Franco Escamilla.- Monólogo "La Primera Noche"

Greetings family. Last Sunday,

October 12, the digital pastoral team of

Monterrey invited me to participate in an

event called Follow Fest, which was, or

rather, an event where they

invited various

Catholic influencers to give testimony and share

their experience in the faith. Ah, I know that for

many it's already like, "Ah, I don't want to

see any of this and that's fine." If you are

a believer, I have to

warn you that in this diagonal talk/

conference I spoke as I always do.

Okay? So, if you're one of those people who's going to start

beating their chest and

saying, "Why did you swear if you

're talking about God?" I just

want to tell you that there were

several priests, seminarians and the

bishop there and they were all laughing their heads off

. But maybe you know more than

they do. And if you're a non-believer, you're

going to say, "This is so boring to watch

." Hey, I'm just watching for the cures

because I have a monologue and a couple of

anecdotes I've never told before. For

those who are followers, I had already

told the story about the ball, but now I've told the

whole story. And if you're a hater and you

're already preparing your comment to

insult, attack, or curse me out, I

invite you to do so. Because your

comment will help the algorithm and this

video will reach more people, and if I get insulted

or attacked for talking about it, I'm flattered.

So I leave you with this, which is called

The First Night. I hope you

enjoy it.

How's it going, guys?

[Applause]

The Lord be with you. Don't believe it. No,

no, no.

First of all, I would like to thank the people

of Padre Borre and his entire pastoral team who

invited me. I would like to ask for a big round of

applause for those who organized this

event. They deserve it.

And for those who have never been to one of

my shows, I'll quickly tell you the rules

. Number one, it is forbidden to

look me directly in the eyes.

And there's no need to record, don't worry. We

're already recording this and we're going to

upload it to YouTube in case any of you

were saying, "No, Franco, I want to

do it to give the floor." That's not

true, you're

doing it for views, you bastard. So, there's

no need. Oh, I also wanted to

clarify, for those who are easily

scared, I'll probably swear

a little, don't worry, it's okay. I

already asked for permission. God said there was no

problem.

And whoever tells me, "But I do have a

problem." Talk to him, not me.

Okay? And well, I'll talk a little about myself

because I'm sure many of you here, or

whoever sees this later on social media, are going to

say, "What am I doing here?"

Yes. I mean, why did they bring a

comedian? Why did they bring a

comedian nicknamed "The

Devil"? No, we'll get to that,

but I have to clarify that

all this isn't foreign to me, okay? I belonged

to a church choir for over 10 years

. This was in San Nicolás de los

Garza, for... well, for the people of San Pedro, it's

a poor municipality.

Some of them. Yes, I know. Yes. The woman who

helps me at home is from San Nicolás.

Okay.

Doña Juani was from Las Arboledas. No, no.

Oh, I was at the Santísimo Sacramento church for many years

. It's a small chapel there. Oh,

you too, my dear friend. Well, I

have absolutely no idea who you are, but anyway

. And in fact, we have a picture that I

sent to Father Borre. We have that

picture. I'm not that person. Look, Dude, that's

me. Uh, actually, if you can see over here

, here's my

wife Gabi.

And you can see how she's looking at me with desire,

right? I mean,

I was telling her, "We're at church, show some

respect, you know?" Yes, I went to any

number of withdrawals. Uh, I remember one very well

that was in Marín, Nuevo

León, where all the people, the

applicants, got food poisoning from something

we cooked

and we ran out of toilet paper because of this, it

's real. There was so much diarrhea from so many

people up here, huh, we're going

to poop and then we'll go up, okay? Okay, but I

swear there's a reason for it.

Everyone had diarrhea or an upset

stomach, and they brought some priests to hear the

confessions of all the boys. There was

a line for confessions and a

line for the bathroom, and someone suggested they go to

confession first.

The priests said it was the

fastest confession they'd ever

had because people were desperate to

use the restroom. Then, a moment of

inspiration struck, and a classmate saw the line for

confessions and the line for the bathroom and

said, "Now, let he who is without

sin cast the first stone." There will

be more Bible quotes, don't worry

.

In fact, they even told me, because I have

some notes here, to apologize

because I'm very nervous.

This is the first time I've done something like this,

and I've never read the text I prepared for today before

, so I've never

rehearsed it. So, if someone says,

"Oh, that joke didn't work, well, write

yours, [ __ ], let's see how it goes."

[Laughter]

I was in church groups for a while, I tell you

. I know people who go to

church, and at first I didn't want to

go. I think that's my first

testimony, how I entered the community,

because as a teenager I swore I was an

atheist and I had many years in which I didn't

believe in anything. And it's curious how something

that could be criticized by others was what brought me closer

. First there was a

book, a book called

Trojan Horse, in which a novelist, JJ

Benítez, invents that a guy traveled to the

past and met Jesus. And I remember

reading that book and I found

an image of a human Jesus interesting,

and I remember telling

my mom, I think they messed up in the

Bible by not talking about Jesus anymore,

only what they tell us at Mass. And

I remember the boss telling me, "But there are

more anecdotes about him." Me, where? And he takes

out a Bible and says to me, "Start

reading the Acts of the Apostles." That was

the first book of the Bible, well, it

's true, the first was Revelation.

Yes, I was expecting something more hardcore, and I did

n't even understand the chili, did I? Like, I did tell him

. What's up with Juan? No,

she was powerful. And I started reading the

Bible and it caught my attention, but not

enough to go to mass, but I

started reading the Bible. That was my

first encounter with that book, through the

boss's comment, and then I

came to live in Monterrey. Those who

know me know that I came here because of

my parents' divorce. Then I arrived in a

bad mood. I arrived angry with Nuevo León,

angry with my parents, and I started hanging out

at a

soccer field. One time, a guy—well, he was

30 years old, I

was only 17—and he said to me, "Hey, he

saw me playing guitar, would you be

interested in playing in a

church choir?" And I was like, right then and there, "No,

dude, we don't need a

guitarist, you know?" "Thanks a lot." "No, it's really cool

. There are people your

age here, and I don't like people my age, you

know?"

