Sacerdotal Anniversary

Today I celebrate my 9^th year in the priesthood. It was on this date, nine years ago, when His Eminence Jaime Cardinal Sin ordained me at the EDSA Shrine. The Church also celebrates today in anticipation the Feast of St. Joseph whose actual feast falls on the 4^th day of the Holy Week (March 19). As many of you would know, I am a product of San Jose Seminary. In San Jose we even have a song which we usually sing during ordinations and other special occasions, “Father of Priestly Sons, O Noble San Jose.” And so on the occasion of my 9^thanniversary, we also honor the Father of Priestly Sons.

San Jose was the silent worker of the Sacred Scriptures. He hardly even uttered a word. He was pictured as the obedient servant of God who found answers to the most difficult questions that confronted him in his dreams (Mt 1:18-25; 2:13ff; 2:19ff). His dreams were always about Jesus and what he had to do for Jesus. Sa bawat panaginip at pangarap ni San Jose, palaging kasama si Hesus. This leads us in searching ourselves and our dreams. We all have dreams: dreams for ourselves, dreams for our family, dreams for our parish, dreams for a better future, dreams for a better country, and so on and so forth. Is Jesus part of our dreams? Do we include Him in our dreams?

San Jose inspires all of us, whether ordained or lay, in our respective ministries. The word minister comes from the Latin word minus, which means to lessen or to subtract, and the suffix ter which means three or third. And so a minister goes down three times in his service. As Jesus himself proclaimed, “The Son of Man has come, not to be served but to serve.” (Mt 20:28) Jesus must have learned this from His foster father, San Jose. He never bragged about the role He was playing in the history of mankind’s salvation. Rather, he served humbly in taking care of Jesus and the Blessed Mother. He stayed in the background, he stayed behind Jesus. Similarly, all of us serving the vineyard of our Lord must realize it is Christ’s mission and we are just laborers. As St. Paul would later say, “It is not ourselves that we preach, but Christ Jesus as Lord.” (2 Cor 4:5)

Let us all look up to San Jose for inspiration. Let us dream dreams, but never forget to include Jesus in our dreams. Let us serve through our own ministries, but never forget to serve with humility.