Our new shepherd has long lived by the words of his episcopal motto “Walk humbly with God,” a guiding principle he embraced even before his priestly ordination in 1988.

The oldest of four children, Bishop Garcia grew up in the small town of Cameron, which is about 30 miles southeast of Temple.

“Our faith was the center of our lives,” he reflected during an interview in mid-July. The Garcia family were parishioners of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Cameron until his freshman year of high school when a fire destroyed the parish, which led them to St. Monica Parish. Following the example of his parents and grandparents, Bishop Garcia recalls he and his sisters being very active in both parishes.

Bishop Garcia, who recently turned 65, said growing up in Cameron his life was primarily composed of four things: church, family, school and athletics. Despite a deep connection to the church, the priesthood was not initially in his plans. He did not start considering the priesthood until just after high school.

“I never envisioned myself going to seminary,” he said.

“I thought I was going to be a medical doctor of some sort.”

At the age of 21, after a couple of years of college and then returning home to work at a local hospital, he began to ask himself some tough questions.

“It was at that time, I realize, that my heart was much more open to exploring the priesthood. I naturally became more involved with the church as a young adult. Undoubtedly, my pastor at that time, Msgr. Louis Pavlicek, helped me to seriously consider the possible call to the priesthood,” Bishop Garcia told the Catholic Spirit in 2015.

Soon he could no longer ignore a quiet yet persistent question from God, “Will you just give it a try?”

And try, he did! At the age of 22, he entered priestly formation and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of St. Thomas in Houston in 1984, while attending St. Mary Seminary. He earned his master’s degree in divinity just before he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop John McCarthy in 1988.

His first assignments as associate pastor of St. Catherine of Siena, Cristo Rey and St. Louis King of France parishes were all in Austin. Then he was named the founding pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in northwest Austin in 1995.

“My time at St. Vincent de Paul Parish helped me to truly understand what it means to walk with the people you serve,” he said. “It also affirmed for me that there are people in the parish who have gifts that I do not have, and when we work together, the end result is unbelievable.”

The parish started with 235 dedicated families, who worshiped at Deer Park Middle School for several years before the parish activity center was built in 2001. Bishop (now Archbishop) Joe Vásquez dedicated the beautiful new sanctuary in 2012.

A few years later, in 2014, Archbishop Vásquez appointed then Father Garcia to be the vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Diocese of Austin. One year after that, he was named the first auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Austin.

“As a pastor for many years, I was accustomed to serving a local parish, which was very small geographically,” Bishop Garcia said. Then as vicar general and even more so as auxiliary bishop, he realized the vastness of serving more than 123 parishes, missions, and university Catholic centers spread across 25 counties in Central Texas.

As his responsibilities increased, he realized he needed to carve out more time in his daily schedule for prayer.

“It is so important to make time for God. I have always encouraged lay people, who are so busy, to make the time for a few minutes throughout the busyness of the day to sneak away and pray. I have learned the importance of making the time to be quiet and listen to God,” he said.

At the end of 2018, he was named the bishop of Monterey, California, which sits on the Pacific Coast just north of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Monterey, known for its breathtaking coastlines and agricultural heartland, includes the well-known areas of Pebble Beach and Carmel as well as the rural areas of the Salinas Valley. The area is referred to as the “Salad Bowl of the World” because it produces a wide variety of lettuce as well as other vegetables.

“There is quite a disparity in wealth in the Diocese of Monterey,” Bishop Garcia said. “The hospitality and tourism industries are huge here, but so too is the agricultural community, which includes those who work in the vegetable fields of the Salinas Valley.”

He said the most difficult aspect of moving to the Diocese of Monterey was that he knew no one. The sudden passing of his predecessor, Bishop Richard Garcia, meant he relied heavily on Bishop Emeritus Sylvester Ryan, who served as bishop of Monterey from 1992 to 2006.

“Bishop Ryan is now 94 years old, and his friendship has been a blessing to me,” Bishop Garcia said. “He was a source of strength and encouragement for me throughout my six and half years in California.”

As he prepares to return to Texas as the next bishop of Austin, it is bittersweet to leave Monterey and the people whom he has come to love.

“The Diocese of Monterey is vibrant and alive, and the people have made me a better priest, a better bishop and a better shepherd. I will profoundly miss the people of Monterey,” he said.

Bishop Garcia said he was quite surprised when the apostolic nuncio called him to tell him the news of his new assignment in Austin. He never expected to return to Texas, but he is grateful to be returning home to the Diocese of Austin.

“This diocese is filled with people of so many graces, gifts and talents. And it is my hope to reacquaint myself with all of you whom I have known and to get to know those whom I have not yet met,” Bishop Garcia said.

He admitted that Central Texas has changed since he left six and half years ago, but what has not changed is the mission of the church.

“We are called to share the Good News with all whom we encounter … we can do this by our knowledge, by our words, but the greatest impact is by the way we live our lives,” he said.

This is a time of division, suffering, hate and hurt in our country and in our world, the bishop said.

“The poor, the weak, those who live on the margins of our society and life cannot be forgotten in our policies and in our practices,” he said. “The church must be a voice for those who have no voice.”

By our baptism, we are given the graces we need to do “wonderful things for the world,” he said.

Bishop Garcia praised the leadership of Archbishop Joe Vásquez, his friend and former bishop.

“I am so grateful to have such an excellent example of a loving and caring shepherd. I look forward to building upon the many good things that he has done in this diocese,” Bishop Garcia said.