And he was saying a lot of things. Like, "

There's a good atmosphere, I'm not

interested." And then he said, "There are a

ton of girls here."

I know it might sound bad, but Jesus

is a fisherman.

And there are different kinds of bait. Okay. I

have to be honest, I said, he told me,

"There are tons of girls." I said,

"They're hot, aren't they?" And the guy, being really

honest, said some of them were.

And that's how I joined the church choir, and if you

think about it, that's where I met my

wife. He knows how to attract people, right?

But where? He says, "No, there aren't any anymore."

But it was hard for me. I had

some ideas about what church people were like

. Yeah, I thought, they're not all

saints, they're all prudes, I

imagine their parties are

chamomile tea and they read the Bible, right?

Until I met the people from the

children's Mass workshop, you know? They're the

most alcoholic people I've ever met

.

Seriously, I don't know about this

community, but where I was, man, a

bunch of alcoholics.

But we ordered on Saturday, but

not on Sunday. They failed her. Amisa with children

in the morning and there you could see them, completely wasted

, in terrible shape.

And the mountains will move

until the...

But I said, "No, well, they're normal people."

Now I thought everyone in the church

was cool. Then I started

meeting people, and some people broke my

heart. There are

bad people everywhere, right? But that

duality confused me and made me not an

atheist, but rather renounce my community,

my belief. You scared me, you bastard.

Yes. I did

n't see you with the backpack. I told him,

"Damn, he got really high. It was

n't hard for me to settle in, and I remember very clearly

that I wanted something to

empathize with. Yeah, I couldn't connect with

religion or my religion because I

thought, those are divine things, and I'm

full of flaws, and I'm a person.

How am I going to empathize with a God who's all

love when I'm not like that?"

And from then on I started to focus a

lot on the human side, and the first thing I

analyzed, so to speak, was the

Holy Family, right? Mary, Joseph and

Jesus, this perfect triad that I mention

when you start reading that Mary's

annunciation was when she was a

teenager and she has always been for

me like the image of obedience.

Yeah, like they come and an

angel comes, dude, and tells you, "Okay, from now on

you're going to be the mother of

God's son, right, and at 15 years old." And then I think

of Joseph and I think of faith. Because I don't know about

you guys, but my mom

comes to me saying, "I'm pregnant." And

I say, "It's not mine, no, I mean, no, we have

n't done anything. No, it's not from the

Holy Spirit. No, there's no way I believe him

. No way. And I was saying, "How

difficult for José." And there's little talk about

him, right? Because it's so complicated.

Especially back then, when you could accuse

your partner of infidelity and they'd

stone them. Yes. And they'd kill them, and he

decides not to do that, and he wants to, well, he

says, "I'd better leave." No, that's what so many

priests do now.

No, not like, "Dad's father," no. Like, "Yes, yes, yes,

yes." Father Borre jumped right in, did

n't he?

And I was saying, "How did José do it?"

Later I read that

an angel also appeared to him. I said, "Ah, now it makes more

sense, doesn't it?" Someone should tell her, "

Hey, no, Maria, he told you the truth." "

This baby is a miracle." And

I said, "Cool, right?" And José said, "I'm going all in,

that kid is going to be mine." "

If the cow is mine, the calf is mine,

they say in my town." He said, "And

Joseph, isn't he?" "If he's not my son,

at least he's my namesake."

And I find it a tragedy that they still

tell him, "No, we've

already chosen names for him." He's going to be

called Jesus because I don't know, they already

said it up there and now I have to

carry all that with me and it really resonates with me

because I like to think of Jesus as a

human being because he was one, okay? And

they had bad luck to see it, I understand that the church

doesn't talk about or doesn't talk about the

early years of Jesus and I understand that

because he must have been a

normal child, he must have been mischievous.

Yes. Look, back then they didn't ring

doorbells,

but I want to think that at some point he

threw a rock at her, or broke a window, right? And he

ran home, didn't he? Or because I

couldn't empathize much either, because if you think about it

, if I were Jesus, for me he

represents humility. I mean, like

, do

you have any idea how annoying that would be? I mean, I don't

know, they give me something to eat, I don't want

that, dude, I'll turn it into something else, you

know? Dec,

you're going to take a bath on the way over the water

at school. Who discovered America?

God, right? In other words, all the answers.

My father

and any guy who tries to come on to me

at school. Do you have any idea

who I am, damn it? In other words, 72 legions of

angels are going to kick your ass right now

. Yes. I mean, you don't know who she's sleeping with

. And he did none of that.

I want to think,

but let me tell you something, if a

book came out saying, "Yes, he did it,

" I'd like him even more.

Yes, I would say, "It's great that he didn't

miss those opportunities."

Because no matter how much I read it, the only one I

found was when it says the lost

and found child in the temple. I even wrote down

the quote, just in case there's a

suck-up here. This

[Laughter]

Luke 2:41

from memory. But there it is.

And it made me think, there it is, I once got

lost from my mom

here in Monterrey, in uh Bahía

Escondida, it's a resort, I don't know if it

still exists, but I came as a child on

vacation and there were some water slides, I

remember, and there was a garden area,

there were a ton of cement planters. That's what I

remember; I was very little then. My mom says I got lost

for about half an hour, 40 minutes.

I honestly didn't realize

when I got lost, but suddenly there was no

one I knew around and it was a

long time. Yes, it was a

horrible anguish, not knowing where my mom was and

suddenly in the distance on a kind of little

bridge, uh, I see her and I'm like, "Ah, mom."

