“WITHOUT virtues, man is not acting according to the image of God.”- Fr. Jose Vaughn A. Banal, Ph.D.
His surname is Banal, which means “holy” in Tagalog. Its antonym is prosaic. He embraces fully his origin and his holy name. His spiritual development has led him to a civil degree in philosophy from the Minor Seminary in Naga City, Philippines, to an ecclesiastical degree in theology from University of Navarre, in Pamplona, Spain and a doctorate degree in philosophy, defended before a panel of Italian – speaking priests, (his birth languages are Bicolano and Tagalog) from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. He acquired fluencies in languages and cultures: English, Tagalog, Bicolano, Spanish, French, Italian and Latin. Most Reverend Benjamin Almoneda, D.D. ordained him a priest on Dec. 3, 1996, on the feast of St. Francis Xavier, in Daet, Camarines Norte.
His calling to the Priesthood started when he was asked by the late Bishop Celestino Enverga, D.D., as he received his elementary school diploma: “Do you want to enter the seminary?”
Without any idea of what and where the seminary was, he responded to the invitation and entered the seminary at age 12, and completed high school 4 years later.
He was later sent to Pamplona, Spain to finish his studies in the Priesthood, and came back to his diocese to serve as associate pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Daet and formator of seminarians as well. He worked with the youth and altar servers, while teaching part-time in the Holy Trinity College Seminary.
After two years of pastoral ministry, he was sent to Rome for further studies. Challenged to learn Italian, he stayed at the Casa Internazionale del Clero. He was the only Filipino amongst 30 priests of various nationalities. He completed his doctorate in Philosophy, after successfully defending his dissertation, “Un’analisi del legame tra gli abiti e la libertà in S. Tommaso d’ Aquino.” He obtained the grade of “Summa cum laude.” He later published his work in Italian.
His research study focused principally on the relationship between the created dispositions in human actions and the free exercise of such actions.
In synthesis, he wanted to understand the role of freedom in moral life. What is freedom? Can one increase or diminish it? Would one be able to say that man is more or less free? What is its link with the habits? Or do habits have nothing to do with freedom? What does the exercise of freedom consist of? How can man achieve the perfection of his freedom? What is the relationship between freedom and the final end? These are the questions, whose answers he pursued in his dissertation, because, according to him, this is an actual argument of the present and of great importance for its potential contributions to culture, in general, and to the development of philosophical knowledge.
After finishing his doctorate, he was assigned as Dean of Studies and taught Philosophy of Man, Ethics, History of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Latin and Spanish in Holy Trinity College Seminary for two years. With his bishop’s permission, he took a sabbatical leave that led him to a pastoral ministry in the United States.
He was first assigned to St. Joseph’s Church in Pomona for three years, where as an associate pastor, he created a Filipino ministry, amongst a predominantly Latino congregation and a youth ministry developing altar servers. He later served at St. Augustine Church in Culver City, where as an associate pastor, he took charge of the Latino Ministry, led their Grupo de Oración and Bible studies.
He is the current Administrator at Sacred Heart Church in Altadena, where he has revitalized this community of 2,500 Latinos, Afro-Africans, Anglos, Vietnamese, and Filipinos. He has organized these hard-working and highly respectful parishioners into more active members of the church.
His goal is to form the Community of the Sacred Heart Church into a vibrant community of faith who believes and lives out the Word of God. He established an evangelization program in the parish to help the people understand the Church and the need of God in their lives. He believes that when the people are formed, much like he was formed as a priest, they will be more aware of the different aspects of the Church and the community will begin to grow.
To end, he reflected on the Woodcarver ‘s Tale. He said that he ‘carves’ the wood based on the steering of the Holy Spirit in his life. He got the feel of the Holy Spirit from his personal prayers, from mentoring that he got from his superiors and his spiritual director, reading and reflections of the Gospel. He stressed that prayer life nurtures him, while his physical body is nurtured by exercising regularly at the gym.
Likewise, he always has a positive outlook in life. He elaborated it by telling a tale about how a farm manager solved a cattle crisis. ‘According to the story, there was a drought, the grass was brown and the cows were not eating. What did he do? He put on green eyeglasses on the cows and the cows started eating the grass again!’ This anecdote helps him in shaping his view of the ‘world’ in a different and wonderful way.
Above all, he allows the Divine Providence to work on his life. Looking back, he said that he did not plan on being a priest, yet he became one. He did not plan on going to Spain, yet he did. He did not plan to study in Rome, yet he finished there.
Now, he is a joyful servant of the Lord – “Servite Domino in laetitia.”
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