“What I will never forget is the look in their eyes. A sense of hope, and they are able to smile. It does not take much for them to be happy and thankful for God’s blessings.” - Msgr. Nestor Rebong, 2010
Msgr. Nestor Rebong said these words in April 2010, when he went to Port-A’Prince in Haiti. Along with Knights of Columbus and Global Wheelchair Mission, he delivered 1,000 wheelchairs to those devastated by the earthquake on January 12, 2010.
Over 400,000 were affected—some were injured while others perished. One of the wheelchair recipients was trapped and buried for four days and had to undergo leg amputation.
The wheelchairs were donated by the generous parishioners of St. Christopher’s Church—raising $30,000 over one weekend to purchase them.
Knights of Columbus is a 1.7 million member organization with a sustained capacity of raising hundreds of millions of dollars for building homes, doing charitable and relief work for disaster-stricken areas around the world. As California’s State Chaplain of Knights of Columbus, Msgr. Rebong traveled with them.
They delivered a full sea container of 280 wheelchairs to Bicol and Malabon in the Philippines on March 2011.
When this writer first interviewed Msgr. Rebong, she felt a certain sense of unexplainable awe. How did he become a monsignor? He said the process is done by the cardinal: it starts with a solicitation letter to all the priests within the archdiocese. The priests submit their nominations, which are then ranked by the bishops. The final list is then given to the Holy Father, who approves them.
On Chrism Mass 2010, Cardinal Roger Mahony wrote: “Eleven priests were elevated to Chaplain to His Holiness, with the title of Monsignor: Monsignors James R. Forsen, Richard M. Martini, Sabato A.Pilato, Lorenzo Miranda, Richard G. Krekelberg, Antonio Cacciapuoti, Thomas M. Acton, Jon F. Majarucon, Gerald McSorley, Robert J. McNamara, and Nestor Rebong.”
Alice, a parishioner, shared that “ Msgr. Rebong is a very good pastor, who is good to the people. He is very concerned with them. He is not only personable, he brings the people to the church and the church to the people.”
It so happened that when I phoned Alice at her home, Msgr. Rebong was paying her a visit—his way of bringing the church to its people.
At age 10, Msgr. Rebong witnessed the tragic drowning of his two siblings. Overwhelmed by his grief, he promised his brother and sister that he will be a priest so he can pray for them. He entered the seminary at age 12. After 14 years of formation, at age 26, he was ordained at St. Vincent de Paul in Manila. He finished AB in Philosophy and a Bachelor’s in Sacred Theology at the University of Sto. Tomas. He taught for two years and was sent to Rome and Jerusalem to pursue his postgraduate studies in Sacred Scriptures and Canon Law.
In Rome, he learned to speak German, French and Italian, adding to what he already spoke fluently: English, Tagalog and Spanish. He stayed at the International House of Studies of Vincentians, which at that time petitioned for a papal visit. As luck would have it, their request was granted. As the youngest priest, he co-celebrated the mass with Pope John Paul II (now Blessed John Paul II after his beatification on May 1, 2011.)
Msgr. Rebong had more defining moments. One was to find himself in the middle of negotiations between the warring factions of soldiers, those who defected to Enrile-Ramos and the loyal soldiers of dictator Ferdinand Marcos during People Power I in EDSA. He managed to prevent the escalation of violence between these factions, using his powers of negotiation.
The sense of awe that I felt must have come from Msgr.’s profound faith. God is with him-- from the time he lost his siblings, to the time when he carried EDSA’s heroes in his arms, to the mass that he co-celebrated with Pope John Paul II.
“ It is a sense of connection, that you are deeply loved, a connection of one’s heart to another, that is how I felt being with the Holy Father,” he said.
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