I was crying, I wasn't scared,

obviously. And my mom comes towards me and

I run towards her, I almost think in

slow motion, so happy.

And the boss comes and takes off the

sunglasses she was wearing and throws them on the floor

and starts, "son of a [ __ ]," and I'm like

, "No way."

Well, I was expecting a hug, weren't I?

My son, where were you? Nel put me in,

but as champion.

I was saying, I hoped you would be happy to

find me, not angry.

But years go by and about two or three

years ago at the Houston airport

I was with my family, we were going to take a

layover and I say to them, "I'm going to the bathroom." And

Rodri told me, "I'm going with you."

Then I said to him, "Well, if you leave before me,

wait here for me. Where you wash your

hands." Yes that's fine. I went into the bathroom,

he came out first, someone from my

work team saw him, Rodri, we're going to

the other room now. And he takes it away. Then I

come out of the bathroom, Rodri isn't there, I look

everywhere

and it was 5 minutes that I didn't know where he

was. 5 minutes of terror, my

brothers. I remember thinking about

everything. Yes. You think, "Someone's already taken it

." I was saying, "Maybe they'll bring it

back soon, right?"

As soon as he starts asking her for things, right? And I

call my wife and she doesn't

answer, and I call my mom, and I call

my staff and nobody answers, and here I am

, sons of [ __ ], they have

the phone in their hand all day, only I

call them, ah, nobody answered the

call and I finally catch up with them. "Where

's Rodrigo?" And they tell me, "Here he is."

And I insulted them all. That's how it is, everyone.

Screw you all. [ __ ] you all. They

're all a bunch of idiots and they don't know what

I went through. And I start thinking,

Mary and Joseph lost Jesus. I

lost him for 5 minutes, my mom

lost him for half an hour. These guys

were gone for two days and Merry. Do

you have any idea of ​​the horror they felt?

Because from the start, both my mom and I,

when we thought we had lost

our son, the first thing you do is

pray.

You ask God, "Lord, please let him be

okay." I start thinking, Joseph and

Mary did that, "

Lord, let him be okay." I imagine God,

who?

Our son. He's okay. What's wrong with that? We

don't know where he is. Well, that's how they are. "

What do you mean you don't know where he is? You

have one son, [ __ ]. One,

and he's mine.

If they realize how important this child is

and they lost him. I

mean, how scary to say to God, "Hey, are you..." "

Do you remember Jesus?" What do you mean,

remember?

And what does Jesus Emmanuel, God with

us, mean? Well, he's not with us. We do

n't know who he's with, but we've

lost him. And

they arrive at the temple, and Jesus is just chilling,

debating, joking around.

And the Bible tells it all so beautifully,

"Why are you doing this to us?" No, I had to

be about my Father's business.

I do believe Mary arrived angry.

Two and a half days without your son. I think she did

arrive ready to throw a sandal,

but then, how do you confront him? No, he

already knew, no, this guy has a

bigger plan. The next passage they

mention in the Bible, which I

love, is because I like to

think, I insist, about a human Jesus, and in

the Bible, for those who haven't read it,

at least the Gospels, dude. I mean, I don't

know, maybe I

believe you,

but at least read the Gospels.

No, no. There's one called

Deuteronomy. I barely learned to pronounce it,

Right? I mean, it's not that I don't recommend

reading it, but it's heavy going. Yes, it's

heavy going. But at least the Gospels. And in

the Gospels there's a mention of the

wedding that took place in Cana, right? And it's

an episode that I love. John

2:1-11, in case anyone was wondering.

That's how I learned it. And it

's my favorite passage, without a doubt, so for

those who haven't read it, I'll give you a

brief summary. Jesus went to a wedding,

okay? In Cana of Galilee.

Apparently, Mary, his mother, knew the couple getting

married. That's the only explanation

I can find for her being a friend of

the family, because at a certain

point the wine ran out and Mary came and

said to Jesus, "The

wine's gone." Obviously, she knew the people at

the wedding and, like a good mother, she went right into

the kitchen. Yeah

, that's very ladylike. I mean,

if I'm at a wedding and I see all

the organizers looking

worried, I say to a friend, "Look,

look..." Who knows what happened, they

messed something up. "Something went wrong." Yeah, but

she went, "What happened?" No, no, it's just that there's no

wine. "What do you mean there's no wine?" And she went all the way into

the kitchen. What do you mean there's

no wine? Well, I can imagine

who you are. I mean, something's wrong

with the bride and groom. What about you? There's

no wine. And she goes and tells Jesus,

"Hey, look, there's no wine." And Jesus,

still being nice, like, "Oh, that's too

bad, you

have to buy some in

advance and right now it's dry law, you're not going

to find any." "The Oxxo stores are already closed

, boss." No. And they imply that

she's telling him,

"Help them." and he tells her, "It's not

my time." I don't know if he already had

a date arranged, like a launch,

right? On that day, the first miracle, right?

Soon.

And this counted as a teaser, as a

spoiler. And he says, "It's not my time."

He himself tells her, "No." Okay.

And it's very nicely said in the Bible, as

she tells him, "Help them." But I

think, "Maria is a mom.

And I understand the mother-son dynamics,

and I say, no way it was like that, you know? I

imagine it more like, 'Hey, help them.' They're

Mrs. So-and-so, don't you remember? She

took care of you as a child, she's known you since you

were like this, right? And Jesus said, 'Yes,

but it's not my problem.'" They should have

bought more wine, because I'm telling you

, Jesus was a guest, dude. I mean, it's such a

drag to be invited to a wedding and then have to

work, dude. I mean,

and the dude said, Nah, I'm not going to do

anything. I imagine Maria as a good

mother, right? She said, "Okay,

okay,

okay.

Nine months.

Nine months. I didn't just carry you in my womb.

