By Andrés Zamora

Rodrigo Ulloa-Chavarry can trace his calling to the priesthood to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center a decade ago, an event that changed the course of his life and led him to Maryknoll.

For Ulloa-Chavarry, who emigrated with his family from his native Guatemala to the United States in 1999, religious life wasn't part of his plans. Then, he was an 18-year-old soccer enthusiast with an interest in airplanes and foreign languages, especially English. Given his passion for aircraft and a need for higher education, he joined the U.S. Air Force.

"Ever since I was a child, I've enjoyed learning about airplanes, so when I first enrolled, it was like Disneyland for me," he says. Although he didn't have direct access to the planes, he could witness take-offs and landings, and he often played soccer with the pilots.

While stationed in South Dakota, Ulloa-Chavarry pursued a bachelor's degree in computer science at the National American University in Rapid City. But his studies were interrupted following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, when he was suddenly assigned to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. That's where, he says, his path to the priesthood began.

"I had the joy of meeting a U.S. Air Force chaplain, Father David Czartorynski," Ulloa-Chavarry says. The chaplain helped him prepare for the sacrament of confirmation and became his role model for priesthood. "He said to me: 'This is my life. I'm not only a Father, but also a brother, a cousin, a nephew,' " Ulloa-Chavarry says. "I thought that was very human."

Ulloa-Chavarry returned to the United States in 2002 and completed his degree in computer science. But the call to priesthood persisted. "I said to myself: 'Let's give it a chance. I can't judge something I haven't tried.' " After finishing his Air Force service, he entered Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona, Minn., joining 45 seminarians studying to be priests for the U.S. Midwest.

One weekend, while he was visiting friends in Indiana, Ulloa-Chavarry heard Maryknoll Father Peter Chabot deliver a homily at Sunday Mass about overseas mission. Curious to know more about mission, Ulloa-Chavarry left his information on a contact card, and in December 2003 he visited Maryknoll in New York.

"They treated me like one of their own," he says. "I was in their library and saw many videos of mission. I started learning about places like Mozambique, Bangladesh and Kenya. That had a great impact on me."

When Rapid City Bishop Blase Cupich heard about the trip to Maryknoll, he told the young man, "I went to China with Maryknoll and loved their spirit." The bishop said he had no problem transferring Ulloa-Chavarry's files to Maryknoll.

During the next months, Ulloa-Chavarry researched Maryknoll's history and work. The more he learned, the more he felt again the fire of adventure that had drawn him into the Air Force. Only now Maryknoll added the spiritual dimension to traveling and meeting people from different cultures: sharing the Gospel throughout the world. He wanted to be part of that.

In 2007, after four years of study with Maryknoll, Ulloa-Chavarry left for Cambodia for his Overseas Training Program, during which Maryknoll candidates get firsthand experience in mission. In the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, he worked with the local people and immersed himself in the country's poverty.

His ministry included coaching soccer and giving music lessons to children. "Some might say that's not exactly what mission should be," he says, "but, in my opinion, it was a great mission. To be able to teach children who have never heard the sound of a flute—many of them suffering from AIDS—to play some notes was something beautiful."

Back in the United States for his final preparations to become a Maryknoll priest, Ulloa-Chavarry echoes the sentiments of Father Czartorynski. "Now I have many families," says Ulloa-Chavarry. "By being a missionary, you meet many, many people, and the families of such people become your own. Graces and blessings are multiplied."

On June 4, Ulloa-Chavarry will join the more than 2,000 men who have been ordained and sent forth as Maryknoll priests since the Society's first class of missioners went to China in 1918. After his ordination, he will depart for mission in Kathmandu, Nepal.

As a Hispanic young man ordained as his mission Society celebrates the centennial of its founding, Ulloa-Chavarry says, "I feel honored to be part of this history, rejoicing for the 100 years of foreign mission. Maryknoll has opened its doors for me as a Hispanic and I want to be a door for other Hispanics."

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