Biography

My name is Valentine Gallegos Jr. and I have been assigned to OLG as a seminarian intern.  I am a fifth generation Texan born and raised in the west side of San Antonio. My parents have been members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church since 1977. I was baptized at St. Agnes Catholic Church which is a few blocks away from where my parents currently live in 1970 by Msgr. George Stuebben, now deceased, the brother to the retired Vicar General Msgr. Lawrence Stuebben.  I received my other sacraments at Sacred Heart.

While a student at Central Catholic Marianist High School (class of 1988), the religious nun at St. Agnes (she was there for 30+ years until 2005) asked me to minister as a catechist for middle school students and for this reason I have been affiliated with St. Agnes ever since. My mentor, the late Msgr. Peter O’Callaghan, was pastor there until his retirement in 2003 and he was highly influential in my decision to enter Assumption Seminary in 2003.  My parents’ example of faithfulness to their marriage and perseverance in doing parish ministry despite some of the obstacles that they have encountered throughout the years have inspired me to serve God and his people through the ministerial priesthood which I believe is what suits me best.

I have a BS in mathematics from St. Mary’s (1993) and a MS from UTSA (1995). I taught at St. Mary’s Hall from 1997-2000 courses in mathematics to high school students. I also have experience at the community college level teaching at SAC, Palo Alto College and Northwest Vista.  I have a younger sister who currently lives in Orange County, California and is working as a biologist for the California Department of Transportation.

My previous ministerial experience includes home visitations, hospice care, hospital chaplaincy, lector, extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, catechist, and acolyte. I am a seminarian intern assigned to get a sampling of real parish life. To this end I have been living in the rectory since late August and will be there until May 2008 at which time I will return to the seminary and complete my final and last year of study before ordination to the transitional diaconate in 2008 and priesthood in 2009.  I ask for your prayers and support so that we can help each other live out our baptismal vows and be the best possible human beings that we can be.