Blessed womb,

not just any womb. Okay. Nine months

enduring the stares of people who

said you weren't Joseph's because they even

made a song about it, dude. Yeah,

we went overboard with Joseph. I mean, there's a

church song where they sing to the baby

Jesus, 'Tell me, child, whose are you?'

[Applause] You know what I

mean?

I imagine Mary telling them, '

Shut up,'

[Applause] she'd

already gotten over her anger."

Here it goes.

[Applause] I brought you here for

9 months, huh? I gave birth to you in

a cave, a manger,

on the road. I've

never asked you for anything.

One thing I can't ask of you,

Mom, is that it's

not my time. Alright.

I thought I was talking to the son of

God.

But if you can't, that's okay. We'll see

how we do this, right? And then

comes the message, right? It's a double

message because Jesus goes

reluctantly, isn't it? Just like a kid, when his

mom makes him, damn it,

and he comes to the kitchen, saying, "Fill

these with water and that's it," right? And

them too, oh, damn, what do you mean, like that? That's it

. No, you do

n't believe me. Check it out. No.

And then the wedding wine expert comes out, tastes it,

and still gets all hateful

. I mean, I really didn't like that guy, just

because, I still do, but

why is this wine better?

It's customary to bring out the best wine

first, isn't it? I'll tell you in the end, they're

giving you wine, dude. Yes. I mean,

he appreciates the break, but then he goes and

criticizes why they leave the best for

last. Yeah, dude. And a

father explained the message to me once many

years ago. The message was that Mary doesn't perform

miracles, but she does help out, and that makes

sense.

How many times have I done things

because my mom asked me to, you know?

So I said, well, I started praying

the rosary because this is something few

people know, you know? I've only been

praying the rosary for a short time, about a

year and a half, I have to say it was thanks

to my wife and I pray it daily and there are

people who don't believe me. Do

you pray the rosary? Yes, yes, every

day, every day. And if you don't believe me

, we can have a

question and answer session anytime; I know all the

mysteries. Joyful, painful,

luminous,

tasty. everyone,

but it's a way of asking for unemployment benefits and

that was my way of connecting with

humanity, so to speak. And

Father Borre recently told me about this event,

and it amused me because he

mentioned it to me, but we're all a bit sly, are

n't we? In the environment I

operate in, nothing is free, nothing. Yes. I

mean, if someone says to me, "Hey Franco, is it

possible for us to send you a

gift?" Yes. I used to be... Yes, there's

the office, isn't there? Or at home,

stupidly, I gave my address.

And then the gift arrives, and then there's a

note. You can tag us on social media

with the gift. Me, oh, son of a

[ __ ]. So, you wanted me to

advertise your product. So,

when someone wants to give me a gift, I'm

already suspicious, right? And suddenly Father

Borre tells me, "Hey, look, there's going to be

a very interesting event

where we're going to bring together a lot of

Catholic influencers,

okay?"

And I said, "Do you want me to come?" No, I

mean,

and I told him, "Father, I mean, I

would love to, but I don't think I'm the

right person." And I explained my reasons to him and

told him what I'm about to tell you,

and he said, "Tell me that. That

interests me." He said, "I'm interested in your

testimony." Because I said, "I could

do a little Catholic monologue there, but maybe they'll get

offended, right?

Because I told him my idea about the wedding

in Canada and he said, "Well, whatever, don't

say it."

[Applause]

But I'm going to say it

because we're already here, Father. lively.

No,

[Applause]

it's just that here it is because I was only going to

talk about Mary at the wedding in

Cana, but I can't stop thinking about the

apostles

because they, I imagine, were there maybe

and they spent time with Jesus for

a while or Jesus had friends before

the apostles, he must have had friends and

maybe they were with them at that wedding.

And suddenly he said, "I'll be right back." Where are

you going? No, I'll be right back. Yes.

And then they all came. Uh, how did they do it

? And I imagine, someone had to

go and spread the gossip. No, wine. You know

Maria.

His son, dude,

turned water into wine. Would you

believe it? Put yourself in their shoes. Yeah,

seriously. In other words,

Jesus is the carpenter who

makes wine. Uh-huh.

And the people who were gossiping,

no, I don't think so. I think they had wine

stored away and didn't want to say so. No, but

Jesus' friends, those who were with

him at that wedding, return to his table. No, it's

already settled, right? And he wants to continue

the conversation as if nothing happened, right? Hey,

what happened? No, no, no, you

can't turn water into wine. I

mean, yes, but I can do more things. No

no. On my birthday

the wine ran out at 8. You said, well let's

go.

And there was a ton of water.

Another guy said, well, I brought a

canteen. No, I don't know.

So, when the father says, "I am

interested in your testimony." I already told you

how to get into the church, right?

In the way many will say, it's not

a great way to enter the

church, but I was 16, 17 years old. It was

a great way. How I felt is another story.

But I would like to share something that

I understood later because I had

two streaks that changed my life. One

in which for a moment

I was considering the idea of ​​becoming a

priest.

Yes, this was

many years ago. Okay. Clarifying that, as you saw, it didn't

work.

[Applause] I do

n't know when I went to the other

side, but there was a moment and it

was because of a retreat. I went on a retreat and

felt that excitement that

many young people feel, and I got to experience what they

call the fourth day, which is when

the retreat is over, now you're alone in

your house. And I missed how I felt

on that retreat. And I remember

starting to wonder if I could, because

I saw the priest from my

chapel, it was Father Jorge, and I

said, well, he lives well, I mean, he has

his car, right? And in the parents' little house

, I don't know what it's called, the

parents' house or something like that.

In that little house, right? I had DirecTV.

