Newly-ordained Oblates of Mary Immaculate Father Juan Ayala chuckles when he considers how his life, geographically at least, has come full circle.

Raised in Pacoima, where he was ordained at Mary Immaculate Church May 26 by San Fernando Auxiliary Bishop Gerald Wilkerson, Father Ayala, 31, is serving temporarily in residence at the same parish he attended as a child.

He finds it ironic that, after considering several religious orders, he chose to join the Oblates after realizing he connected with their charism of solidarity with poor, abandoned and underserved communities such as the predominately Mexican immigrant neighborhood of his youth.

Born in Chicago of Mexican immigrant parents, Juan Ayala, Jr. enjoyed attending church from an early age. "I would remind my parents, 'It's Sunday, let's go to church,'" said Father Ayala, who has a younger brother, Antonio. He was fascinated by priests, but, "at the same time, I was afraid of them."

Bilingual in Spanish and English and fairly proficient in German --- his maternal grandparents were German-speaking Mennonites from Canada who migrated to Mexico --- he moved to Pacoima at age 11. Though the schools he attended, Pacoima Jr. High and San Fernando High School, had gang problems, nobody messed with him due to one gang member's intervention.

"When I was in junior high, some of the kids started to tease me, but one of the other kids --- a member of a gang --- came up and said, 'Don't pick on him, he's one who will succeed.' It just stayed in my mind and this past week, as I was preparing and praying for ordination, the thought came to me: Wow, my own peers saw something in me as a 13-year-old."

After graduating with a major in English for secondary teaching from Fresno Pacific University, a Mennonite college, he spent a year working at Mervyn's in Sun Valley while trying to decide whether he should start teaching or enter the seminary. He was in touch with the archdiocesan vocation office as well as with Franciscan, Augustinian and Carmelite vocation directors.

"I never thought about the Oblates, even though I was fascinated [with them] as a child," he said. One day, however, "it hit me," said Father Ayala, who realized he felt a special calling to the Oblates.

"I was never pressured. They were very attentive. They listened. They guided me. What I really liked with this community was they were very approachable. On Sunday, all the priests were out there greeting the people, laughing, smiling."

As a Mexican-American aware of the struggles of immigrants and marginalized people, he appreciated the Oblates' mission to disenfranchised peoples. His pre-novitiate year was spent in Miami at an African-American parish followed by a year stationed at a mission chapel in Tijuana where he led Sunday Liturgy of the Word services and distributed Communion three times a month.

Though the parishioners were poor, "they were very happy and loved to share. They taught me that material things don't make you happy. They were teachers," said Father Ayala. After a novitiate year in Godfrey, Illinois, he was sent to study at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago where he graduated this year with a master's of divinity degree.

Despite coming down with a cold the day before ordination, Juan was jubilant during the ceremony, particularly during the prayer of ordination. "I felt a change in me that I can't describe. I was being consecrated and I felt it," said Father Ayala. His parents, Juan and Sara, and brother, who traveled from Austin, Texas, for the ordination, were "very proud" and his mother, especially, was "radiating happiness and joy."

Since Father Ayala feels a special ministry to youth, he was gratified at the large number of teens who approached him for a blessing following his ordination. He will have lots of opportunity to participate in youth ministry at his first assignment beginning in August as an associate pastor at Santa Rosa Church in San Fernando, one of three northeast Valley parishes served by the OMI priests (along with Mary Immaculate and St. Ferdinand).

Father Ayala hopes his ministerial service will help "regain the trust of the people" in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. "I'm going to be open to the people," declared Father Ayala. "I'll welcome them and, hopefully, they'll welcome me."