On May 31, Archbishop José H. Gomez will ordain eight new priests for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
In the days leading up to their ordination, we’ll be introducing them all.
Age: 56
Hometown: Diamond Bar
Home parish: St. Bede the Venerable Church, La Cañada Flintridge
Parish assignment: St. Mel Church, Woodland Hills
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After a long, successful career in finance and management consulting, Joseph Cruz had his sights set on retiring. But rather than golfing, or sitting on a beach, or doing whatever retired people do, Cruz will instead spend his retirement … as a priest.
Cruz, 56, acknowledged that he’s coming into the priesthood at a later age than many, but saw it as a positive.
“When I first started at seminary, I was one among five people who were in their 50s, and then all of a sudden, I became the only one,” Cruz said. “So it’s been interesting and a gift to learn about different generations, and knowing that it’s never going to be just me.”
Cruz originally thought about becoming a permanent deacon, but after breaking up with his girlfriend, an offhand joke from a priest friend helped steer him in a different direction.
“He said, ‘If you’re going to be single at the time of your ordination, you’ll have to take a vow of celibacy as a deacon, so you might as well think about becoming a priest,’ ” Cruz said.
From there, he began reflecting and going on discernment retreats, where he ultimately decided to pursue the priesthood. He realized that God had been planting the seeds years before.
Growing up with his sister and parents in Diamond Bar — before moving to La Cañada Flintridge later in life — Cruz was a sacristan at St. Denis Church while in high school and used to go out to lunch with the priests.
“It came up a lot in my history, and a lot of the priests that I’ve loved, a lot of the ones that were just very formative for me,” he said. “They taught me how to be pastoral.”
When he told his “retirement” plans to former business associates, they were pretty matter-of-fact about it.
“I was surprised that there wasn’t a lot of surprise,” Cruz said. “ ‘Oh, that makes sense.’ So I guess that was a bit of an affirmation.”
Naturally, when speaking about his past life experience, there’s an inclination to match what he did before to what he’ll face as a priest. Skills in finance, corporations, and relationship-building can translate easily into a parish.
“It’s natural and supernatural in that there are a lot of things that have been part of my previous life that have become part of this life,” Cruz said. “It sort of just made sense that God had me have those be important parts of my life in the past, that they would be useful or important in this new life. Of course, a lot of new things I’ve had to get used to and understand and learn that’s been beautiful and shocking, as I guess our faith is.”
Cruz also understood that God was going to shift the perspective coming from a finance world of boasting and dog-eat-dog mentality.
“When you’re successful, when you do well in business or in a corporate or secular world, it’s very easy for you to think that you are mostly responsible for that,” he said. “I know that since I entered seminary, and since I’ve gotten into ministry, I’m not always responsible for a lot of the good that happens, that it’s by the grace of God.”
As his ordination approaches and his mission to become a priest begins, Cruz is apprehensive about a few things, but knows that what he’s gone through has given him a foundation of faith.
“I’ve sort of learned from internship and being a deacon to lean into the surprises and sort of be OK with the unexpected,” he said.
“Of course I’m nervous and anxious about my first Mass, my first confession, a lot of the first things I’ll be doing as a priest. But then you sort of know that God has your back, and then he also has people that he’s sending behind you to back you up as well.”
