Born in Abu Dhabi in 1983, baptized and raised in the faith at St. Joseph’s Church, Mervyn Gladstone Gomez was ordained a priest on July 1 in Jerusalem. His vocation is a sign that the Church in the Gulf is not only a place of passage, but also a place where faith takes root, grows, and bears fruit.

Speaking to the AVOSA website, Fr. Mervyn shared the story of his life, his journey of faith, and the path that eventually led him to join the Franciscan Friars of the Custody of the Holy Land.

Looking back on his childhood and youth, he recognizes that the first seeds of his vocation were planted through the witness of priests who marked his journey. “My vocation began because of two examples that were given to us,” he recounted, mentioning Fr. Eugenio, an Italian priest who served as parish priest in Abu Dhabi, and Fr. Joseph Marie, a priest from India.

The call became clearer during his adult life. After working for several years as an accountant and later as a document controller, Fr. Mervyn experienced, together with his family, what he describes as a “reawakening of faith.”

“We started frequenting church more often and we started attending the Bible Studies with Fr. Lennie Connully, who was in charge of that programme in Abu Dhabi.”

This renewed involvement in parish life gradually opened the way to deeper service. Fr. Mervyn began teaching catechism, served as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, and was a lector for several years. After work, he would also go to the parish in the evenings to help with administrative tasks in the church office.

Through these simple acts of service, the question of vocation became stronger. Yet his first response was not immediate acceptance. “I thought I was not worthy because of how I had lived my entire life until then.”

The figure of St. Francis of Assisi became an important light on his path. Inspired by the Capuchin priests, he began to learn more about St. Francis and the Franciscan way of life. “Seeing how he had converted from the way he was to the way he became was a great inspiration to me.” 

During this time of discernment, Fr. Mervyn began meeting regularly with Fr. Lennie, who accompanied him and encouraged him to spend time in Eucharistic Adoration. The reading of “The Priest Is Not His Own” by Bishop Fulton Sheen strengthened his decision. 

One day, Fr. Mervyn felt drawn to the passage of the Gospel of John in which the Risen Jesus asks Peter three times: “Do you love me?”

“This was the turning point for me. He was calling me and asking me to take care of His sheep. This confirmed for me what I should be doing to follow Christ.”

The next question was where to follow this call. Fr. Mervyn had always felt drawn to the Holy Land. “After reading the Bible, I wanted to know why God chose this land particularly to incarnate and to live among us,” he explained. “Why did Jesus come here? Why here, especially in this war-torn place?”

At first, he contacted the Benedictines of Norcia, attracted by their spirituality of prayer and work and by Gregorian chant. However, at that time, they were not accepting new vocations. This led him to continue searching, until he discovered the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.

“I found that the Custody of the Holy Land had the elements I was searching for,” he said, referring to the Franciscan presence in the Holy Land, the Latin tradition, and Gregorian chant. “And it was located in the Holy Land, where I always wanted to go.”

The process for getting the Visa was not easy and took quite a long time. In 2015, Fr. Mervyn’s father passed away, a difficult moment in his life. Yet he looks back on that period with faith. “I prefer to believe that he had to go up and intercede with God directly,” he said. “The doors were opened and the process moved on.”

Fr. Mervyn finally arrived in the Holy Land on September 30, 2016. He joined the Franciscan Friars Minor of the Custody of the Holy Land, whose first mission, entrusted to them by the Holy See, is to care for and safeguard the holy places of Christianity.

In the Holy Land, Fr. Mervyn also began to deepen one of the passions that had accompanied his search: Gregorian chant. “Luckily, God has gifted me with a good voice,” he said. He was appointed Vice-Cantor of the Holy Sepulchre, a service he continues to carry out today.

After completing his studies, Fr. Mervyn was ordained a priest by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, on July 1, 2026, the Solemnity of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, in the Basilica of the Agony at Gethsemane.

“The Blood of Christ is your life. It is the source of your priesthood, the strength of your ministry, and the hope of your salvation. Everything you are called to do flows from this Blood, which is His life and must now also become your life,” Card. Pizzaballa said in his homily.

Reflecting on his own journey, Mervyn also offered a word of encouragement to young people in the Vicariate who may be searching for their vocation. “I would probably have to quote St. Francis: ‘If God can use me, He can use anybody.’ God calls not perfect people, but imperfect people for His mission,” he said. “This can be seen throughout history, throughout the Bible. All the apostles were imperfect people who were called to do His mission.”

For this reason, his message to young people is simple and direct: “Be ready to give yourself to God. If you are willing to answer, if you are willing to say yes, then the rest will be up to Him.”

On the eve of his priestly ordination, Fr. Mervyn returned to the Gospel passage that had marked the turning point of his discernment: the Risen Jesus asking Peter, “Do you love me?”

“This is the central aspect of what I am focusing on at this moment,” he said, “to let myself be a shepherd as He wants. I must also recognize that I am a sheep, and He is the first Shepherd,” he said. “Being His sheep, I give myself to be used as a shepherd for Him as well, for His people as well.”

Mervyn’s journey is a reminder that vocations can grow also in the particular circumstances of the Church in Southern Arabia. The Church in the Gulf, though marked by mobility and diversity, is also a place where the Lord continues to call. Mervyn’s story is an encouragement for young people and adults in the Vicariate to listen to the voice of Christ, to remain close to the life of the parish, and not to be afraid when the Lord asks: “Do you love me?”