Last year I wrote to tell you about the ordination to the priesthood of a young man, Nathan O’Halloran S.J., who attributes his vocation in large part to the influence of Fr. Rick Thomas in his life. We now have another young priest who was just ordained who also links his vocation back to Father Thomas.
Jose (Pepe) Ruiz came to the Lord’s Ranch over ten years ago as a young college student to spend some time volunteering with us. During that time he made a retreat with Father Thomas to discern whether he was called to the priesthood or not. Pepe felt that indeed God was calling him to become a priest, and he chose to enter not only the same order that Fr. Rick belonged to, but to even go to the same seminary that Father had attended many decades before.
After Pepe had entered the Jesuits, he came back to El Paso for a visit and joined us for our prayer meeting and Mass. Father Thomas invited him up on stage and announced to the crowd, “This is Pepe, who is now a Jesuit seminarian. In ten years he will be back to celebrate Mass with us.”
That proved true this past month. Pepe Ruiz was ordained a priest on June 14th and a few days later came to celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving with us in the very place that Father Thomas had said he would 10 years before.
Fr. Rick did not live to see it, but we feel sure he was smiling down from above.