Fr. Jorge Zetino, SVD

 

When he was younger, Fr. Jorge Zetino, SVD dreamed of being a pilot.

“I love aviation,” he said. “I was determined that I wanted to work for Air France because at the time they were the best airline for benefits and everything.”

Originally from Guatemala, Fr. Jorge and his family settled in Michigan in the early 2000s. He’s the third of four sons in his tight-knit family. They’re the kind of parents and siblings who keep multiple group chats going at any given time. He and his brothers learned early in life that their parents expected each of their children to earn good grades and work hard to achieve their goals.

When Fr. Jorge started seriously exploring religious life and considering a different path than aviation, his family had his back. They knew that he would either grow up to become a pilot or a priest. The family encouraged him to explore whatever would be fulfilling for him.

After learning about the Divine Word Missionaries, Fr. Jorge decided to attend a Come and See visit at Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa just to learn more about the religious congregation. That first visit, on Mission Sunday of 2010 was all it took for him to leave aviation behind and begin the formation process. He knew where God was calling him.

His family, like always, was ready to support him no matter what. They drove him to the college at the beginning of the school year. “Before we got out of the car, my big brother said, ‘look around the car. The same people that came to drop you off, we’re going to be the same people that will come to pick you up any time, any day. If it doesn’t work out for you, it’s fine. Let us know and we’ll pick you up.’”

The formation process wasn’t always easy. Fr. Jorge, like most SVD candidates, faced challenges along the way, but ultimately, he continued to feel called to missionary religious life.

During his 13 years in the formation program, he traveled to Vietnam, Jamaica, Germany and Israel. Those experiences helped him see the world, as he once hoped to do when he aspired to be a pilot.

In 2017, Fr. Jorge started doing campus ministry work at a catholic high school in Chicago for his ministry practicum. He liked it so much that he asked to continue helping there even after his program was finished.

“The Church is missionary by its very nature. Through baptism, all of us join in that mission,” he said. “In formation with the SVD, you realize that missionary work is not just going into the highlands of Vietnam, or Guatemala or Berlin, but mission is also going to Dubuque, Epworth, anywhere.”

After his priestly ordination in May 2023, Fr. Jorge went back to the high school in Chicago to be part of a four-day “Kairos” retreat there, but this time he served in his capacity as a priest celebrating the sacraments.

“It was like a full circle moment,” he said. “There’s something about working with high schoolers and college students. They’re our future. They have so many questions and I’m like, well, I get it because I have been there.”

Following his ordination, Fr. Jorge learned that he was being assigned to serve as a vocation director in the USA. Travel is a major part of the role. He now spends a lot of time zig zagging across the country and meeting with young men who want to learn more about the Society of the Divine Word.

Throughout his life, Fr. Jorge says his family has accompanied him as he explored his options and discerned his own path. Now, he hopes to offer that same gift of accompaniment to young men discerning religious life as a missionary priest or brother with the Society of the Divine Word through his work as a vocation director. He is following in the footsteps of his good friend and confrere Fr. Tony Romo, SVD who served as Fr. Jorge’s own vocation director and accompanied him throughout all of his formation journey. Fr. Jorge has two role models as he takes on this new ministry, Fr. Tony as well as Fr. Adam MacDonald, SVD. “I love those guys!” Fr. Jorge exclaims. “I hope to emulate my ministry of accompanying young men in the same way Fr. Antonio and Fr. Adam have done as vocation directors.”

Fr. Jorge may not be a pilot, but he’s sure to rack up plenty of airline miles during his work as a vocation director and his experiences with Divine Word Missionaries will certainly help him see the world. He says he didn’t really give up on his dream of piloting planes, it simply evolved into a new dream. Now as a Divine Word Missionary Priest, he has the sense of fulfillment he always wanted.

“I’ve been to places I never imagined I would be - from building houses in Jamaica to working in leprosy colonies in Vietnam,” he said. “I did not get to fly a plane, but boy have I flown.”