The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock
   
Deacon Juan Guido (left) with his parents Juan and Maria Guadalupe May 18. Malea Hargett photo Worshipers packed St. Edward Church in Little Rock for the transitional diaconate ordination Mass of Juan Guido, here pictured distributing Communion. Malea Hargett photo Guido: “When I hugged my brother and sisters, it reminded me that I want to be an example to them … When the deacons came to hug me, it really brought me to tears.” Malea Hargett photo Bishop Anthony B. Taylor congratulates Juan Guido on coming one step closer to his dream of the priesthood. Malea Hargett photo

Diaconate ordination May 18 an emotional day for Guido

Deacon Juan Guido's ordination Mass the first in St. Edward Church's 129 years

Published: June 5, 2013      

By Malea Hargett
Editor

Malea Hargett
Deacon Juan Guido, who was ordained a deacon May 18, came to Little Rock in 2001 with his younger siblings and parents Maria Guadalupe and Pablo from Mexico.

Juan Guido couldn’t hold back the tears as he embraced Bishop Anthony B. Taylor and his family during his diaconate ordination May 18 at St. Edward Church in Little Rock.

His relationship with the bishop, parents and siblings flooded his mind as he was ordained a transitional deacon and prepared for his final year of seminary studies.

“Especially with my family, all the struggles we went through, all the events we had to go through, especially being the oldest. Especially when I hugged my brother and sisters, it reminded me that I want to be an example to them … When the deacons came to hug me, it really brought me to tears.”

“For me that is very important to be with those people who walked with me, walked behind me. Especially with the bishop. I think we have a good relationship. When everything was done, I was not able to hold it in when he hugged me.”

During the Mass, Guido made promises of celibacy, a life of prayer and respect and obedience to the bishop. To show the importance to all priests being bilingual, seminarian Mario Jacobo read the first reading in English and seminarian Michael Johns read the second reading in Spanish. Guido was installed with the deacon’s stole and dalmatic by his parish’s deacons, Dan Hennessey and Marcelino Luna.

It was the first time in 129 years that an ordination was held at the parish.

“Pope Francis, from the very beginning of his papacy has given eloquent witness to this truth,” Bishop Taylor said in his homily. “Jesus calls us to live lives of humble service and courageous self-sacrificing love, with special concern for the poorest and weakest and most troubled among us. If you are seeking ordination as a way to become important, esteemed and influential you’re in the wrong business. The approval of others may well come if you are a faithful deacon (and eventually priest), but if that’s your motive, you’re in for a rude awakening. It takes courage to live a life of sacrificial love, but that’s the only way that you will be able to be a faithful shepherd of the flock that your Master, the Good Shepherd, entrusts to your care.” 

Sitting on the front row were his parents, Maria Guadalupe and Pablo, two sisters, one brother, grandparents, an uncle and four cousins. 

Guido moved to the United States from Iramuco, Guanajuato, Mexico, in 2001 when he was 15 years old. The family joined St. Edward Church in Little Rock and he attended Hall High School in Little Rock.

He knew no English when he arrived.

“Zero. Not even hello,” he said with a laugh.

“The whole world just changed. You were not able to communicate, the school was different, the food was different. It was a very dramatic change for me.”

He received comfort by attending Mass in Spanish at St. Edward.

“At the church with Father John Antony I felt at home,” he said. “It was a place where I knew I would fit in.”

Following graduation in 2005, he was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Little Rock. He studied at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, La., for his bachelor’s degree. This summer he is working at Christ the King Church in Little Rock and will finish his final year of studies at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. He will be ordained a priest May 31 in Little Rock.

Guido (pronounced GE-dough), 26, has already earned a reputation among the seminarians and priests for his love of the liturgy. He has been master of ceremonies at several Masses, earning the nickname “The Finger” or “El Dedo” in Spanish.

“I always call them with my finger to come over here and go over here,” he said. “I have great passion for the liturgy. I love to be involved in preparing for the Eucharist.”

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