Father Carlos was born in Chicago. He is the oldest of four. He has two sisters and a brother. All three have very successful careers in San Antonio. His father has passed away, and his 80-year-old mother is currently living in San Antonio at an assisted living residence that she loves. She is visited daily by one of her children. Father visits her on Thursdays on his day off, and on Sundays manages to squeeze some time as well. Father is very family oriented and enjoys spending time with his family. Cats and dogs were always part of his life when he was growing up. Currently he does not have a pet, but a friend who rents his house has Zoe, a boxer, who Father enjoys as his own.  
His father was a construction worker and later retired from Hertzberg Jewelers as shipping clerk. His mother worked as a secretary for the state welfare department and after the third child, stayed home, and later worked for the Archdiocese Renew Program.

Father calls himself a “Church Rat” since he spent most of his childhood in the church. He always felt a calling to the priesthood because he always felt very comfortable in the church. He always enjoyed assisting people in one way or another. His grandparents and parents were very devout Catholics and very important to Father’s faith. His grandfather was a Franciscan Seminarian for some time. Father was raised in the church environment helping in different areas, helping just like his parents.

Father attended Our Lady of Sorrows School in first grade, and St. Mary’s School (Downtown San Antonio) from second to eighth grade. He then went to St Anthony High School Seminary. In high school he was on the tennis and soccer teams. His favorite subjects in school were History and Spanish. English is his second language. He moved to New Mexico to attend the Seminary Program at the College of Santa Fe. He graduated with a degree in Liberal Arts, Religious Studies with a minor in Philosophy. He came back to San Antonio to attend Assumption Seminary in 1985 while attending Oblate School of Theology.  After one year of internship, he was ordained a priest in 1990 at Sacred Heart Church. His first assignment was in the Catholic Community of Gonzales and Waelder for two years. From1992 to 1994 he was Parochial Vicar at St. Mary Magdalen in San Antonio. He was then asked by Archbishop Flores to be the Vocation Director and live at the Seminary. In 2000 his first assigned church as a pastor was at St John Berchman’s Church. He served until 2006 and was then assigned to Holy Spirit until he came to Sts. Peter and Paul in 2016 and in 2019 to St Thomas.

Father currently lives here at St. Thomas beginning most days between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m., even though he is not a morning person. His schedule is always very full, managing the needs of St. Thomas and Sts. Peter and Paul.  He prefers to have scheduled appointments to manage his time better. He tries to schedule daily time at the gym. Father likes to watch the news and stay informed on what is going on in other parts of the world, our country, and cities, except during election years.

Father enjoys family, not just his biological but his church family. He enjoys good friends and being part of his priest confraternity, which meets once a month. For fun he likes traveling, especially with his love for history. He says, “There is always something beautiful to see”.  He traveled as a child and as a Vocation Director.  He was on the board of directors for the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors and traveled throughout the U.S. conducting workshops to help other directors. Every year Father attends a Notre Dame football game. He enjoys reading when time allows. Liturgy and music fascinate him. As we know, he has a beautiful voice even though he doesn’t read music. 
His “bucket list” includes travel to Machu Picchu, see The Northern Lights either in Alaska or Iceland, and visit The Galapagos Islands and El Camino de Compostela.  He would like to go back to the University of Notre Dame even if only for one semester to study more liturgy. Also included in his list is having a greenhouse.
Two memorable people for Father are Mother Teresa and now St John Paul II. He actually met both and has a picture of him and then Pope John Paul II looking at each other touching hands (a future priest meets a future saint).
Father enjoys his lifestyle. He also is very close to his parish “family” where he gets to experience the joys and challenges of a typical family. He never feels lonely. Simply, he doesn’t have time for loneliness. He says he never has a typical day except for his prayer time which he likes; otherwise he would be bored.

His advice to young people considering the religious life is to pace themselves and find something they enjoy doing with others. They need to learn to be very flexible, able to navigate from one situation to another, going from one event, one tragedy, or celebration to another. To keep things in perspective, he suggests constant awareness of what is going on in the world, where you are at and what you are doing. Because the world has changed perhaps the life they knew and wanted to be a part of no longer exists. Also, not take things too seriously, especially things God is not too concerned with. Trust in God!