Angelus News | May 31, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 20

Miguel Ángel Ruiz
Age: 27
Hometown: Yahualica, Jalisco, Mexico
Home parish: St. Matthew Church, Long Beach
First Mass: 4 p.m., Sunday, June 2, at St. Matthew
First parish assignment: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Church, Rowland Heights
Favorite hobby: Cooking
VICTOR ALEMÁN
The youngest member of the Class of 2019, Miguel Ángel
Ruiz knew by the time he graduated high school
that God was calling him to something different.
Ruiz grew up the second of three children in Yahualica, a
small town outside of Guadalajara, before his family immigrated
to the U.S. when he was 10. Since as early as he can
remember, his family frequently attended Mass, eucharistic
adoration and special devotions.
“That nurtured my faith a lot since a young age,” said Ruiz.
It also nurtured his vocation to the priesthood, which Ruiz
said was shaped by the faith he saw in family members during
difficult situations and by priests he grew up around in both
countries who “loved their priesthood.”
“They celebrated the sacraments with so much love, and
they really cared for the people of God,” recalled Ruiz. “That
was a good inspiration for me to continue in my discernment
until I entered the seminary.”
After high school graduation, Ruiz enrolled at the Juan
Diego House in Gardena (since renamed the Queen of the
Angels Center for Priestly Transformation), where college-age
seminarians aspiring to the diocesan priesthood live. He lived
there for five years before spending the last five years at St.
John’s Seminary in Camarillo.
As he prepares to embark on the fulfillment of those 10
years of studies and formation, Ruiz is simply grateful for “the
blessing to follow Jesus” despite the difficulties that are sure
to arise.
“In life there can be many different challenges and in the
priesthood especially, nowadays, it can be seen as a huge
challenge,” Ruiz told Angelus News. “But I am confident
that I am not by myself.”
Miguel Ángel Ruiz with older brother Luis (left), younger sister Lupita, and
his father, Reyes, at a family gathering.
His newest mission, Ruiz believes, depends on the prayers of
the Catholics he’ll be serving.
“It’s the Lord who has sent us here, so I trust that God will
be able to help us in any challenges that we may have,” said
Ruiz. “And that is the same message that I bring the people of
God: to trust in God amidst the challenges.”
For the young people of his generation, Ruiz believes that
the Church can reach them the same way she reached him:
through the personal witness of holy priests.
Ruiz’s first assignment will be St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Church in Rowland Heights, an assignment he’s eager to get
started.
“I’m waiting for that wonderful day when I will be able to go
and minister to them (St. Elizabeth parishioners), to go and
learn from them, and most especially to share our faith.”
MIGUEL ÁNGEL RUIZ
May 31, 2019 • ANGELUS • 11