On 8 December 2025, at the Holy Spirit Parish in Granada, we joyfully celebrated the diaconal ordination of Lemuel Paul Tuvilla, CMF, within the framework of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The celebration was presided over by Most Rev. José María Gil Tamayo, Archbishop of Granada, and was accompanied by Fr Carlos Candeias, CMF, Provincial Superior, and Fr Juan Jesús Gea, CMF, Parish Priest. Here we share the testimony of the newly ordained deacon.
“What you have received as a gift, give as a gift.”
Something that struck me in my recent conversation with Bishop José María was this: “The diaconate is a first step in a life of continual self-dispossession.” By receiving the diaconate, our life ceases to be our own and becomes God’s. It sounds beautiful, and it truly is a gift, but it is also a great responsibility. Yet I walk in faith, knowing that I am not alone; that God accompanies me, along with the people He has sent me, through their prayers.
I give thanks to God for the gift received. The day of the diaconal ordination was a special day not only for me, but also for all the people who have been instruments of God’s Love in my life. For this reason, I give thanks to God for their lives, their example, and their vocation.
Lemuel Tuvilla, cmf
