“HE is always there. Especially if you are humble to ask for God’s help. Personal prayer is what gives you sincere connection. Feel na feel kita, Lord, kailangan kita.”
In 2002, he finished theology at the University of Santo Tomas. In 2009, he also took Spanish classes in the Instituto Cervantes in Manila, before going to the US.
Little did he know that years later, he would speak Spanish with parishioners of the Holy Family Church in Artesia, where English, Spanish, Chinese, Portugese and Tagalog are some of the languages spoken.
Each step got him closer to becoming God’s humble servant. God’s proactive, it seems like it. He prepares you for the next path in your life.
Fr. Joachim has been God’s servant for 8 years. He heard God’s calling while he was in high school at La Consolacion College. He wondered why an all-male group in their high school was happy all the time. So, he joined them. The group met weekly, sang, prayed the rosary and the novena. Their spiritual leader gave talks about Mother Mary and the Sacraments. They competed in a sportsfest with other high school groups (about 500 of them) one summer.
Priests regularly visited to talk about serving God. One of them was Fr. Raymond, who encouraged them to join the priests in fellowship every Sunday. They played basketball, volleyball and board games in the seminary.
“Ano ang hindrance mo?,” he was asked, in a one-on-one conversation. He could not think of any, so he said, “I’ll try.” He took a year of schooling in the seminary, the summer before college.
Each year, he kept saying, “I will try.” Until he finished his AB in Philosophy at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.
Then, he was offered to take a year of novitiate at the Marian Missionaries of the Holy Cross in Marikina. It was difficult for him to say yes, as Manila seemed so far away, and the language there was Tagalog, while he spoke Hiligaynon.
“Probinsiyano ako. Who comes with me?,” were his concerns. He decided to overcome barriers of culture, language and being away from family. He learned lessons in silence, spirituality, and the history of the Marian congregation -- even sign language, to comply with the vow of silence.
He lived a life of silence. He learned union with God and just to listen to what God wanted him to do. He read the gospel, meditated, did adoration prayers and meditated some more.
They were fondly called ‘mga alila’ -- trained to clean toilets, to clean the house, to paint, and to work creatively with their hands and tools.
He wrote love letters to God. As he wrote, he got God’s reply through his own writings. Sometimes, he said, he would simply scribble notes in a paper for homily, finding it hard sometimes to get the words out of him. Yet, at that particular moment when he thinks he’s not satisfied, his prayers are answered.
After two years of novitiate, he went back to Bacolod to complete his schooling at La Salle. He felt weird as he lost his prior status of being on the honors’ list because of holding off school for two years in school to listen to God’s plans for him.
In time, he finished college and went back to Marikina where he resided, while pursuing another degree in Sacred Theology at University of Santo Tomas.
He was ordained by Bishop Vicente Navarra in the Cathedral of Bacolod on December 11, 2002.
He served in various roles and capacities. He was the Local Economer, in charged of managing the payroll and controlled the budget for the Marians in Marikina for six years. He became part of the Board of Directors of The Philippine Association of Religious Treasurers, and served for a year as their public relations officer.
He served as Chaplain Associate of the Pasig Catholic College. In 2006-2008, he was the Superior and the Local Economer of the Marian Retreat House in Angono, Rizal, in charge of managing the formation of seminarians and the retreat house. He then served as the treasurer and the local economer, assigned to the Marian House in Bacolod and in Silay. From 2005 to 2010, he served as the General Economer, in charge of the administration of the temporal goods of the Marian’s house in Negros Occidental, assisting in the managing the properties of the institute.
Prior to his ordination in 2000, there was a breakdown within the Marian Missionaries of the Holy Cross. Vatican suppressed the Marians in the early 80’s, given the ideological beliefs of some, that made others leave the congregation. Some held on to the Marian cause, while others held onto theirs. But, their history is also history of pious fidelity to God and Mother Mary. Until he was asked to come to the US.
“Why me? It is another world, another culture,” he asked. But, then he realized that he was long prepared to come to the United States, as he studied Spanish and had other skills. Fr. Joachim was recruited to be part of a three member team of Marian Missionaries of the Holy Cross priest. The Marians said their first mass at Holy Family on July 1, 2010. A year later, the parishioners have increased their church giving by 14%; some had evangelized others, proud of the pebbles of changes they have observed: Gregorian music chants, 16 page church bulletin supported by donations, a well decorated altar with trellis, hanging lights and capiz shells for Lent, outdoor Stations of the Cross, a new adoration chapel; 34 young delegates to attend a 13 day trip for World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain this August, and recently, the City Council approved a church’s request to fence their church and school perimeter.
Fr. Joachim said with a smile: “I have touched others through God’s Grace. I thank God as I had become an instrument of God’s love to others. Tabi ko muna ang ibang issues. Everything else is God’s work.” n
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
