Father David Trujillo returns to Immaculate Conception Parish, where he was baptized

Friday, Apr. 29, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — Father David Trujillo has been assigned to lead the parishioners of Immaculate Conception Parish in Copperton as the parish administrator beginning Aug. 1. He will also be assigned as Saint Joseph Villa’s chaplain and pastor, and will celebrate weekend Masses at the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Monastery in Holladay.

“I was baptized at Immaculate Conception Parish; I am filled with elation and joy with this assignment,” Fr. Trujillo said. “I will be going back home to the community where I began; my life has come full circle. I thank my mother for my spirituality because she attended daily Mass and that is where the seeds of my faith were planted.”

Fr. Trujillo is also looking forward to serving at St. Joseph Villa, where he received clinical pastoral education training. 

He learned to be comfortable around those who are ill or suffering from his mother, he said, and “it is beyond description that I will have the respect of the Carmelite nuns and their prayers.” 

Fr. Trujillo was ordained in June 2015 by Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, who was the ninth bishop of Salt Lake City. Fr. Trujillo has since been assigned to the Cathedral of the Madeleine, St. Joseph Parish in Ogden, and St. Thomas More and Blessed Sacrament parishes in Sandy.

“I stand on the shoulders of my mentors,” Fr. Trujillo said. 

In shepherding parishioners, Fr. Trujillo often draws on what he has learned from various priests and Pope Francis, he said. While discerning the priesthood at St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, where he was an active parishioner, he learned from Monsignor  Matthew Wixted how to walk with the people, he said. 

“I have learned to share their highs and lows and build a bond, build trust, where they find me approachable and can confide and share their lives with me,” Fr. Trujillo said. “The clerics – the black and white [clothing] – symbolize a willingness to share my life with them.”

Fr. Trujillo has also learned on a spiritual level to nourish the parishioners, he said. “It’s not easy. There is a lot about a person’s nature, character and faith that could be stronger than mine; those who are full of wisdom, age and experience, but I enjoy the opportunity to shepherd and accompany them on their journey.”

“Pope Francis said priests’ homilies ‘arrive directly in peoples’ hearts because they flow from your heart;’ we interpret and convey the meaning of the Gospel through what is on our heart,” Fr. Trujillo said. 

As a newly ordained priest, he is applying these things to build the foundation of his priesthood “that will continue to grow and point others to the kingdom of God,” he said. “Pope Francis said a ‘priest has to learn how to struggle up the mountain with the people of God.’”

Fr. Trujillo is learning that the demands of being a priest pull him in many directions, he said. “Msgr. Wixted taught me that ‘God’ also means the ‘great outdoors;’ God is present everywhere. It’s OK to take a drive to be in nature; driving can be a recreation to nurture and strengthen myself and be with God. Family also is a priority for me because they ground me and support me. And finally, a priest needs a good sense of humor.” 

The most fulfilling aspects of the priesthood for Fr. Trujillo have been the sacraments and looking forward to what is around the next corner, he said.

“My mentors have told me to ‘soldier on’ through the obstacles, the struggles and pain because that is a sign that I am being called in the priesthood; if I can soldier on, there will be a lesson learned – unexpected joy and the confirmation that God’s love was present during my ministry and that Jesus was the teacher,” he said.

Fr. Trujillo “brings a personal warmth and kindness to ministry, and a love for acting and the arts,” said Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, the diocesan administrator. “His experience serving at Saint Joseph’s Villa as a seminarian revealed a special empathy for work with the elderly, and will hopefully blossom into much success in this new assignment.”