Invite Him into your life
Father John Pacheco stands before St. Mary Parish in Gainesville. (NTC/Thomas Otto)
HE IS: Father John Pacheco, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Gainesville since 2016.
A MOTHER’S PRESENCE: Mary Lou Pacheco took her two sons to Tepeyac when they were very young. Fr. Pacheco remembers the vast number of pilgrims, how his mother tightly gripped his hand, and the devout making their way to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on their knees.
His mother explained, “They’re showing the Blessed Mother how much they love her, and the Blessed Mother is showing them how much she loves them.”
The priest noted, “That was my first entanglement with the Blessed Mother, and I believe she’s been with me all this time.”
A DREAM MADE POSSIBLE: He felt called to priesthood early in life, but his parents didn’t support his calling.
He studied communications at University of Texas at Arlington before spending more than 20 years in law enforcement, mostly at Texas Christian University.
When he applied for seminary in his mid-40s, he was denied. “I thought, well, okay. The Lord spoke, you know, no problem there.”
A year later, he received a call from the diocese with an invitation to reapply.
At the time, he was caring for his mother, who had begun to present signs of Alzheimer’s — a disease that had also affected his father, who died from cancer in 1998, as well as his late uncle.
“I didn't say anything, but I thought, ‘Well, Lord, if You want me to be a priest, this is in Your hands. It's all up to You.’”
His brother, Adam, encouraged him to enter seminary.
“He said, ‘John, you really want to be a priest? Then you go do it. You go do it. If they offer a spot, you take it, go be a priest. We will take care of mom here.’”
Fr. Pacheco emphasized his gratitude to his brother and sister-in-law, Mary, and their family who looked after his mother, who passed away two years before he was ordained.
TWO MOTHERS: “My mother always taught me that when you have a Blessed Mother, then you have another mother, a separate mother, and I have always looked at her that way.”
ORDAINED: May 23, 2009, at St. Patrick Cathedral in Fort Worth.
TO SERVE: He has served at St. Matthew Parish in Arlington; Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Wichita Falls; St. Mary Parish in Graham; and St. Theresa Parish in Olney.
Although he is a heritage Spanish speaker, as his grandparents were from San Luis Potosi and Panuco of Mexico, he was born and raised in Fort Worth, and Spanish is not his dominant language.
“It's hard,” he admitted, reflecting about his ability to serve the faithful in the second language. “Every bit of the way, it's been hard, but you know, God put us on this Earth to serve these people. Everybody, not just one group of people, everybody. And no matter what the situation is, you have to do that. We have to serve.”
GOOD TIMES IN GAINESVILLE: He was assigned to serve in Gainesville in 2016. “I love being out here,” the priest said.
“What's neat about being a priest is when you're coming out of church with everybody. There's always an ice cream cart somewhere and you see those little kids, and they're growing so quickly. That's part of it right there for me.”
BEST COMPLIMENT: “I had a little, elderly man, who just passed away a few months ago, who gave me one of the best compliments anybody’s ever said to me. … He said, ‘Father, the way you explain your homily, I understand it. It makes sense to me.’”
FAVORITE SACRAMENT: “To me, the Body of Christ is everything. It’s just everything.”
He treasures seeing how the faithful encounter Jesus in the Eucharist when they come up for Communion. “You see how much it means to people during Mass. It means so much to people.”
SPECIAL MEMENTO: A couple days before Fr. Pacheco’s mother passed away, she shared with her son the memory of his baptism at their local church, St. Mary of the Assumption in Fort Worth. With a laugh, she recalled carrying the heavy infant on the bus ride over to the church and handing him over to then-parish pastor, Father Meinrad Marbaugh, OSB, saying, “Here, I’m giving him to you.”
Upon Fr. Pacheco’s ordination, Fr. Marbaugh’s family gifted him the priest’s chalice.
“That was the biggest honor to me, having his chalice.”
ADVICE FOR THE FAITHFUL: Talk with God daily. “Don't sit there and say, ‘I'll do it later whenever I have time’ or whatever. Talk to Him daily. It's like talking to your father or grandfather every day because you want them to know, and they want to be a part of your life. That's what God wants from you. He wants to be a part of your everyday life. He wants you to invite Him into your life.”
GOD’S SERVANT: “I’m starting with Parkinson’s myself, and I’ve always felt I was going to try to go as long as I can to be a priest and let God use me for as long as He can,” said the 71-year-old priest, who plans to retire from ministry at age 75.
“We’re supposed to give, we’re supposed to love each other, and I think that’s what I’m supposed to be doing.”
HOBBIES: Before a recent fall, the priest enjoyed lifting weights or walking his two-year old rat-terrier Peanut to the football field. One of his parishioners helped him adopt Peanut at her veterinary clinic after the priest’s former dog, a beloved bulldog named Callie, passed away at the age of 13.
PEOPLE TO SERVE: Fr. Pacheco encourages the faithful to deepen their faith as they receive the sacraments and to draw closer to God.
“We have to look after our people. We have to pray. We have to help them as best we can.”