In March 1984, Noel Díaz was participating in Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Los Angeles when he felt a deep calling from God to start serving his community through evangelization.
Soon after, he started a small Bible study group at his parish that has evolved into El Sembrador-Nueva Evangelización (ESNE), a U.S.-based, Spanish-language Catholic media network owned by El Sembrador Ministries (“The Sower”).
This Thanksgiving, Díaz’s efforts came full circle as he and more than 200 ministry members from the United States and Mexico — including priests, deacons, and laypeople — attended a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican Apostolic Palace to commemorate the group’s 40th anniversary.
In his remarks to the crowd, which he delivered in Spanish, Pope Francis thanked ESNE for heeding St. Pope John Paul II’s call for a new evangelization by using its communications platforms to help Catholics in the U.S. and in Spanish-speaking countries deepen their faith.
He also lauded the network for reaching out to immigrants from Latin American countries who “need points of reference” and “messages of consolation in their mother tongue.”
“Do not stop doing this,” he said.
“I encourage you to keep going, without ever ceasing to look to heaven and to your brothers and sisters who are most in need: look to Jesus, look to those most in need, and do so generously and creatively, always anchored to the rock of Peter, always docile to the directions of the Church.”
After the pontiff gave his address, participants had the chance to meet him in small groups, present him with gifts, and sing “Happy Birthday” to him in anticipation of his upcoming birthday on Dec. 17.
“It was beautiful to see all our members very motivated and very blessed to have the opportunity to be with the pope,” Díaz said. “To have the opportunity to greet him, to shake his hand, and to get his blessing to all the ministry was a tremendous, great experience.”
Díaz first caught Pope Francis’ attention in 2016 when he shined the pope’s shoes during a papal flight, after explaining how he shined shoes in Tijuana, Mexico, as a child to buy the dress clothes he needed to make his First Communion.
Díaz said that although he’s stayed in touch with the pope since then, this was the first time that the pontiff received the apostolate at the Vatican. He said he was happy that many of the ministry’s long-time supporters attended, and that for many, this was their first time in Rome and their first time meeting the pope.
Some participants were moved to tears by the experience, he said, while others were as giddy as “kids in Disneyland.”
“They were so happy, and to me, that brought a lot of joy,” he said.
For Father Ramon Reyes, an associate pastor at Incarnation Catholic Church in Glendale, meeting Pope Francis on his home turf was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Reyes, who was ordained in 2022, grew up attending St. Thomas and has been involved with ESNE since he was 12.
He says he spoke to Pope Francis for about 15 seconds and presented him with notes and letters from parish students and staff, photos of ministries and events happening in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and a yearbook from his parish school.
“I felt like my knees were shaking. I felt like my hands were shaking,” he said.
“I felt like I did on the day that I got ordained. So it was a moment of joy and happiness,” he added.
Msgr. Jarlath “Jay” Cunnane, pastor at St. Cornelius Church in Long Beach, was also among those who attended.
Cunnane said he’d previously visited the Vatican and met Pope John Paul ll at the time, but this was his first time meeting Pope Francis, who he found to be “warm,” “gracious” and “humorous.”
Cunnane — who previously served as pastor at St. Thomas and remains involved with the ministry today — said many of the members who traveled to the Vatican came from rural hometowns and humble beginnings and were thankful to be invited. Most treated the trek to Rome more as a spiritual journey, or a pilgrimage, rather than a tourist trip, he said.
“The word blessing was used a lot,” he said. “Blessed to be there, blessed to be part of the ministry, blessed to have the chance to meet the Holy Father. I think many were happily surprised to find themselves having the opportunity to be there.”
While the pope’s message to the group mostly focused on its growth and current work in the faith community, Díaz said it also touched on its future by mentioning its new project “Yo soy el 73” (“I am the 73rd”), a 33-day preparation for consecration to Jesus Christ.
Moving forward, Díaz said he hopes to expand the project to reach multiple countries in multiple languages.
Reflecting on the ministry’s trajectory, Díaz said he never imagined it would grow to this magnitude. But he’s grateful that it has and for the support that it’s received over the years from clergy and laypeople alike — especially during its formative years.
“When I had my conversion, I felt like the Lord told me, ‘Talk to your millions of brothers and sisters, share with them the Word, tell them the value of the Word of God.’ And that's how I started the ministry,” he said. “I never thought it was going to be at this level, and I feel gratitude to all those that supported us.”
