News

Deacon Alejandro Puello found his faith in Arkansas

Published: June 18, 2011   

By Phyllis Hemann
Associate Editor

Phyllis Hemann

Deacon Alejandro Puello, originally from the Dominican Republic, assists Bishop Anthony B. Taylor during the consecration at his diaconate ordination Mass May 28 in Paragould.

Phyllis Hemann

Deacon Alejandro Puello, originally from the Dominican Republic, assists Bishop Anthony B. Taylor during the consecration at his diaconate ordination Mass May 28 in Paragould.

PARAGOULD -- St. Mary Church in Paragould witnessed its first-ever ordination Mass May 28, as seminarian and parishioner Alejandro Puello Blonda was ordained to the diaconate.

"The Lord surprises you every time with something beautiful that you couldn't have imagined," he said in between hugs and best wishes from friends and family.

At St. Mary, he is a bit of a rock star, people gathering around him at the reception after the ceremony. He worked the crowd like a pro, stopping to greet each person individually, hugging them and asking them to pray for him.

But a rock star he's not. For Puello, a native of the Dominican Republic, he's now a servant to God's people.

"When you kneel in front of the bishop and he lays hands on you. It's maybe 20 seconds, but it's like 'Wow, I know something is happening,'" he said. "When you stand up and you go to get dressed, Deacon Rex (Bouldin) has been a friend ever since I came here, and I asked him to vest me. When he put the stole on, I had never put one on until that moment. It really hits you. I'm not 'lay person Alejandro' anymore. I'm actually 'servant of the people of God Alejandro'. You kind of realize it that you're not the same anymore."

Instead of spreading his own fame, he's spreading God's love and joy to those who've supported him during five years in the seminary and before.

"I'm not American," he said. "I've been living here in the states for seven years. This parish is my experience of the Church, period. I never went to church back home in the Dominican. It felt complete to do it here in my home parish with the people who welcomed me right from the beginning even before I was a seminarian. They have become family."

Jo Lampkins, who grew up in Paragould and St. Mary Church, said the historic occasion touched the hearts of the parishioners.

"It's very emotional, especially because we've never had an ordination here. It's like a first of anything. It's exciting," she said. "And just personally, just knowing him makes it so wonderful; it's not like it's a stranger and you're in the midst of the celebration. He's special. He's kind and loving to everybody -- that's the way it should be."

At his ordination, he was surrounded by his parents, Ricardo Puello and Yngrid Blonda; his grandmother; siblings; other family members; his church family; Bishop Anthony B. Taylor; and priests and deacons.

The parish also celebrated as a part of his extended family, Lampkins said, because the event is doubly special for them as they watch one of their own ordained as a deacon.

"Alejandro has a loving, supportive family -- siblings and all. Also the parish family is very supportive of him. We are a close parish and supportive of all our people," she said.

Puello found his faith at St. Mary Church in Paragould, where his father, stepmother and brothers attended. Puello was not practicing when he came to Arkansas from the Dominican Republic in 2004 to finish his college degree at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. His father lived in Paragould, moving there for a job earlier.

By observing them daily practice their Catholic faith, he said he questioned what he was missing in life.

"What are they doing that I am not doing? What is different in their life that is different in mine -- I'm just as intelligent, just as good-looking," he said with a laugh. "I have all the traits that they have, yet somehow they find a measure of peace and joy that I don't have. Peace and joy are fruits of the Spirit, and that was what was missing. What was missing was a relationship with the Lord."