PATERSON On June 15, 1974, 28 men were ordained as permanent deacons by Bishop Lawrence Casey in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist here. This was the first time in the history of the Paterson Diocese that men, both single and married, were called to be ordained to the permanent diaconate.
Today one of those men, Deacon Mario Munoz, now 81, is looking back at his life and how he got to where he is today. He has written his autobiography, “Yo Vengo Del Sur,” which translates in English to: “I Come from the South.” It contains stories about his life discussing the values of faith, culture, family and work with many Scripture passages scattered throughout the book.
In discussing his book, Deacon Munoz said, “My life story is a testimony to how God guides us through the paths of life.”
The deacon is now retired living near his grandchildren in Burlington County but he served for many years in the Paterson Diocese. After his diaconate ordination, he served at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Paterson and later he served at Our Lady of Victories Parish, also in Paterson, until his retirement. During his ministry, he gave talks and led retreats at parishes throughout the Diocese, mostly for Spanish-speaking Catholics.
He came to the United States 50 years ago with his wife, Maritza, and they have three children — Marlene, David and Claudia — and seven grandchildren, all of whom he baptized.
His oldest daughter Marlene said “My kids would always hear stories from grandpa about his adventures. We would always tell him, you should write these stories down.”
Deacon Munoz begins his life story in his native Chile when he was 10-years-old and a long journey he took. “I was one of 10 children and they sent me to boarding school in Santiago, the capital of Chile, where my aunt was a nun. I didn’t last long there and journeyed back home hundreds of miles away.”
At 10 years old, he figured out his way home but soon after, he was sent back to the boarding school and spent most of his early pre-teen and teen years there. He recalls becoming an altar boy and soon he found himself getting closer to his faith.
He recalls serving at the funeral Mass for St. Alberto Hurtado, a Jesuit priest, on Aug. 19, 1952, who is regarded as a national hero. A few years later, Deacon Munoz entered the seminary in La Paz, Bolivia, to become a missionary priest.
There he met Father Luciano Cruz, now a retired priest of the Paterson Diocese, who served as pastor of St. Therese Parish in Paterson. They became very close friends as they studied and served the people of Bolivia. Eventually, Father Cruz came to Paterson and Deacon Munoz realized he had a different calling not to the priesthood but to married life.
In 1969, he and his wife, Maritza, came to the U.S. with Father Cruz as their sponsor. During that time, Spanish Masses were becoming more important in the community as many Puerto Ricans and Spanish-speaking residents were settling in the area.
“I insisted to my wife that we attend English Masses to learn the language,” said Deacon Munoz. “But then, I was asked to be a lector and so we ended up going to Spanish Masses which made my wife happy to hear Mass in her language.”
Since Munoz had three years of seminary studies, Msgr. Patrick Scott, now a retired priest of the Paterson Diocese, who was the pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes at the time, asked him, “Do you want to be a deacon?”
Looking back, Deacon Munoz believes God sent him on this journey to the boarding school and then to seminary to answer his vocation as a deacon. As a deacon, he was involved in assisting future diaconate candidates with Msgr. Kenneth Lasch, now a retired priest of the Diocese, who served as the first director of the diaconate program. He has also been involved in many activities in the Diocese including leading Good Friday services at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist for years and bringing in missionaries to speak at parishes. He also helped many couples prepare for the Sacrament of Marriage. In his professional life, he worked for Nabisco for 37 years before retiring.
The title of his book comes from a meeting with Father Gilberto Gutierrez, a retired priest of the Diocese in 1993, when the two met at St. Michael Parish in Paterson for an evangelization event. “Father Gutierrez told me I come from the south and I am Chilean.” A review of his book, “Yo Vengo Del Sur,” states “it is much more than the individual history of a person. It is the autobiography of a brave man, writing about an anecdotal chain of experiences, which are as simple as they are deep.”
Deacon Munoz hopes to write a second book continuing his story of serving in the Paterson Diocese. He said, “I mention Scripture many times in the book because God is one of the most important parts of my journey. No matter what circumstance you are going through, God has the last word.”