(For my article this week, I’m presenting a weekday homily I gave to our seminarians at St. John’s which can give you some insight on how we prepare seminarians to the priesthood. It’s based on the Gospel passage, “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.” Matthew 7:17)
WE have a saying in Tagalog, Kapag mabunga, binabato! (People stone a tree that bears a lot of fruits!) I learned this when I was a pastor for many years.
This is so true, even literally.
I remember growing up in the Philippines as a young boy. My friends and I loved carrying slingshots whenever we would go to a little forest near our house. We would look for some fruits to eat. When we see a mango tree bearing full of fruits, we’d use our slingshots to harvest mangoes. We were so good at shooting fruits of mango trees that we would bring baskets of them to our homes.
In the parish, however, what this means as a priest is that some people will stone, crucify, criticize, judge, and condemn you if you’re doing great things. This may not sound attractive to you, but it’s the truth. So be ready. There will be some people who will not like the good things that you’re doing for the parish for a variety of reasons.
Who says that you will be exempted from this terrible experience? Even Jesus, who is already God and who did great things for his people, was crucified and condemned to death.
So is priesthood attractive if this this is the truth and the experience of many priests? Absolutely, it still is if your innermost desire is to make a difference in people’s lives, if your heart is as grateful as that of St. Paul who said he was “mercifully treated by God,” despite being a former blasphemer and persecutor of Christians, and who received abundant blessings in his call as a missionary of the Gospel. It’s attractive if you continue to experience God who has first loved you!
During the fiftieth year of his ordination to the priesthood, Cardinal Walter Kasper wrote a book entitled, A Celebration of Priestly Ministry. In his book, he wrote that priesthood is attractive when we meet priests “who reflect the splendor of the truth of faith and its inherent beauty, and who bears witness to this with confidence and joy.”
So now, be patient, be prepared to have a “thick skin” when you become priests. You’ll suffer but with perseverance and support of many people, you’ll bear fruits, lots of fruits!
There is one more thing that will assist you to persevere and to bear fruits in ministry. It’s the affection of Mary who loves priests as his sons. Call on her Holy Name every day and she’ll intercede for you. She’ll wrap you with the mantle of her love. Call on her Holy Name and you’ll do great things for the Church.
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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.
