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Name: Rev. José Manuel Escalante
Age: 46
Native Country: EL Salvador
Present Parish: St. James the Greater, Charlestown

Interests: The company of good friends and relatives. I love all kinds of music; but I prefer classical like “The Four Seasons of Vivaldi.”

What drew me to the priesthood? Inspired by holy priests and their love for the Church of Christ, I became aware that God is the source of life and that He has called me to share His life and love to those in need.

Favorite Movies: “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Passion of the Christ”
Favorite Books: The complete work of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila
Favorite Quote: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another” (John 15:13-17).

After six years of being part of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, I must admit that this is one of the most rewarded experiences on my journey of faith. For instance, what a great blessing it’s been for me to celebrate in union with my family and friends my ordination to the diaconate through the imposition of hands by His Excellency Most Reverend Michael J. Bransfield on the fifteenth of May, two thousand ten.

I live in gratitude also to Father Eugene Weber, late priest from this Diocese, who believed in my vocation and gave me the support and living example to pursue my vocation and become the priest of Christ that God wants me to be. Inspired by the life of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Anthony of Padua, I have discovered that the only way to do God’s will is to die to myself and let God be God in my life so that He could bring about His divine plan within or outside the Church.

I am originally from El Salvador and I came for the first time to the United States in 1986. Since then, God has given the gift of having a wonderful and supportive family here in America and in El Salvador. There is no doubt, of course, that many religious and diocesan priests have been very influential in my discernment to the priesthood—including religious sisters and the laity. May the Lord reward their generosity and kindness! I praise God for allowing me to follow the footprints of His Beloved Son who came to serve and not to be served. Therefore, I pray with confidence that God who has begun the good work in me will bring it to fulfillment.

Fr. Jose was ordained a priest on June 4, 2011 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph.