From Doubt to Devotion: Brother Bernardo Ross on Faith & Vocation

In this inspiring episode, Brother Bernardo Ross of the Legionaries of Christ shares his transformative journey from distancing himself from faith in high school to a profound conversion during his freshman year of college. He discusses the allure of worldly pleasures versus the true happiness found through Christ, the challenges and revelations faced during his vocation discernment, and the deep spiritual practices that shaped his path. Brother Bernardo reflects on God's specific plan for every life, the importance of seeking truth, and how Catholicism offers a coherent and harmonious worldview. This heartfelt conversation offers insight into the struggles and confirmations that guide one towards a life dedicated to faith and service.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Today I'm interviewing Brother Bernardo
Ross.
He's with the Legionaries ofChrist.
Tell me a little bit about yourpre-religious life.

SPEAKER_01 (00:11):
When I was in high school, I actually, I went
pretty far away from the faith.
So I think I started living alife where I was choosing kind
of more of the worldlypleasures.
As I like to say, I often,whenever I tell my vocation
story, I always talk about thegospel of the world, right?
So like, what is that gospel,right?
The parallel gospel to thegospel of Christ.
Because that's ultimately whatthe gospel is telling us.
It's like how to live a lifethat ultimately leads you to

(00:34):
true happiness.
And so the world also promisesthat, but they promise it here
and now.
And it's, you know, it's filledwith pleasures and immediate
satisfaction and gratification.
And when I was in high school, Idefinitely went down that road.
So I usually say it was aboutfour years that I was away from
the faith, and I had a bigconversion in college.

(00:55):
Actually, my first year ofcollege, freshman year, I came
back to the faith.
And that's really where I would

SPEAKER_00 (01:01):
say my vocation...
Wait, sorry to interrupt.
Your first year in college?
That's like an interesting,like...
time, like most people areknee-deep in everything bad.

SPEAKER_01 (01:10):
Well, it was actually I mean, I don't want to
be dramatic here, but it waskind of getting to a point like
that that brought me to Christbecause when I was in high
school, I mean, just withoutgetting into any of the details
or any of the specific pointshere, I think I was definitely
searching for God in placeswhere He definitely wasn't.
I was seeking a joy that onlyChrist could give me.

(01:31):
And so that was actually thenight when I kind of stopped and
when I tell her, Christina, Idon't believe that God exists.
something within me kind ofshook what is god's plan for me
and that's what i felt like hehad in my using this image right
like god was far away myspiritual life i start walking
closer to him as i get closer isee he has a gift for me and

(01:54):
that gift was the vocation and isaid i want to know what that
vocation is i want to know whatgod's calling me to i want to
know what mission he has for mei think it's uh i might be wrong
i think it's saint john paul iiwho says every life is a
vocation.
No one is just here on thisearth to pass time and be here

(02:15):
and then be gone.
God has a specific plan forevery single person He's made,
And that was really exciting forme to start to find out.
A girl who had been a Disneyprincess in Florida, and
curiously enough, she was one ofthe ones who most pushed me to
be a good Catholic man.
She told me, we can't startdating until you read this book
by Jason Everett, which was abook on chastity.

(02:37):
And I remember just thinking, Idon't think I've ever read a
book that quickly in my life,because I said, I really want to
take this seriously.
And it was a relationship that Iwas going to be taking very
seriously, because I thought Godwas maybe calling me to be
married at that time.
And so a big moment for me wasafter a few months of diving
headfirst into the businessworld, getting these different

(02:59):
awards, winning thesescholarships, getting into this
master's program.
My girlfriend at the moment wasa Disney princess, literally.
I remember thinking, actually, Iremember being in the chapel
with her.
Actually, we would pray togetheroften, which was also a nice
part of our relationship.
And I remember thinking in thechapel, literally, God, you're

(03:23):
still calling me to thepriesthood, aren't you?
In particular for us in theLegionaries, those two years are
really intense.
What

SPEAKER_00 (03:30):
does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 (03:31):
So, yeah, that was something.
That was a big question.
I was like, okay, if I'mentering with you guys, I want
to know almost like what are theterms and conditions or
something, right?
And it was pretty clear earlyon.
They said, well, look, this isthe way the novitiate looks.
You have no phone.
You have no phone.
You have no access.
to watching games whenever youwant.

(03:51):
We have different moments in theyear when you watch games.
You have an email address andyou can write letters.
And the idea is to separateyourself from the world so that
you can dive deep into yourrelationship with Christ.
I remember I went to Mass backin San Antonio, and a woman came
up to me, you know, right afterMass, a woman I'd never met

(04:13):
before, never spoken to, right?
And I'd been praying a lot,like, what, you know, God, am I
doing the right thing, right?
Like, I've taken this decisionto enter the seminary, right?
And I said, God, is this reallywhat you want?
You're second-guessing.
And at that moment, this woman,you know, came up to me after
the Mass, and she tapped me onthe shoulder, and she just, she

(04:34):
said something to me.
She just said, you're going tomake a great priest.
And it was so out of the blue.
I'd never been told that before.
That's for sure, God.
Yeah, and it was huge for me.
That for me, just these littleconfirmations, right?
And it helps us to see how Godworks because it wasn't a
miracle in the sense likesomething super out of the
ordinary.
Like God uses people and kind ofholding on to Mary's hand, she

(04:58):
can...
help you walk deeper into thatrelationship with him right in
that particular mystery rightlet it be maybe the resurrection
or the ascension or or thefinding of jesus in the temple
like what did that mean rightand so meditating on that uh is
beautiful and that's why i loveit

SPEAKER_00 (05:13):
i do too i i i'm a big fan of the rosary but is
there anything that you strugglewith

SPEAKER_01 (05:20):
one of the things that brought me to the faith was
seeking the truth right and soearly on that meant seeking what
would truly make me happy.
And I think now I'm at a pointwhere I'm really just diving
into like, what is the truthabout life, about existence,
about what comes after thislife?
How to live this life?
Why are we here?
All these types of maybe morephilosophical questions like you

(05:42):
mentioned.
And yeah, there's a bunch ofthem.
But what I've found is thatCatholicism is the most coherent
system as a whole, right?
Like when you look at everythingthat the church teaches,
Everything that the churchteaches works together in a
beautiful harmony, and that'sprecisely because God has
revealed himself to us throughthe church, right?

(06:06):
Obviously, God has revealedhimself to us through Christ,
right?
The fullness of revelation hascome to us through him, which is
amazing.