KANNAPOLIS — Redemptorist Father Fabio Marín Morales celebrated his 35th anniversary of ordination June 13. During the Mass at his parish, St. Joseph Church in Kannapolis, he gave thanks to God for “these 35 years He has led me by His hand.”
Father Marín was born in Neira, Caldas, Colombia, on Oct. 3, 1959. He is the youngest of three children of Juan de Jesús Marín and Margarita Morales. His family has a deep Catholic faith, and he was baptized on Oct. 10, 1959, confirmed at the age of 3, and celebrated his first Holy Communion on Aug. 14, 1966.
From an early age he was inclined to the priestly life, but during his teenage years the idea disappeared from his mind. However, the call to the priesthood returned in a strong way when he graduated from high school.
On Jan. 6, 1980, he professed vows with the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer of the Redemptorist Missionaries. He studied philosophy at the Center for Pastoral and Philosophy in Bogotá, Colombia, and theology at the International Redemptorist Seminary of Mexico and at the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá. He had postgraduate studies in spiritual theology at the Teresianum in Rome.
On June 13, 1986, at the Redemptorist Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes in Manizales, Colombia, he was ordinated to the priesthood by Bishop Bernardo Arango Henao, S.J.
Father Marín has served as a vocations promoter in central and northern Colombia; pastor at St. Alfonso Maria de Liguorio Parish in Bogota; Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Popayán, Cauca; vicar for consecrated life and institutes of apostolic life for the Archdiocese of Popayán, Colombia; director of the Villa Marianella House of Spiritual Exercises in Chinauta, Cundinamarca, Colombia; administrator of San Alfonso University Foundation; and now in the United States serving in Hispanic Ministry and serving as pastor of St. Joseph Church in Kannapolis.
“Every day I feel more and more grateful to God for having called me to the priestly ministry. Despite my fragile humanity, the Lord has sustained me during all these years so that I may continue to accompany, on the way to salvation, the portion of the people where He Himself has placed me,” Father Marín says.
“It amazes me to see the constancy and generosity of so many people in maintaining their religious principles, to see so many people full of God, who with their lives bear witness to the presence and love of the Lord,” despite all the challenges of recent times, he adds.
“The apostolic work has put me in contact with the harsh reality of each day, with a world that sometimes seems thirsty for God and sometimes forgets Him,” he says. “It has led me to fully enjoy my dedication to the Lord. This is where I find the greatest meaning in my priestly life. Despite the constant sufferings of the world today, the human being remains hopeful, full of faith.”