I was saying, "Look,

and I did ask, hey, you, what do you

want Direct TV for?" No, and my father tells me

, "Well, I have to find out about

everything that's happening in the world, the

news, and well, you can just ignore it,

right? I mean, yeah, I don't ask you what's going on

in your house, do I?" But I was like,

"Well, live it up." And I saw that the

priest spent his time having dinner at the homes of

parishioners. Yes. I was saying, "This guy doesn't even

cook, I mean, and I imagine he

gets a salary from the church

or he's pocketing the, no, the alms,

something, I don't know, right?" And I was saying, "The

father takes." I mean, I've seen him

tipsy, I never saw him drunk, but I'd

say, "He's got his beers and he's drinking."

Well, it's not so bad as a job, is it?

And so I say, that's right, my

father told me, that's not how it is, is it? But I

was saying, why do they hold two masses a

day, right? I mean, it's

not like it's too heavy, is it?

And the father, no, we do more things. And

yes, yes, yes, I do have to

organize events.

But it wasn't that I felt a calling, it was that

I said, as a job, this is

cool. Yes, because back then things weren't going

very well for me. I was saying, well, that

sounds like a good life. But then I really

started to have doubts,

and it coincides with the fact that I met a

guy, uh, well, Tabo, let's

call him that. Okay. I met him one day while

playing football.

He was wearing dress shoes, dress pants and

shirt, and a tie, and I was

telling him he looked like a salesman, didn't he? That's what

we say jokingly. And he starts telling me, well,

in fact

I'm about to enter the seminary.

Me, oh, what's that? No, well, when

you want to be a priest, first you do some

studies, and it's like a high school for

priests, right? I do

n't know about the Catholic university.

And I'm like, wow, and I start to freak out

because I just met this person.

Yes. I mean, they're sending it to me, or like, so I can

say, "How did you become a

father?" Well, maybe by asking, right? I

mean,

and he lived with me for months and I started

taking him to... No, it was a month first.

First I took him out drinking,

but he was in a process where he

could go to parties. In other words, the

priest he was

working with, so to speak, told him to

live. Yes. I mean, go out, meet people, and

if you still want to continue down this path, then

come here.

And badly

, I take him to parties, introduce him to

girls,

and he says, "I don't want to be a priest anymore."

And I begin, I remember very well one night I was

thinking, I said, "Damn, yes, it was

my fault."

And while praying I would say to him, "Lord, I

owe you a priest, dude."

And I said, "But I don't want to be me."

Yes. I mean, he's going to say, "You owe me one,

now you come." I said, "Nope." He and it just so happens

that my mother had an

allergic reaction to a medication,

Stevens-Johnson syndrome, it's called, and she was

hospitalized, and in that time, while I was having

my doubts, Father Jorge told me, "Hey,

the 16th vocational festival is coming up

and it would be cool if you included one or

two songs."

And I have to explain a small

aside. When I was in the choir,

the old director left, uh, for

other reasons and it wasn't my fault, I

swear. Yes, that's right, that's who I was. But they've left me in

charge. Yes, they tell me, "You're

going to choose the songs." And keep in

mind that I didn't have a

Catholic upbringing. Look, I made my first

communion and that's it, you know? It's not like

I was informed about everything.

Then Father Jorge would tell me, "

Advent season is coming. I need

the songs to be Advent songs." And I would

say to him, "I don't know what

Advent is." Then he explained to me what it

was. And I would say to him, "Pass me an

Advent hymn." And I kept passing along the lyrics to a

song. I would read what they were like and I'd be like, "Okay,

more or less." And at night I would start

praying and say, "Lord, help me

out. I need the entrance, exit,

offertory, communion, and glory

of Advent.

Dictate some for me, don't be mean." Yes. And I would

write songs at night,

then practice them and take them to my

father. This one is fine, yes. Where did

that singing come from? And I'm from a seminary in

Morelos. I would

n't say, "I did it yesterday, you know?" And

then I would put together the mass like that, and every

season I would suffer because I would

pray again, "Lord, we need

new songs of this and this," and that was

my way of working. Then

one day I told my father about it and he said,

"Write two songs for yourself, so that

you and the choir can compete in the

vocational festival. And what should the

songs be about?" And the priest tells me, "About the

call to the priestly life."

And I already had that in mind. And

I begin, oh no, sir, I said.

I said, it's not rude, I mean, I don't want to. I

mean, thanks,

but no, I mean, it's not you, it's me, you

know? I

mean, we can still be friends,

but I don't want to be priests, with all due

respect, but I don't want to. And

I write two songs, eh, one that was called

fishermen, fishermen of men and another

that was called instrument of your love. That

song, I remember, I have the

original sheet where it came out in one go and I

read it, I said, "It's cool." I put

music to it, showed it to Father Jorge, and he

said, "No, it's nice, I don't know what. It's

good." The vocational festival competition came around,

and there were two qualifying rounds. In

my round, there was a choir from the

major seminary in Monterrey, and I

remember hearing them rehearsing, but

they were off to one side, and I went to sit down and have

a cigarette because I still had

these doubts, and I told him, "Lord, I'm

very scared, and I don't want to, I

mean, just joking around, I don't see myself

doing priestly work." Here

I am,

but I don't want to work for you, you know?

And they begin to rehearse this choir and their

song begins with the phrase, here I am

before you, Lord, right? And I feel like, like,

the "ah"

and the singing are very beautiful, right? Like a

serenade, I remember the men. And I

tell them, "Listen, the singing is very beautiful

." And they listen to me in the

qualifying round. We both made it to the

final. Uh, during the week of the final, I

remember I was in

final exams at school and not to be

dramatic, but it was a

weird month, one of the heaviest months I've ever had

, but I was very

happy because, well, it wasn't cool that my

mom was in the hospital, but I

went to see her every night. So,

in the morning I would go to school, but

I would sing on the bus to earn

money, and then I would sing two or three

times, go to school, and then I would

pay for my food. After

school I would go to church to rehearse

with the choir and then from there I would go to the

hospital. And there in the hospital, when

the boss fell asleep, she did two things. One,

screw the guard. Yes, because they had a

pass to be able to enter and exit, and at

certain times it is no longer necessary,

but that guard asked me for the pass and I

told him, "I don't have it." And when he

turned around, I would run away and he would

chase me almost every day. On the

fourth day he catches up to me and I laugh my head off

and show him the pass.

