Herman’s Story
My name is Hermenejildo Lopez Cabrera, but most people call me Herman. My confirmation name is “Mark” the Evangelist. My parents are Ramon and Adela Cabrera
I was born in Hanford, CA on the 28th of February 1987. I lived in Huron, CA from the time of my birth until 1996. Briefly, I moved to Stratford, CA for a year. Finally, I transferred to Lemoore, CA in 1997 where I lived until joining the Diocese of Fresno as a Seminarian. My parents continue to reside in Lemoore.
During my childhood, I remember attending St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Parish in Huron where I was baptized in August 1987. While a short time in Stratford, my family and I attended St. Joseph Catholic Chuch. Then we moved to Lemoore in 1997 where we began to participate in St. Peter Prince of the Apostles Church, my home parish ever since receiving my First Communion and Confirmation. St. Peters is also where I began altar serving at the age of 10 under the guidance of Fr. Eric Swearingen.
My first invitation to serve Him (Jesus) was at the age of 10 while altar serving. No one pressured me to serve. I found serving attracting and I asked Fr. Eric if I could. Furthermore, as I continued to serve throughout the years, I found myself thinking about the priesthood more frequently; but as a high school athlete, I began to date and be more involved in the sport of wrestling. Therefore, I continued to put the thought of priesthood on the back burner for quite some time. Gratefully, the Lord put Msgr. John Coelho-Harandeguy in my life journey. He was very persistent, like a wrestling coach; and various times, he asked me to give the Lord an opportunity. Well it took him eight hard fought years before my stubborn self said yes. The last time Monsignor asked me to give priesthood discernment a try was in November 2014 in Italy that night after dinner. I thought about all he spoke to me about; in my heart, I knew the answer to God’s invitation through Msgr. John. The very next day, I had a once in a lifetime opportunity of seeing Pope Francis. Moreover, when he drove past me very gently in the mobile, it seemed as it was in slow motion; our eyes locked on each other as blessed me, immediately, a warm sensation ran through my body and the tears of the once tough guy came out without containment. At that time, I knew I had to stop being ignorant of His call; moreover, respond to the growing love within.
In August 2015, I entered the Juan Diego House of formation in Gardena, CA where I spent four years working on my undergraduate. I graduated from Marymount California University on May 11, 2019 with a BA in Liberal Arts with an emphasis in philosophy and American Studies. I am now in Theology I at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo. This December, I will officially be half way to ordination. So, what now? What does all this mean? Well, God willing, I still have five short years to go in this last and final phase before ordination in May/June 2024. Yes five more years! There is much to learn and the years fly by, so I pray I learn as much as possible to share with all the faithful. So what do the next years look like? The next two years I will study Theology I and II, followed by a full year of internship at a parish within the Diocese of Fresno. For year four I come back to complete Theology III and finally on the firth and last year I will do Theology IV. God-willing, I will be ordained a priest for Jesus Christ at the end of that year.
I want to serve God by being a bridge, bringing people to Him and Him to His people. I want to be able to be self giving in complete mercy and love through the sacraments and Eucharist; ministering to all.
In my past time, I like to go for walks or bicycling in nature. I also like to attend high school wrestling tournaments at the school where I coached for eight years. Thank you Serrans, Good Shepherd Community and the entire faithful of the Diocese of Fresno. Please continue to pray for me and my vocation. This is what keeps us persevering and as always, be assured of my prayers for you all.