El Paso seminarians César García and Sergio Legarreta are taking over social media technology to evangelize during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On a regular day, Sergio Legarreta, a seminarian on his pastoral year at San Judas Tadeo Parish in the upper valley, helps Fr. Miguel Angel Sánchez with the live Facebook events. Sergio coordinates the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the rosary and daily Mass. He also meets with the parish youth group through weekly Zoom meetings. Sergio has discovered the tremendous need to listen one-on-one to the struggles youth face every day as they live through the COVID-19 pandemic. He says he enjoys providing catechesis and to listen to their joys and sorrows while in quarantine.

César García, a 2nd year Theology student on pastoral year at St. Paul the Apostle Parish has been a key liaison for the church’s food pantry and helps Pastor Fr. Pablo Matta upload daily Masses to Facebook and the parish YouTube channel. César and Fr. Pablo record Sunday Mass on Saturday and upload the video on Sunday morning. César is surprised at how technology has called many to participate in religious celebrations and says 400 people attend Mass online every day.

The competence that Sergio and César provide to their parish communities is an essential element for evangelizing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sergio and César are receiving seminarian formation through your generosity. Funding for seminarian education comes from a variety of sources, including Progress: the Catholic Ministry Appeal. To create more opportunities for evangelization for our Catholic community, you can donate to Progress 2020 today and support seminarian formation. For more information, please contact Progress Coordinator Martha Marmolejo at 915-872-8412 or mmarmolejo@elpasodiocese.org.