[Laughter]

He says, "So why are you running?"

And I wanted to tell her straight up because

I'm worried about my mom and this is

my only distraction, and I told her just to

mess around, you know?

And at night, I remember I was

studying for my final exams. I don't

want to brag, but I did get the

highest grade I got

that month. I was practicing

my song for the vocational school, and the

day of the final arrived, and I was ready to go up and

sing. I have to

say that during that time I

was ending

and getting back together in a relationship,

but I had already met Gabi, who is

now my wife. Yes. And I

made a pass at her and she said no.

And I remember that it was in that little bit

of time that she told me, "You know what? No, I

mean, I'm happy with my partner.

You have your partner.

And this isn't working." So I understood that it was

n't working with her anymore. Let's put that

here for a bit. She said, "No."

And I'm thinking, well,

now I can go out with more

women, right? Live my single life,

and I start

thinking, what if this is a sign

that there are no women for me and I should become a

priest? No. And I'm like,

"Oh,

and in the final I hear a song by a

choir from San Juan Bosco, which is a choir you

know." Okay. Well, this

is a beautiful song, my brothers. It's called "Don't

Be Afraid," and they're

singing, and I'm in the stands,

right? I'm behind the

stage, I'm nervous about the

competition, and I have this on my mind. I

don't want to be a priest, I don't want to be a

priest. And I start listening to the song,

and a part of it says, "My My fears

confuse me; my heart and mind don't

understand each other. I try to ignore it, but it's a

futile attempt. There is something that invites me to

live. Enough is enough. I want to risk

fighting for my freedom. "I can't go

on like this anymore." And I'm listening and I'm like, "

Hell yeah." So, that's my turn. I'm

saying, I feel this way, yes. I do

n't want this. And at one point in the song,

the choir falls silent and a soloist blurts out, "

Don't be afraid,

[Music]

it's me."

And I feel a shock, my brothers, throughout my

body and I'm crying backstage

and obviously I was raised

a certain way. Now I'm angry,

yeah, because I feel like I'm crying all [ __ ] around

and I'm like, "No, [ __ ] no, what are they

going to say?" No, and now it's my turn to

go on stage and I'm like, ah,

calm down, concentrate. And me, well,

sir, give me a hand, let me

show off, I want to do this thing right, do

n't you? And I want to win, I'm in a

contest, I want to win, and I go up on

stage and they tell me, a friend, Damian,

with his cell phone called another

person who was with my mom in the

hospital and they tell me, "Your mom is going to

listen to you." And I was like, "Oh, cool, right?

Then I'm motivated." And I

sit down in the chair and I'm just about to

start speaking and in the audience is the

choir of seminarians that I met in the

semi-final. Goes? And these sons of

[ __ ]. Yes. They agree and

say, "One, two, three." And they all shout

. Franco, you can be a priest.

Yes, by God. I'm not making

anything up. I even have that moment recorded.

Okay. And when they shout that, I don't know what

face I made, I imagine it was one of fear, and the

people in the theater scream, eh, and I do

this, right? In other words, I don't

want to. Yes. And I'm singing.

Instrument of your love. And I'm

thinking, I'm singing to myself, but back here

I'm thinking and listening to

the lyrics because it sounds like a joke, but it's

real.

I never paid attention to the lyrics, and

the lyrics talk about that, about how I want to

bring his word to my brothers, and

I'm singing and I'm like, damn, sir, I

mean, it's

your lyrics, but it's not right. Yes. And on

that beautiful afternoon my song, I must

say, not me, the song, won first

place at the 16th festival of the

advocation. Yes, I came in first place

and they gave me a prize, and at that time I

was dating a girl and

that girl's dad recorded the whole event. Okay.

Days later they lent me the cassette. It was

a BHS for young people. I'm not even going to

explain it to you. They would

n't understand.

I'm watching the tape at home and I can hear

that moment when the

seminarians scream. Franco, you can be a

priest. What do I need to clarify? When

the event is over, I go and approach them. Me, that's

not how it's done, you bastards. Yes. I mean,

why did they do that? And one of

them tells me, it wasn't a joke. In other words

, one of them said, "We have to

shout that at Franco." And besides, we think he would be a

priest, right? And I was like,

"Well, what a stupid joke, right? I mean, they have no

idea the hell I was going through

mentally at that moment, how

confused I was, and they pull that

joke on me. They made me

cry, [ __ ]. It's that simple. And then

at home I was watching the video of the

event, and this girl's dad recorded

everyone in the choir who came to see us

perform, and Gabi was there. Okay. But

before watching the video, I was

saying a prayer, and it was like my

farewell. I mean, in my prayer I

was saying, "Lord, I'm not going to Mass anymore."

Yes, I mean, I don't like what I'm feeling

. To be

honest, I don't want to be a

priest, and you're really pushing it.

Yes. And this is already harassment.

[Applause]

No means no, yes, I did

n't tell the truth, I mean, I want to think

that your intention is good and I'm sure

that your plans are better than mine,

but I want to be an artist. Yes, I

want to be a singer. I didn't know I'd

end up telling jokes to get paid.

I want to be a singer and I want to live in

a universe that is very far away from you.

Yes. I mean, the environment I want is

an environment of drug addicts,

alcoholics, and prostitutes. I have the utmost

respect for my colleagues, but they

know I don't lie. And then I started

thinking, well, he was hanging out with

sinners, wasn't he? With drug addicts,

alcoholics, and prostitutes. I

should clarify, sorry, I don't know if you

knew this, but Mary Magdalene

was not a prostitute.

