By: Addy Diaz
My name is Addy Diaz and I currently reside in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, and I am the Minnesota State Rep on the TEC Conference Leadership Council. Being on the TEC Council has opened my eyes to the larger TEC community. I am learning so much from the people that work in this program and I am excited to see what the coming years bring. I serve as a youth minister in a beautiful parish. I would have never guessed that I would be where I am today.
I grew up a cradle Catholic in a small town in Minnesota. Life was good. I thought that I was on a great track to heaven by going to Mass every weekend and helping out wherever the church needed me. I was singing in the choir, serving at Mass, going on ski trips, you name it. But when it came time for me to go through our Confirmation program which required me to attend a retreat, I was a bit hesitant. This was a requirement, and - because I am stubborn and this wasn’t my idea - I didn’t like the idea of going on a retreat. But alas, I ended up at the Central Minnesota TEC center. There, I was greeted by people that were too joyful for 9am and a whole lot of Jesus. It was at this TEC where my idea of being a “good Catholic” changed. Going through the motions in my faith was no longer an option.
Going forward from that retreat, I remained very active in the CM TEC program, but I was also thirsty for more. I began attending Steubenville conferences, FOCUS conferences and retreats in college, and became active at my university’s Newman center.
The Lord has been very patient with me. As I was discerning where to go and what to do after college, I felt the Lord calling me to ministry of some sort. The idea of working for the church was not my first choice, so I sort of pushed that call to the back burner. Instead, a corporate job slipped in and I took that position for a year. While the job itself seemed somewhat glamorous, travelling solo and doing a job that I wasn’t passionate about was not all that it was cracked up to be. I needed to do something beyond myself. So, remember that calling I mentioned earlier? Yeah, Jesus was basically sitting in an easy chair with his legs crossed and a look on His face that told me “are you ready to follow Me now?” It was all I needed. I applied for one job and that is the position that I am in now: a youth minister – who would have thought!
My first day consisted of walking in, setting my stuff down and heading over to a full week of VBS. By day three, I was wearing a giraffe onesie. That first week was more fulfilling than anything I had ever done. To think that I am getting paid to work in the vineyard – it still blows my mind a year and a half later.