FR. CHARLIE GORAIEB

Amazing conversion experience leads to life in the priesthood

By Joyce Coronel | Aug. 20, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

At first glance, Fr. Charlie Goraieb, pastor of Queen of Peace Parish in Mesa, strikes you as a soft-spoken, prayerful priest utterly devoted to the Lord and intent on sharing the Gospel.

It’s when you hear the story of his journey from life as a self-described hippie caught up in the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll chaos of the ’60s and ’70s to that of a Catholic priest, that you begin to appreciate the depth of his convictions.

Fr. Charlie, as he is known about the diocese, was born into a Catholic family in New Haven, Conn. Spanish, he said, was his first language, a gift from his mother. He lived and studied in Mexico City for a year as an 11-year-old, then spent the rest of his youth in California where he attended Catholic school for 12 years.

As a young boy, he was an altar server at the 6:30 a.m. daily Mass. It was during those tender years that he first sensed God calling him to the priesthood.

“The deep ceremonial nature of the liturgy really struck me and I had a strong desire for the priesthood. Circumstances turned my attention elsewhere, but I don’t think it was something I ever lost,” Fr. Charlie said.

He entered the hippie culture of the late ’60s and ’70s, becoming very involved in the spiritual movements now known as the New Age and living in a commune.

And whether it was yoga or organic foods or transcendental meditation, he said he was always a spiritual seeker who sought peace in his life.

“I had a sense of the religious and a sense of the spiritual. My parents inculcated a real sense of the presence of God and the spiritual underpinnings of our world,” Fr. Charlie said.

Looking back on the drug culture of the turbulent 1960s and ’70s that influenced his life, he remembers how his generation wanted a new world order.

“We wanted to change the world. We wanted a revolution of values, but we didn’t have a clear idea of where it should go. The Vietnam War radicalized my generation. Once you began to question the authority of the government, you begin to question other authority as well,” Fr. Charlie said.

In Oregon he met a Catholic priest whose loving spirit, gentleness and humility broke through all the doubt and pain. Fr. Charlie began attending daily Mass and began his way back to the Catholic faith.

Then came the moment that changed everything: he heard the voice of Jesus Christ clearly telling him, “I love you and I am your Lord.”

It was just after Easter in 1975, and Fr. Charlie returned to his parents’ home. He also returned to the sacraments of reconciliation and Communion. “I gave my life to Him. I was 28,” he said with a smile.

He spent the next 11 years working and living in the City of the Lord covenant community in Tempe, then entered the seminary. Fr. Charlie was ordained in 1991 and has served at numerous parishes in the diocese.

What are you passionate about as a priest?

One is the possibility of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and allowing that relationship to be what drives our lives. Secondly is the absolution of sins. If you look at my story, those are the two things I know.

I know Jesus Christ reveals Himself in unsolicited ways and profoundly, not just as a Church, but individually. No matter how far we’ve drifted, we can be absolved.

Did someone invite you to consider the priesthood?

No, not so much because what I did was enter the charismatic renewal. I got involved in City of the Lord covenant community. I developed good habits of prayer and a Catholic way of life and fellowship with other committed Catholics. I was the administrator of the community and one of the formators of the single men. I took it very seriously — I was in the community for 11 years — but the idea of the priesthood would come up in various ways.

What can families do to encourage more vocations to the priesthood?

It’s absolutely essential that Mom and Dad take their faith seriously. The children will immediately perceive if this is just a routine function that occurs once a week. They take seriously what is preached on at Mass, they go to confession, they live out their faith… there has to be this sense that the Church has divine wisdom that leads us. The children may never have to know this, but if the parents practice NFP they will have created an atmosphere that will tell the children that the parents trust God for their lives and their vocations and they will prepare their children for any vocations, whether to be parents themselves or priests and nuns.