Yes. It was

n't, it wasn't. I wanted to make a

joke about that, and to support it I

started looking in the Bible for mentions of

Mary Magdalene. It's only mentioned that they

cast out seven demons, which I mean, damn, to have even

one cast out is crazy.

Seven demons, damn Magdalena, right?

So, what were you doing? But she wasn't a

prostitute. And then I started searching on

Google and it turns out that a pope

500 years ago, Pope Gregory, made a mistake and

confused Mary Magdalene with the one they were going to

stone. I don't know if you remember that

passage where they are going to stone a

prostitute and Jesus says, "Let he who is

without sin cast the first

stone." And Mary said, "No, not you, Mama."

[Applause] She

said, "I was,

no, no, no,

no." Then Pope Gregory got

confused

and said, "You see, this one was a prostitute, was

n't she?" And we all said, "Oh, so Mary

Magdalene was a prostitute, wasn't she?" "It was a kid, was

n't it?" Well,

what was that about? Oh, yeah. I told him,

"Lord, I don't want this." And I remember

saying, "The most I can

offer you, the most I can offer you is to

become like one of your secret agents."

Yeah. I mean, I'm going to continue being Catholic,

I'm going to continue believing in you, but I'm not going

to be a priest and I'm going to be among

alcoholics, drug addicts, and prostitutes.

And then I suddenly blurt out, "

What do you think about me becoming your James

Bond?"

And whoever wants to believe me, some

friends arrive, let's watch the video of the

vocational festival. Like I said,

this girl's dad recorded the whole choir

and I was telling him, "Lord, we're all set." I'm going

to be famous, but not a priest.

Okay, awesome." And I'm watching the video,

and Gabi's in it. Okay. And I see

that she's looking at me differently.

Yeah, yeah. You know how? Like a hungry person starving at

fried chicken, I mean, no, no, no, no, it

wasn't a different look. No, I don't know how to

explain it, but I think you know

what I mean. The way she was

looking at me, I thought, if I

keep at it, she

might become my boyfriend. And because of

that video, I kept at it, even though she

had told me, "Nope, it's not going to

happen." Because of that video, I kept flirting with her

. I didn't know what was going to happen. We

became boyfriend and girlfriend, years went by, and we got

married. And I can't stop thinking that it was my

way because I told her, "Lord,

I don't want to be a priest because I

couldn't handle that whole chastity thing." Yeah, that's all I

say in it. I

mean, if they tell me priests can't

drink alcohol, that's fine, right?

Priests don't smoke, it's Okay, and she

smokes secretly,

but with the idea of ​​no, no. Yes,

I said, no.

And I felt like he told me, "Okay, fine,

here's what and with whom." And it changes the

way I perceive it and I start to believe

again. But after that, I had

another bad streak where everything

went wrong. Everything that can go

wrong for someone, all of it went wrong.

I had fights with friends, I got fired

from my job, I had a fight with my girlfriend, and

I've told the story, I told it once on a

show I have called The

Quarrelsome Table, which I had—you've seen it, it's awesome,

if you haven't, Mondays at 9:30,

YouTube channel, a crappy show, but

sometimes there are jokes, okay?

And on that show I talked about that

situation, the really bad streak, and I

remember that in my prayer I was saying,

"Lord, just let me go." That's it. I mean, I do

n't know. I felt like he was angry

because I owe a priest

and because I didn't want to To be a priest.

So I'd say, "If this is your way of

convincing me, it's terrible." Yes. I mean, it's been nothing but

trouble, nothing but tragedies, just let

me go. That was my prayer every

day. Every time something happened,

I'd say, "Just let me go, enough is enough

, just let me go." And then there came a

breaking point one weekend—I do

n't want to lie, it was Friday or

Saturday, but it was a weekend

night—in my 20s, which is when you're supposed to go

out and have fun or at least

have your partner with you to watch a movie.

I was alone, without money, without a job,

without friends, without a partner, and my only

possession at that moment was a

soccer ball. I went to the sunken park near

the Chapultepec neighborhood, and I was

kicking the ball against a wall to keep

myself entertained, and one time I kicked it

harder than usual. It hit the curb

of a small sidewalk, jumped over the

fence, fell into the gutter, and then into

the water.

And he leaves,

and I'm

watching him leave, and I'm like, man, I mean, I'm laughing

now, right, but at the

time, a

soccer ball was all I had left, and he leaves,

and I have this breaking point where I

end up just like in a

movie, like, kneeling on

the floor crying,

and I wanted to curse my life, insult

God, yell at him, but I couldn't. I

felt dead inside, and instead of saying, "

Let me go," that night, my brothers, I said, "

Please, don't let me go, I ca

n't take it anymore." And I feel like something

breaks inside me. I'm not going to

lie, the next day everything got better. No,

my attitude improved, the way

I dealt with things improved, and instead of

saying, "Let me go," now I prayed and said, "Don't let me

go." I felt like when, I don't

know, you had a nightmare when you were a

kid, and your parents or your mom would say, come

closer, "What happened?" And you'd wake up

crying, and your mom would touch your forehead, or you'd

grab her hand, and she'd give you that

Security. I used to say, "Lord, don't let

go of me." I mean, no problem, but don't let

go of me.

And years go by, and now I think, it really made me

laugh, now that I'm a dad, it really makes me

laugh how we ask God for

things. This is the message I

wanted to give you. We're so ungrateful, even when we

ask for things, because now with my kids, it's

not like they ask me for a favor, you

know?

Yeah, like, "Hey, Dad, I need this

for school." Okay, right?

And it sounds like an order, right? Like, I'm asking you to get these things

for tomorrow,

and I start to get carried away.

