fun Fact
Music has always been an important part of my life, and it always will be. I especially enjoy playing the guitar, singing and dancing.