About the Salesians / Brother Juan Pablo Rubio

I am Br. Juan Pablo Rubio. I hail from Michigan. I have two brothers and four sisters and I am the youngest of the boys. At an early age I felt drawn to the priesthood. However, I fought that calling for I wanted to be somebody else. Even my family thought I was too young to make that decision.

Brother Juan Pablo Rubio

As I grew up, I began to be interested in girls and began to develop an interest in Mexican culture and art. I wanted to teach Mexican folk dance. I immigrated to the USA. Money was scarce and I had to adjust to an entire new culture. At the same time, I had to support my parents. I applied for a job and began working in a company that built RV’s. I attended Sunday mass, got involved with the Hispanic charismatic youth group and kept faithful to my personal prayer life in all of this. The thought of religious life kept recurring over and over again. I said to myself that I cannot fight this calling anymore and I started seriously thinking of entering the seminary. One day I went to a convention at Notre Dame University at South Bend, Indiana and happened to meet with the Salesians. The encounter was brief but profound. I made a decision at that moment to check out the Salesians. And I did. I saw it to be the perfect fit for me. On my first visit itself, I knew that I was 'home'.

Presently, I am a post novice and am living at the Salesian Formation house in Orange, NJ. My advice to those of you who are contemplating the religious life is, “Come, check us out!” You have nothing to lose. To me this is worth my entire life.

Brother Juan talks about his love for helping in the kitchen (left) and the Virgin Mary (right).