That's how I pray to God. Hey, Lord, I'm

asking you. I have an event tomorrow, I

want you to be watching me. Thank you.

And I imagine God listening, like

,

first of all, good afternoon. Yes.

And when I started preparing what I wanted to

talk about at the beginning of this

talk, I went through the Gospels, you know?

I said, there has to be some material.

Yes There.

It's just that, look, all the emotions come in there

.

Jesus had all the emotions. Yes. There's

John 11:35

from memory.

When Lazarus, who was his friend, died,

Jesus wept. I mean, Jesus felt sadness.

Uh, Matthew, Mark, and Luke talk about the

prayer in the garden. He was afraid. Yes, he

was afraid. He had doubt.

Which I'm telling you, like a little gossip.

John doesn't talk about that.

I have a hypothesis.

Yes.

In all the others, they tell you, Jesus

told the disciples, uh, do a favor, don't fall asleep

, I'm going to say a prayer, I'll be

right back. Let's see, more or

less, I'm paraphrasing

a bit. And these guys fell asleep, and

Jesus comes and says to them, "Uh,

wake up." "

Hold on, don't fall asleep, I'll be right back

." He goes to pray. And in that prayer, he's

afraid. It's etched in my memory. "If you are

willing, take this cup from me; yet

not my will, but yours be done." And he

returns, and they're still asleep. That's why

John doesn't talk about it. He

was there. Yes. He didn't want to tell us, and we

fell asleep. No.

Yes. It wouldn't have cost him anything. The hell.

Yes, we fell asleep. No, he didn't tell us.

But even he had doubts,

and he taught us how to ask. And there are more

examples, my brothers. There's a

soldier who tells him, "My servant is

sick." And Jesus, being nice, says, "Yes,

brother, I'll come to your house right now." And the

guy, looking humble, says, "No, no, I am not

worthy to have you come under my roof. Just say

the word, and I will be healed."

There's a woman who said that just by touching

his cloak, she didn't say, "Lord, I ask you to

heal me by tomorrow." Thank you."

No. There was a guy who said to him, "If

you want, you can heal me."

And how do we ask, "Lord, tomorrow

I have an exam that's a nine or higher,

great, right?"

And I changed my prayer." My brothers, I do

n't know if it's right or wrong to tell you this

because I've said it to many people in

my circle. I've told them, being a believer

is good for business, because I'm

very shrewd, my brothers. And when there's

a deal, an offer that I feel is a bit

shady, in my prayer I say,

"Lord, if you want this

deal to happen,

I'll do whatever you say, right?" So

, just so you know, if the money comes together, I'm going

to spend it like a complete

idiot,

but Your will be done, not

mine." And when it comes together, I mean, he gave

permission.

And if it doesn't come together, I mean, he didn't want it.

But I would like, if you can take

something, Father Borren told me, I want you to

give your testimony. He said, but because...

and he explained it to me in a very beautiful way,

and I understood it by reading it too,

because sometimes you think that God is

for good people, but no, He's for

everyone. And there are also alcoholics,

drug addicts, and prostitutes

who need that. And then I start

to think, how many of you are that

honest? Raise your hand if you

say, honestly, I am a good

person.

Not even the priest.

[Applause]

If you'll allow me, my brothers,

I'd like to

teach you a little song because

after the vocational retreat, I was invited to a

festival called the Song to Mary Festival,

and at that festival, we had to sing a

song to her. to the Virgin Mary.

And all the songs were of praise, about

how good you are, how beautiful you

are, how blessed you are.

And I insist, what

won me over most about the Holy Family in

general was their human side.

I was 18 years old when I wrote this

song using my usual technique. I

started to pray. I said, "Lord, they're

asking me for a song to Mary." She's your mom. I've

already screwed this up.

This guy in the audio,

someone knocked the body down.

A while passed and I couldn't think of anything.

No, I had nothing to say to the

Virgin Mary. I couldn't connect with

her. It's funny that I wrote this song when I was

18.

And I understood it at 30,

after I had children. And for this event

I had to practice this song and it's

very difficult for me to sing it. I

apologize if I get carried away, but it's because

I'm a dad now.

And it resonates differently because Mary is praised

in many ways, but I insist,

obedience is not just about accepting the

mission,

but about not complaining about its conclusion

, not forgetting that Mary witnessed

how Jesus was killed and I can't imagine a

greater horror for a person than

having to witness that.

And I wrote this song called The

First Night. Let's see what you think.

[Music]

Many looked at him weeping as they saw his

son

hanging on a cross where he was to be

handed over.

And she looked at him tenderly and suffered. There is

no pain like watching your child

die.

Every thorn in her crown, every blow on

her skin. It

was a sword stuck deep in his

being.

Seeing him there when he fell broke her down.

Her heart ached to see him there carrying

a cross,

his eyes damaged by the image of her

child.

She was there at his birth and now she watched him

die.

arms that rocked the child to sleep.

Today they received his body to give his

final farewell to God.

And she clung to him and listened again

and again

as he said to her, "Woman,

there is your son.

Hands that caressed his little body

to calm him.

Today, hands wanting to give life to her son,

dead on the cross.

Seeing him there lifeless on her chest, she

couldn't bear it.

Don't cry, mother, for my heart breaks

to see you weeping with love

like the first night he left.

[Music]

Hanging from two poles and nailed by his feet and

hands.

While she wept seeing her child

there on the cross. Don't cry, mother, for

my heart breaks knowing he died

for me.

Forgive me, mother.

Don't cry, mother, for my heart breaks

to see you weeping with love

like the first night he left.

Teach me to bear the pain, the sorrow, and

the suffering as you did.

The first night he

left.

My name is Franco Escamilla.

Thank you very much. God bless you.

Goodbye. Ciao."