A Missionary Goes Where God Calls

                I remember that I first wore a soutane and held a Bible close to my heart at age ten. It was during a pageant performed at an elementary school graduation ceremony. I was in the fifth grade, but I was asked to deliver the priest’s line about young people choosing a vocation to the priesthood as a way of life. I didn’t have a clue why I was asked to do that. Maybe the role was really not that popular among the graduating students, and they couldn’t find anyone to take it. I believe most of my classmates would have rather imagined being a lawyer in a courtroom, a doctor in the hospital or a teacher in a school. However, I liked my role in the school play. Now, when I share the story of my priestly vocation, I tell people that it began in fifth grade during that pageant.

To Do Something Else
                I grew up attending Mass regularly on Sundays. After some time I could really understand what the priest was saying. I saw many priests at Mass throughout the years and was interested in what they were doing. Some people recognized this interest and suggested that I think about becoming a priest. This gave me something to consider. I did some search-ins in my high school and college days at the local seminaries, and I was even invited to enter the seminary. Ultimately I decided to finish my college degree and work, although thoughts about the priesthood never went away.

Six Years with the Tribal People
                After college graduation, I took a job with the Sta. Cruz Mission in Sta. Cruz, Bukidnon province, Philippines. It was a mission for the tribal people, and I worked and lived with them for six years. My work took me to the many tribal communities around the province and introduced me to the indigenous tribal religious practices. Some of the tribal communities were far away and difficult to reach. I used a motorbike, a horse and walked many hours to visit the communities in an effort to make religion programs available in those communities. When the priest went to celebrate the Eucharist with the people, I arrived before him to prepare and assist at the Mass. The many beautiful and meaningful experiences, some of them very difficult, spurred me to think again about priesthood.
Living and working with these marginalized tribal Filipinos opened a lot of doors for me. Dancing to their music, singing their songs and struggling with them against the “beasts of prey” surrounding them gave me enough spirit, depth and courage to move forward and heed the call of priesthood, to become a Columban.

Seminary Dilemma
          Starting life in the seminary and doing exactly the same program with three other seminarians who were much younger than I was not really a great situation, but it was not the worst thing either. The energy and the wit of my young companions really woke me up and pushed me to work more and prepared me to adapt to life in the seminary. During my years in formation, I struggled with the change of going from being a wage earner to a full time student. Suddenly, I was dependent on others for all my needs and this was difficult for one who had been independent. I had moments when I considered leaving, going back home and resuming my previous work, but it was through God’s wisdom that I came to understand those trying moments as hurdles I needed to jump over.

First Missionary Assignment
                I was sent to Korea for my first missionary assignment (FMA). My time in Korea was fruitful and really helped to prepare me for a life of cross-cultural mission. Korea is rich and powerful in many areas, and the Church has developed well there. I asked myself what sort of ministry could newly arrived foreign missionaries provide for the people who were living a materially better and more prosperous life than the one I had left in the Philippines. At first it seemed there was nowhere to go and nothing that needed doing.

Identity Consciousness
                But of course there was somewhere to go and something to do in Korea. I worked in two areas: a welfare center for the mentally handicapped and in a parish-based labor counseling office. The experience opened my eyes to the reality of mission in such an affluent society and predominantly non-Christian country. The experience made me deal with my own resistance to and biases about the new environment and culture and showed me the better side of it. It also made me feel my own culture more deeply, and I became conscious of my Filipino identity not only as a foreigner in Korea but as a Filipino Columban.
                After my ordination in Mindanao, Philippines, I returned to Korea. As an ordained priest I had to take on more responsibilities which meant re-learning the language. Working in a Korean parish was a good venue in which to gain knowledge about the dynamics of the Korean Church. My first parish assignment was with another Columban, but I soon moved to a different parish and worked with a Korean diocesan priest which further deepened my experience of the Korean Church.
                The Catholic Church in Korea enjoys powerful status in the society and this implies power to the priest and to the Church. People hold their priest in high esteem. Many Korean Catholics play active roles in the parish and, I would say, they work hard to live good lives. I hope my presence in the parish helped the Korean people and the Korean Catholic Church. I was blessed in my time there. 

(From the U.S. COLUMBAN MISSION Magazine - August-September 2009)

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