Michael Noriega

Birthday: November 7th
Home Parish: University Catholic Center, Austin
Seminary: Holy Trinity Seminary
Level of Formation: II Pre-Theology

I grew up in Houston with a strong Catholic family. Faith was something that was lived in our house, most notably through the example of my parents. I grew more involved in my faith during high school through youth ministry and also by working part-time at my home parish. The thought of priesthood first came up in late high school, but I wanted to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor, and went to The University of Texas at Austin. I grew in my faith while at UT through Longhorn Awakening, Schoenstatt University Men, and Lambda Omega Alpha. After graduating from UT in 2014, I worked for three years in a physician’s office in Houston and then for a pro-life women’s healthcare organization in Washington, DC for one year. I loved my work and the friends I had made, but throughout all of this time there was a restlessness in my heart.

God and the Blessed Mother had been pursuing my heart and began to show me that the desires that motivated me to pursue medicine and public policy were leading me to deeper desires of healing the whole person and shaping our culture - something that can only be accomplished by Christ. I entered seminary for the Diocese of Austin in Fall 2018 and have been blessed with great peace and joy. Meeting so many of the laity during my summer assignment in Summer 2019 showed me the great faith of the laity and increased my desire to grow in holiness to one day serve them as a priest.

I am grateful for the prayers of so many people and know that you all will be in mine!