Although they grew up in a Catholic home, the Lizama brothers drifted away from the faith and stopped attending Mass. However, their parents' separation and divorce led them back to the Church, and they received the sacrament of Confirmation.
At the time, Fr. Paulo said, he lacked conviction in his faith but was attracted by the Blessed Sacrament, Gregorian chant, and the silent reverence of prayer.
Fr. Felipe said he was drawn to God through a priest, Fr. Reinaldo Osorio, who would later become his formation director at the seminary.
"God was calling me. I realized that it was in God and in the things of God that I was happy, there was no doubt: I wanted to be a priest," he recalled.
Despite being close, the two brothers did not talk about their vocations with each other.
"I don't know who felt the call first," Fr. Paulo said. "I think God did things the right way in order to safeguard the freedom of our response."
In March 2003, they both entered the seminary. While it was difficult for the family to accept the brothers' decision at first, their mother told them after the first year of formation that she was at peace, realizing that they were happy.
The twins were ordained priests on April 28, 2012, and celebrated their first Mass at Our Lady of Mercies in Lagunillas.
Now, a year after their ordination, Fr. Felipe serves at the parish of Saint Martin of Tours in Quillota, and Fr. Paulo serves at the parish of the Assumption of Mary in Achupallas.
"God doesn't mess around with us. He wants us to be happy, and the priesthood is a beautiful vocation and that makes us completely happy," Fr. Felipe said.
Following Jesus is not easy but it is beautiful, added Fr. Paulo.
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"Jesus, the Church and the world need us," he explained. "But they don't need just any young person: they need young people empowered by the truth of God, so that their very lives convey life, their smiles convey hope, their faces convey faith and their actions convey love."