As Noah Hernandez studies and is formed spiritually for the priesthood, he is surrounded by the grandeur of Rome’s centuries-old basilicas, art, and traditions. The scenery is beautiful and impressive, but the plains and people of his native West Texas are what remain firmly entrenched in his heart. Born and raised in Odessa, Texas, this is the land, people, and place that shaped his vocation.
Hernandez is a second-year seminarian at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, which is for young men of the United States preparing for priesthood.
He is there on behalf of the Diocese of San Angelo, which serves approximately 100,000 Catholics across 29 counties in a largely rural and geographically expansive region. He spoke with Catholic Extension Society’s board members a day after their private meeting with Pope Leo XIV, sharing his love and eagerness to serve the people of West Texas, describing it as a “vibrant place.” For many of our board members, meeting the U.S. seminarians supported by Catholic Extension Society, including Noah, was the highlight of their experience in the Eternal City, second only to meeting the pope himself.
Land of abundance
The Diocese of San Angelo covers a large portion of the Permian Basin, which is the highest producing oil field in the U.S. Hernandez described oil as the region’s economic “lifeblood.” After earning his degree in mechanical engineering, he worked in a cattle farm and also began a career working in oil, where young men can earn a very good living. Both industries deepened his appreciation for the long, physically demanding labor of the people. But, instead of drilling for oil, he kept plunging the depths of his own faith and God’s plan for his life, which led him to seminary in 2022. He began at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans before being selected by his bishop to pursue studies in Rome.
Being in the Eternal City, which welcomes millions of pilgrims each year, Noah hasn’t lost sight of the equally beautiful faith of his people back home.
“The West Texas life is so intwined with the faith,” he said. For him, what makes the region special is how that daily toil of laborers goes “hand-in-hand” with their spirituality.
He shared one such example, a story and legend that highlights how faith is part of the very fabric of his homeland.
He said, “The story goes, the first well ever drilled is linked back to St. Rita of Cascia. A landman approached the religious sisters in the area asking for their blessing for a rig he was going to begin. So the sisters took a rose, took a petal, and gave it to the landman and said, ‘Wherever you go, through the intercession of St. Rita, release the petal into the wind, and wherever the petal lands, that’s where you’ll drill the well.’ And sure enough, through the intercession of St. Rita and the release of that rose petal, the man drilled that well where the petal fell and struck oil. A miracle, if you will. And to this day, that well site is still flowing oil.”
He attributed stories like this to the “generational faith that has been there long before America was America.”
“It stems back for hundreds of years to the early 1500s, or the early Spanish Franciscan martyrs in the area,” he said.
The Catholic faith continues to be lived today passed down to new generations in this diocese where there are many young families. The average age of the people is only 32 (well below the national average). The youthfulness of the Catholic Church in West Texas is evidenced by a newly opened Catholic high school in Midland and a thriving Newman Center at Angelo State University, which is supported by Catholic Extension Society.
West Texas investments bear fruit
The intellectual formation and global perspective Hernandez is gaining during his studies in Rome will inform the ways he will serve the people back home, whose faith runs as deep as the oil wells beneath their land.
Catholic Extension Society knows that investing in the education and training of young leaders, especially future priests like Noah, can yield benefits for years to come. We once invested in the seminarian education of another native West Texan just like Hernandez. Joe S. Vásquez was the son of a mechanic and seamstress who picked cotton in the summers. He attended St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Abilene, Texas, a church built with support from Catholic Extension Society. Now he is Archbishop Vásquez of Galveston-Houston, the shepherd of 1.7 million Catholics.
Noah is expected to be ordained to the priesthood in 2028, God willing. Who knows what great things are in store for him and those he serves as a future priest?
During a priestly ordination, the bishop anoints the priest’s hands will holy oil (sacred Chrism), in order that those hands may be consecrated to bless, sanctify and heal. It will be the best oil Noah will have ever encountered in his life.
Catholic Extension Society is funding the education and formation of 11 seminarians from the Diocese of San Angelo who are discerning and preparing for a future of serving their own communities. Each year, we support more than 400 seminarians across the country! You can help by supporting our mission today.
