GLENDALE, Calif. – The Christian community of Incarnation Catholic Church formally received their new pastor, Rev. Rodel “Odey” Balagtas D.Min., on Saturday, August 17.
Fr. Rodel is 12th in the line of pastors and administrators of the parish (since 1927), also taking the helm as the first Filipino pastor of Incarnation.
More than a thousand worshipers filled the church when Auxiliary Bishop Alex Aclan, of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Regional Bishop of the San Fernando Pastoral Region, formally installed Fr. Rodel as pastor of Incarnation. The Mass was celebrated with beautiful readings from the Bible, partaking of the Eucharist, inspiring prayers and music, the enthusiastic participation of the People of God, concelebrating priests, and his former students of the seminary from all over the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
After Bishop Aclan declared: “My dear friends, because I am aware of your pastoral needs, and am confident of Father Rodel’s qualifications of the office of Pastor, I now entrust to him the Pastorate of Incarnation Parish,” a thunderous applause reverberated throughout the church and at the Patio where a loudspeaker was available for those who could not get into the church.
Fr. Rodel Balagtas came to the Incarnation Catholic Community from St. John’s Seminary where, for the past five years, he had served as Director of Pastoral Formation, Vice Rector, and Assistant Professor in the field of Ministerial Studies. Before that, he served as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles for 12 years.
