MY fellow priest in the seminary, Fr. Leon, gave a beautiful homily last Tuesday, the day that the seminarians left for Thanksgiving break. He said that we’re like grains of wheat waiting to be harvested and to be ground so that we can become loaves of bread. We’re also like grapes waiting to be crushed in order to become precious wines. Hence, it is in being ground and crushed that we become new and are able to serve others better.
Certainly, the homily connected well to the seminarians that are going through rigorous and intense formation in order to become good leaders and shepherds of the Church. But it spoke to me deeply too as a seasoned priest who has been going through a big transition from being a pastor for many years to being a seminary formator and an assistant professor. I know that the Lord has put me in this position for a reason, but I can honestly say that it has been a tough and a painful adjustment.
Fr. Leon’s homily, however, brought joy and hope to my heart. My experiences of being “ground” and “crushed” at this moment of transition will turn into a new Father Rodel, a much better priest and servant of God. And so, I sing with joy because I know that the Lord has something great in store for me!
Do we ever thank God for the trials, pains, and struggles that we go through in life? This may be a silly question, but I think our answer should be a big yes! It’s because it is through suffering and pain that we become new again. It’s the greatest paradox of life that has been tested throughout all human history, one that our Lord Jesus preached when he said in Matthew 16:25, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” It’s also message that has been sung for decades as in the Prayer of St. Francis, “And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
On this Thanksgiving week, as we come together as families and communities to give thanks to God for all his abundant blessings such our jobs, our loved ones, and our health, it may also be a time to find hope and joy in our personal challenges and struggles. It may be a time to tell ourselves that we’ll overcome all our difficulties through our firm faith in God. For the Refiner’s fire will purify us from all selfish desires, petty ambitions, resentments and pride. He will turn all our adversities, troubles, and failures into peace, joy, and fulfillment. All we need to do is to open ourselves through this process of dying and rising and to trust the Lord that Lord will make us new!
Happy Thanksgiving Week!
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.
