We found this as nice to share and so we do.
It is the homily given by one of his friend for the thanks giving mass of Rev. Father Ramon Padilla Rosin, FDP, last May 1, 2018 at San Roque Parish, in Taysan, Legazpi City.
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Jesus
said: “The Harvest is rich but the laborers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest
to send more laborers.” Essential to the extension of the Kingdom and the
salvation of souls is the Sacrament of the Holy Orders, that we call the
priesthood.
“O how great is the priest! If he realized what is he
would die… God obeys him: he utters a few words and the Lord descends from the
Heaven at his voice, to be contained within a small host. Without the Sacrament
of the Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put him there in the
tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of life? The
priest. Who feeds your soul and gives its strength for the journey? The priest.
Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the blood
of Jesus Christ? The priest----always
the priest. And if the soul should happen to die (as a result of sin) who will
raised it up, who will restore its calm and peace? Again, the priest. After
God, the priest is everything. Only in heaven will he fully realize what he
is.”
If
there is no priest then there is no Holy Mass; if there is no Holy Mass, then
there is no consecration of the Sacred Host; if there is not consecration of
the Sacred Host then there is no Holy Communion; there if there is no Holy
Communion there is no Sacramental Presence of Jesus. That means that we become
spiritual orphans. We become like ship without a port, an arrow without a
target, a scout without a compass, a dog without his master. We wonder through
life aimless and without no clear purpose.
We
all know that we your servants are not worthy of this priestly office of
Christ. Many times we become so unfaithful to God. Many times, we go on our own
way rather than the way of eternity. You heard many times the scandal done by
us your priest. Sometimes the parishioners got scandalized and worst their
faith is shattered. Because of this many left their faith and follow other
voices in the world. Sometimes your trust becomes unstable. But despite of all these, the Lord remains to
be faithful Shepherd continuously leading us to greener and carrying us in his
shoulder when we are hurt.
The
Lord does not count on how many times we fall but on how many times we respond
to his mercy. Pope Francis said: “It is not easy to entrust oneself to God’s
mercy, because it is an abyss beyond our comprehension. But we must!... “Oh, I
am a great sinner!” “All the better! Go to Jesus: He likes you to tell him
these things!” He forgets, He has a very special capacity for forgetting. He forgets,
He kisses you, He embraces you and He simply says to you: “Neither do I condemn
you; go, and sin no more” (Jn 8:11). Jesus attitude is striking: we do not hear
the words of scorn, we do not hear the words of condemnation, but only words of
love, of mercy, which are invitation to conversation. “Neither do I condemn
you; go, and do not sin again.” Ah! Brothers and Sisters, God’s face is the
face of a merciful father who is always patient. Have you thought about God’s
patience, the patience He has with each one of us? That is His mercy. He always
has patience, patience with us, He understands us, He wait for us, He does not
tire of forgiving us if we are able to return to Him with a contrite heart.
“Great is God’s mercy,” says the Psalm.
Way
back in philosophy and theology years, Fr. Mon and I would spend long hours in
ukay-ukay store, surplus store… we enjoyed those moments of being patient in
choosing second hand shorts or shirts, be sheet etc... Now I understand the God
is telling us in those times that he is like that, a patient God always
recognizing that we are still have a great use in his vineyard, looking at the
goodness of our hearts in spite of our unworthiness.
Looking
at the great responsibility entrusted to us, I want you Fr. Mon to go back to
the basics, the basics of the letter in alphabet. Remember the five letters in
your name…. Let’s start…
R A M O N
The
first letter is R…
REVERENCE—Rev. Fr. Mon,
when you were ordained as a deacon, an additional address was attached to your
name… Your name is not plainly Ramon but you were called Reverend Ramon, how
great it is… now another name attached to the former… and now Rev. Father
Ramon… Magayon na pagdangogon alagad katakod kaini an dakulang misyon, dakulang
misyon bakong bakasyon, dedikasyon bakong ambisyon, pasyon bakong ilusyon (It
is nice to hear but with this is the great mission, a mission not vacation,
dedication not ambition, passion not illusion.) For the Jews and even in the
ancient times, a person’s name is important. It is because it carries all his
life and determines his own identity, his character and the task and program
this person should perform in life.
Live
out the mission attached to your name…we have a task to carry. Pope Francis in
his latest exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and be glad) said: The
Lord has chosen each one of us “to be holy and blameless before God in love” as
he quotes the letter of Saint Paul to Ephesus. His goal as he wrote the
exhortation is to re-propose the call to holiness in a practical way of our own
time, with all its risk, challenges and opportunities.
The
second letter is A
APPRECIATION—appreciate
every day the gift given to you by the Lord, this gift of priesthood.
Appreciate Jesus the Good Shepherd. Appreciate the Lord through your prayers.
The Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines during the year of the parish
stated in a pastoral letter: “The prayer of a shepherd for his sheep is always
music to the ears of God. Prayer is an act of love.” Our first duty in
communion is prayer.
Prayer
is the source of all grace, the mother of all virtues, efficacious and
universal way by which God wills that we should come to him.
MARIAN—Every
priest knows that Mary as Mother is also the most distinguished modeler of his
priesthood, since it is she who molds the priestly soul, protect it from
dangers, from routine and discouragement and maternally safeguards it. Mary
plays a great part in the life of a priest. She is an epitome of a disciple who
keep the word of God in her heart. She reminded us during the wedding at Cana
to do whatever his Son tells us. Miracle would happen in our journey as a
priest if we truly listen through our hearts by saying the words of Mary Fiat
voluntas tua.
Pope
Benedict XIVI said that Mary’s “yes” is therefore the door through which God
was able to enter the world, to become man. So, it is that Mary is truly and
profoundly involved in the Mystery of the Incarnation, of our salvation. And
the Incarnation, the Son’s becoming man, was the beginning that prepared the
ground for the gift of himself; for giving himself with the great love on the
Cross to become the Bread for life of the world. Hence sacrifice, priesthood
and Incarnation go together and Mary is the heart of this mystery.
OBIDIENCE—Christianity
way is in the performance and not in promise, and that the mark of a Christian
is obedience and courteously given. Jesus is teaching us to consider the
relationship between words and deeds. We must strive to translate our noble
promises into noble performances, to carry out our fine words into fine deeds.
A while ago you made a decision to be obedient to your bishop and superior. One
of the vows we made as priest is obedience which is difficult to be practiced
due to splitting ideas, disconcerting attitudes, and of course the root of this
is pride… seeing ourselves having brighter ideas or plans to be considered.
Obedience
is not a suppression of freedom but a right disposal of our freedom for the
good. It is a respect for our dignity.
NOBLE—Christian
is a noble calling … it has a divine origin. A priest is chosen and charged
with the noble mission of extending the priestly love of the Sacred Heart on
earth through his self-offering.
Jesus
wants to continue to give himself to his people through the sacraments of the
church. I remember a priest who was so tired after saying masses in the parish
church and several masses in the barrio. After an exhausting schedule, a family
approached him that they want to confess before the funeral mass. The priest
with a heavy heart listened to their confession. After which he directly went
to the kitchen and drink a glass of water coincidentally her convent cook was
also there getting a glass of water. The priest said to the woman: “Napapagal
na ako tiya Lilay, sunod sunod schedule.” (“Im so tired doing my priestly
ministry”). The woman with a smile in her face said: “Padre, ika man sana an
pwede mag gibo ka an, ika sana an makamisa, ika sana an pwede mag sugo sa Dios
tanganing an arak asin tinapay maging hawak asin dugo ni Cristo, ika sana an
maka pakumpisal, dai man pwede na apodon ta si governor tanganing iyo an mag
gibo ka an.” (Father it is only you who can perform the functions of Christ in the
celebrating the mass and hearing confession and our governor cannot do such
things.)
Father
Mon, Pope Pius XII said: “Let the fragrance of your life of virtue be an
ornament of the church of Christ and by your preaching and example may you
build the house that is the family of God.”
Another
reminder from a Pope, Pope St. Pius X once again; “The first duty of all those
who are entrusted in any way with the government of the church is to instruct
the faithful in the things of God.”
Always
prioritize Divine things. A priest could hardly be a true servant and minster
of his brothers and sisters if he were excessively worried with his comfort and
well-being. In the Vatican document entitled the Gift of priestly vocation by
the congregation for the clergy it brings us to reflect on this statement: “May
the image of the Good Samaritan who tended to the wounds of the injured man by
pouring oil and wine over them be our inspiration. Let our communication be a
balm which relieves pain and a fine wine which gladdens hearts. May the light
we bring to others not be the result of cosmetics or special effects, but
rather of our being loving and merciful neighbors to those wounded and left on
the side of the road.”
Pope
Benedict said: “Day after day it is necessary to learn that I do not possess my
life for myself. Day by day I must learn to abandon myself; to keep myself
available for whatever he the Lord, needs of me at a given moment, even if the
other things seem more appealing and more important to me: this means giving
life, not taking it.”
Father
Mon I know that during theology years in the seminary you are under St.
Augustine’s moderators group: He had a beautiful reflection when he finally
found God in his wanderings: With great conviction, he said “To fall in love
with God is the greatest of all romances, to seek him the greatest adventure,
to find him is the greatest human achievement.”
May
you fall in love always with Jesus in the Eucharist you celebrate today and all
the days of your life. Learn to unite yourself intimately to the offering,
placing your entire life upon the altar of sacrifice as a revealing sign of the
gratuitous and anticipatory love of God.
Congratulations and
welcome sa ubasan nin Kagurangnan. (Congratulations and welcome to the vineyard
of the Lord).
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