BRINGING OTHERS TO CHRIST

Meet Eddie Trevino, recently ordained deacon, who works at St. Edward the Confessor

Deacon Eddie Trevino stands in front of a statue of the Blessed Mother outside of St. Edward the Confessor Church where he is the director of Faith Formation and Youth Ministry. At the end of the story, Trevino Deacon shows off one of his stoles that has embroidered the words of Psalm 8, one of his favorites: “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Mike Matvey photos)

Growing up in Austin, Texas, Eddie Trevino was raised in a faith-filled, Methodist family. 

“My parents instilled in me faith, church every Sunday and every Wednesday in my Protestant upbringing,” Trevino said. “It was very important; I give them a lot of credit.”

But it was a Church history class that Trevino took that began to alter his faith trajectory.

“Growing up I was very content with the Methodist Church but I was taking a course in Church history at Southern Methodist University and my professor, Bruce Marshall, was himself a convert,” he said. “So I had a Catholic convert teaching Church history at a Methodist school which is kind of dangerous.

“We read all primary sources in this class, so we were reading Aquinas, Augustine, Church documents. It wasn’t like we were reading a summary in a history book. I was reading a lot of what the early Church taught and, not that it contradicted, but this is what the Catholic Church still teaches and why don’t Protestant traditions continue what the early Church taught. That really drew me in especially the Eucharist and the sacraments. I really felt strongly that the Eucharist was central to Christian worship.”

Trevino, however, stayed with the Methodist Church — which traditionally has Communion about once a month — and became a deacon. He thought he could affect change and was a member of a group called the Order of St. Luke, “which does believe in frequent Communion and reverencing the bread as representing Christ (but) not the body of Christ.

“But it seemed like that was an uphill struggle. It seemed like the church was moving in a different direction that was less sacramental,” Trevino added. “So two years after I was ordained, my wife, Kirsten, and I were praying about where God wanted us to be and we started going to RCIA. I was still working in a Methodist church and a year later we decided to go ahead and become Catholic.”

His journey eventually led him to upstate New York, where he became director of Faith Formation and Youth Ministry at St. Edward the Confessor Church in Clifton Park. With his welcoming nature, love of his faith and just a hint still of a Texas accent, many saw the traits in Trevino that would make a perfect Catholic deacon as well.

“I actually had other deacons say you are very active, maybe prayerfully consider inquiring about the diaconate in the Catholic Church,” he said “So I had a lot of support and a lot of edging into that direction from others and that pushed me in a positive way to inquire and be ordained.”

Trevino was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger on May 20 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception along with Adam Feisthamel, Anthony Onu and Joseph Tuan Pham. Trevino recently was named permanent deacon at St. Edward’s, which goes into effect on July 1. Throughout his two trips through the diaconate — Methodist and Catholic — one constant has been the prayerful support of his wife.

“When we got married I was in the process of becoming a deacon in the Methodist Church so from the onset she knew I was going to be working in ministry,” Trevino said. “I was working at a church doing music ministry at a Methodist church (so) it was not a big change for us because that was something we understood from early on. 

“When we became Catholic, we knew that I would possibly look into becoming a deacon in the Catholic Church and inquiring about that and that’s where God led us. It really has been a team journey in that regard, having her support, 100 percent.”

As a deacon and in working with the young people of St. Edward’s, he notes the importance of evangelization.

“I think a lot of young people have a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings based on what they see on social media and the internet about the Church being anti-science, and that is one thing that I really work on in faith formation,” Trevino said. “We are evangelizing them and telling them what the Church truly believes and how it has made a positive impact in building Western Civilization in many ways.”

And that comes back to the Eucharist, the source and summit of the Catholic faith.

“I incorporate a lot of the sacraments into our faith-formation gatherings and youth ministry, and I use scripture. It is right there in John, Chapter 6: Anyone who eats my flesh will gain eternal life. These are the words of Christ. He says this IS my body not it represents my body. I know a lot of our youth, I have had families tell me this, they visit Evangelical churches and I know they place a lot of emphasis on scripture and here are the passages that Jesus himself taught and passed down to us.”

Even though the Diocese of Albany has had to declare Chapter 11 reorganization, like many across the country, Trevino feels there may be no better time to be Catholic.

“I use the analogy of, and I taught this to my youth, the Church has always dealt with adversity, during the Middle Ages with corrupt popes and during the Reformation. I said the Church is the body of Christ and the Church has had to always deal with challenges. The world is always trying to attack the Church and many forces on the outside have actually infiltrated the Church,” he said. “But we as the body of Christ with Jesus as the head, you can’t destroy Jesus because Jesus is the head of the Church, so we can’t do away with the Church without doing away with Jesus. 

“This wounded Church now is in a wonderful place of healing. Being a member of the body of Christ is an opportunity for all of us, especially young people, to be a part of that healing process and to bring others to Christ and into Christ because Christ is the Church.”