Meet the Author

Wally Gonzalez Jr. is a born and raised Christian Catholic. Rich in Spanish Tejano culture; religion was not something he perceived as the “mans” duty. As he matured, he began to listen to evangelical and apostolic ministries. His heightened interest into the healing and other ministries began to reveal themselves through the exponential expansion of cable television. He would hear and read about the powers of the Holy Spirit through the Word, but he was naively unaware of the Holy Spirit’s presence. He began to question if it even existed in the Catholic church. In the nineties, he was captivated by the popular fictional book series of Left Behind (Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins). The series quickly lost his interest as he realized what he was reading was just not real. From that dabble, he ventured into more serious Christian studies and interests. A major turning point came when they moved back to Texas. A thriving Catholic Church was a new experience to him. As he was adjusting into the modern, contemporary church, he began to be distracted again. One day he challenged himself, or better yet, he challenged his wife (as he still perceived the woman to be the lead to religion in the house) to attend a program (Alpha, which went on to mature into “The Encounters.)” For once, as the man of the house, he went above and beyond what he had ever done. Today, Wally professes himself as a proud Catholic. While his faith, belief, understanding, and love for God have increased dramatically, he feels his humor, love for sports, and life have remained fulfilled. Asked for an explanation, he expanded, “I think I perceived the life of a religious person to be one of seclusion or exclusion.” To my surprise, my life expanded into a life of fellowship with hundreds-upon-hundreds of brothers and sisters. Christians play ball, work out, shoot pool, go to movies, etc. We show up when we have a loss or when someone is in need. It is good to have found such a large supportive family of believers living and building each other up in God’s salvation and grander plan.