THE holidays are over and now we’re back to our normal routines. Like many of you, I think of the activities and the events that will unfold before me as I take the journey of 2013, some of them are set while the rest are still unknown.
What is set is that I continue to be the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, a parish that has stretched me beyond my limits and has defined my pastoral skills and leadership. What is also set is that I take on an exciting semester of teaching a course in Homiletics at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California starting January 15, 2013.
Being part of the formation of seminarians, the future priests of the Church, will certainly be a fulfilling task. Personally, it will bring excitement, newness, and a different flavor to my pastoral experience. Aside from my academic degree, my almost twenty-two years of rich pastoral experience will equip me in teaching homiletics to seminarians.
As I mentioned, the other things that will unfold in my life are still unknown. Like other people, I just entrust everything to the Lord. As the Magi followed the star to find where the newborn King of the Jews was, I’ll keep discerning and looking for signs where God would lead me in the coming years.
Meanwhile, I’ll put into practice the grains of wisdom that I’ve heard, read, and realized last year. One of them, which I stumbled upon during our Christmas Concert in my encounter with Martin Nievera, a popular Filipino music artist, applies to everyone of us. This is the wisdom of being young in body and spirit. Although none of us can prevent the older stage of aging, we must take care of our bodies and maintain a youthful spirit.
Keeping a youthful spirit is always being optimistic, joyful, and excited about life. It’s continuous dreaming and hoping for what our lives, our surroundings, and the world can be. It’s not giving up on our goals and priorities, no matter how big they are and how hard it is to achieve them. It’s imagining all the possibilities and the resources around us. Most of all, it is believing in ourselves and in the power of God in our lives.
Like the Three Kings, we’ll keep persevering in our journey and believing that we can fulfill our dreams. No dark forces in life, be it a economic phenomenon or a negative person, will ever prevent us from reaching our goals and being happy. We’ll never listen to the “Herods” of the world, those who put us down or have a self-serving agenda. We’ll only listen to and trust the voice within us that tell us that with God, all things are possible!
Enjoy ride this year 2013! I will keep you all in my prayers!
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Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].
