Service to God and Country

 

This Veterans Day like so many others, we are called to remember the service and sacrifice of the brave men and women who have served in the U.S. Military. In Arizona it’s estimated that more than 454,000 veterans reside throughout the state. The Diocese of Tucson is fortunate to have a handful of priests and deacons who served in the Armed Forces.   

 

Deacon Rick Valencia, who serves at Our Lady of Lourdes in Benson, is among our veterans. Valencia is also the Director of Deacons for the diocese. Valencia says he joined the Army at the age of 18, hoping to explore career opportunities. A graduate of Tucson High School, Valencia said he was raised by a single mom, “We experienced some difficult times, but we managed to persevere through those struggles and hardships. I am an only child, so it was very hard on my mom accepting that I had enlisted in the Army, much less being deployed to Vietnam for a year.” 

 

Valencia said as a soldier, his Catholic identity and service to others merged along the way, “Being raised in a very strong conservative Catholic family, carried me through insofar as keeping me focused on my Catholic morals and principles.” He said it’s his faith that kept him grounded, “Entering military service is a life changing experience for an 18-year-old, in that you are suddenly grouped together with a multitude of men and women of different cultures, beliefs, and experiences.” 

 

The military experience transformed Valencia’s maturity, “I realized I took simple pleasures like freedom for granted. Once I entered military life, I had to discipline myself to a new way of life, there were goals to meet, accountability for my actions, and being responsible for the lives of those men entrusted to me under my command. Those life-changing experiences formed me into the man I am today.” 

 

Valencia’s service to country didn’t end when his military service did. Soon after leaving the Army, he served as a trooper for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, a career that lasted for 30 years. Retirement, though, didn’t sit well for Valencia, and he returned to the workforce joining the AZ Office of the Attorney General where he served in special investigations for a decade. The scope of his work went beyond public safety, he said, “I learned how to deal with people, when they were at their very best and when they were at the lowest points in their lives. Everything in the middle was the job that we had to meet head on and accomplish. It’s quite a balance to keep in check.” 

 

Upon retirement from public safety, Valencia discerned his next station of life, and it was to apply for the diaconate, “It’s the love of God, and the love of people,” he said. Valencia encourages all Catholics to consider how God is calling each one of us to serve our Catholic community, “Listen to the call from God. If one is being drawn to the priesthood, diaconate, or religious life, there is a reason for it. It is God calling to you to sit in the quietness of your inner feelings and begin to really decern that calling. If it is truly a call to be answered, then it is all worth it in the end." Men interested in learning more about the diaconate can contact Deacon Valencia at 520-838-2543 or [email protected].