Michael James Arienza

Michael James was born on December 14^th, 1998, in Houston, TX, as the sixth child of eight and hails from Katy, Texas where his home parish of St. Bartholomew the Apostle is located. His parents emigrated from the Philippines and became US citizens shortly after. They began their life together in California, where Michael James’ first four siblings were born. Later, they would move to Katy, Texas, where the next 4 children would be born, Michael James being the 2^nd of the Texas born children.

Michael James attended public school his entire childhood, beginning at Hutsell Elementary, moving to Katy Junior High and, finally, graduating from Katy High School. As a child, he would play any sport he could with a particular focus on tennis, as it was the family sport. He would make the varsity team his freshman year of high school but would eventually give up the sport to focus on excelling as a student.

During his time in high school, Michael James would always have his mind focused on the future, desiring a career he found to be bigger than himself. Shifting his focus from business, to medicine, to law, he would eventually settle on the military which was the main reason for him joining the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M. It would be at A&M where he would first start to think about the priesthood, inspired by the young priests assigned to the catholic center. He slowly got more and more involved in the ministries at St. Mary’s Catholic Center, but discerned that God was calling him to more than just college ministry. In the spring semester of his sophomore year at Texas A&M, Michael James, along with strong encouragement from his spiritual director and pastor, discerned that it was time to enter seminary.

Michael James would begin his priestly formation at Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, TX in the Fall of 2019 and graduate with a BA in Philosophy from the University of Dallas in May of 2022. Michael James continues his priestly formation and theological studies at St. Mary’s Seminary where he is working on completing a Master’s in Divinity and a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology.

Throughout his time in seminary, Michael James had a number of assignments before coming to St. Michael the Archangel. His first summer, he did a Propaedeutic summer to introduce him to the life of the seminary. Michael James served at St. John Fisher in Richmond the next summer. He then went to Omaha for the Institute of Priestly Formation, essentially a summer dedicated to developing one’s spiritual life. In the summer of 2023, Michael James went to Puebla, Mexico to learn Spanish, a language he speaks proficiently now. Throughout his two years at St. Mary’s Seminary, Michael James has served at Our Lady of Fatima parish, primarily focusing on catechesis. Most recently, right before joining St. Michael the Archangel parish, Michael James completed a summer unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Memorial Hermann-TMC, serving as the Trauma unit chaplain.