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

José María Ortiz
Age: 36
Hometown: Santa Maria
Home parish: St. John Neumann Church, Santa
Maria
First Mass: 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., both on
Sunday, June 2, at St. John Neumann
First parish assignment: St. Columbkille Church and
Nativity Church, both in South LA
Favorite hobby: Camping
VICTOR ALEMÁN
Coming from the northernmost edge of the Archdiocese
of Los Angeles, José María Ortiz knows a thing
or two about “the peripheries” that Pope Francis talks
about so much.
Ortiz was born in Jalisco, Mexico, the oldest of three children.
He first immigrated to Santa Maria, California (Santa
Barbara County) with his dad when he was 15. He worked
in the fields for a year and a half before resuming his high
school studies and eventually made it into UCLA, where he
studied to be a scientist.
It was in high school that he first felt the call to the priesthood,
but says he “refused” it.
So what convinced Ortiz to change course?
“I don’t know; God’s will for me was stronger than what I
wanted it to be in my life,” Ortiz answered in an interview
with Angelus News.
Although his Catholic upbringing brought him close to the
sacraments, he “went away a little bit” during college. But
God didn’t give up, he recalled.
“There were five instances in my life I really felt God strongly
calling me to this,” said Ortiz, who goes by his nickname
“Chepe.”
“And I refused four times, but the fifth time I was like, ‘No,
let me give God a chance’ — not knowing that it was God
who was giving me the chance of my life.”
Giving God that chance first took Ortiz from Indiana to
Oregon to California after entering religious life with the
Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, a religious order originally
from Mexico. He eventually ended up at St. John’s as a seminarian
for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
When asked why becoming a priest is “worth it” today, Ortiz
said “the Church needs witnesses,” and he credits his science
background for helping him understand that.
The Ortiz family at José María’s confirmation in Mexico.
“Sometimes we’ll look in different places without finding
what we’re looking for. And to me, God was the answer to
all that,” said Ortiz. “As a scientist, you’re taught to analyze
everything, to find empirical data, to prove everything. But
sometimes beauty and truth cannot be explained just by
mere words; you have to have an experience of God.”
Ortiz said he’s “very happy” to start his first assignment,
which will be at the St. Columbkille Church and Nativity
Church parish cluster in South Central LA, an area representing
a different kind of “periphery.”
His message to his new flock?
“I recognize some of the challenges that will be there
because of two parishes, but I’m pretty sure with God’s grace
we’re going to be all good, and I’m excited and happy to meet
you all and learn from you.”
JOSÉ MARÍA ORTIZ
May 31, 2019 • ANGELUS • 13