Welcome to Saint Andrew Parish

I want to say "Hello" and tell you a little bit about myself before we are formally introduced. The oldest of seven children, I was born and raised on the far Southeast side of Chicago. My parents came from Mexico and they instilled in my brothers and sisters and me a respect and love for our family, culture, faith and this great country of ours. My Dad entered eternal life in November of 2003 after struggling with Lupus for many years. Mom is presently enjoying her recent retirement after working for over 25 years at my home parish. I have 8 nieces and nephews ranging in age from 16 to 1 year old. My family is very dear to me and you will eventually get to know them.

Thanks to a loving home and a great Catholic education at St. Michael (83rd and South Shore Dr.) my vocation to the priesthood developed very early on in life. I attended Quigley Seminary South High School and Niles College Seminary where I majored in Fine Arts. After completing my studies at Mundelein Seminary I was ordained a priest in 1993. Since that time I have served as an associate pastor at St Genevieve, St. John Berchmans, and presently at St. Marcelline in Schaumburg. I also did some spiritual direction, formation work and served as Director of Liturgy for a while at St Joseph Seminary.

I truly love being a priest, doing parish ministry, presiding at liturgy and preaching. Some of my other interests I love to pursue in my free time include art, photography, theater, music, movies, opera, traveling, cycling, gardening and cooking. I am very excited about beginning this next chapter of my life as your pastor and I look forward to personally meeting you.