“WHERE do the wars and conflicts come from? Perhaps they stem from selfishness, from putting ‘me’ first, rather than putting my neighbor first. A person is justified by works and not by faith alone. It is no easy task to reach out in mercy, kindness, generosity and love to everyone we meet, every single day. Feel the extremes of desert life. Open yourself to change. Let God’s enduring love give you courage to be reborn in justice and peace.” – Fr. Geoffrey Baraan, 2011.
I came across these quotes from Fr. Geoffrey’s Lenten message to his parishioners. His parishioners are supportive of him and their social justice ministry in St. Anne’s Church keeps growing.
When I did this interview, Erin Pangilinan (a UC Berkeley graduate), immediately recognized her pastor: “Our parish is truly a community that cares, because our pastor cares and he gives us homilies that we can apply. Last August he showed us Modern Day Slaves, a film about undocumented workers, whose immigration status is used against them by their employers to get longer hours of unpaid work, making them indentured servants.”
As the evening progressed, Fr. Geoffrey shared more news items from his iPad, having been covered extensively by Balitang America on The Filipino Channel for their novena masses or Simbang Gabi, and by Catholic Voice Online.
On Catholic Voice Online’s report, Fr. Geoffrey said: “95 percent Filipino, the social justice ministry is concerned with issues of homelessness and the dignity of the poor. The committee is focusing on educating people, through gatherings and flyers on the right of human beings to dignity, joy and happiness, a lot of people don’t realize, that’s the Gospel challenge: social justice.”
It is comforting to know that Fr. Geoffrey hails from the Baraan family -- an example of moral certitude and awareness that their lives must abide by the truth.
His brother, Francisco Baraan III, serves as the current undersecretary to Secretary of Justice Leila De Lima. He is described in the San Beda College website as a paragon of honesty in his law profession, and whose life embodies the college’s values of faith, knowledge and virtue.
He spoke highly of his father, Francisco Baraan II and his mother, Imelda Baraan, who taught him honesty and compassion to others.
His older brother, Rafael, serves as the provincial administrator in Pangasinan. Two brothers (Rafael and Francisco) are ex-seminarians while two cousins are priests: Msgr. Manuel Baraan (deceased) and Fr. Armando Baraan, a Capuchin priest.
Fr. Geoffrey went to Dasol Catholic School in Pangasinan. When his parents went on vacation, he tended the grocery store which they owned. But, instead of selling, he gave goods away.
Finding the shelves empty, his mother anticipated earned income. But Fr. Geoffrey said, “Mom, no, I gave the food to the needy.”
She got mad at him, but later, she realized his compassionate heart for the poor.
He started at a Franciscan seminary at age 16. Later, he joined his family and moved to the US.
He worked at Security Bank’s data processing center for 8 years, but the call to priesthood became louder.
He struggled and ignored the call, but the spirit’s call was strong.
“Every time I went to church, I got more emotional, that I had to do something about it,” he said.
His father at first demurred, but Geoffrey persuaded him: “Papang, it is time to go.”
But what gave him courage was his brother Jerome, who promised that he will take care of their parents.
This, Fr. Geoffrey shared, while in tears.
Jerome struggled for ten years with mental illness. Yet he was generous in helping the family. Finally, his family found a treatment that worked for him – therapy and prescription drugs, which stabilized his brain’s chemical imbalance.
He now enjoys a normal life, drives his own car, and goes to weekly movies with Fr. Geoffrey.
The priesthood
Fr. Geoffrey took Philosophy at Joseph’s College in Los Altos, CA and theology at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park.
He was ordained on June 14, 1997 by Bishop John Cummins. He was part of the Diocesan Pastoral Council, Bishop’s Special Commission on Diaconate Formation, Diocesan Filipino Pastoral Council and No More Secrets Committee. Currently, he is part of the Clergy Formation and Education Committee and one of the Deans of the Diocese, overseeing some parishes.
He served at St. Ignatius, whose first pastor was replaced, after abusing the altar servers. One Sunday, in 2003, he greeted one of the early church-goers, unbeknownst to him, this person was abused by the first pastor of St. Ignatius.
He welcomed him to the church, and because of that, for the first time in 16 years, this abused victim returned to being a church-going Catholic.
Fr. Geoffrey showed love to him and this love enabled him to come back to the Church.
When speaking to other seminarians in formation, he would ask: “Who would you like to imitate when you become a priest?” Some would answer Fr. Geoffrey, but his response is certain: “No, it can’t be me, it should be Jesus Christ. When Jesus is your model, you have compassionate love, a higher form of love.”
Serendipity is at work in Fr. Geoffrey’s church, a predominantly Filipino parish with 4,500 families, who will now be joined by hundreds of Indonesian and Polish families, as they lost their place of worship, deemed unsafe, requiring extensive repairs, which the Archdiocese chose to forego in these hard times.
Every December (starting Dec. 16 ), 9 days of novena masses are held, and the parishioners take vacations from their day jobs, to celebrate the coming of Baby Jesus. At 5am, cars line up the streets for blocks on, and inside, the church is teeming with parishioners.
The choir is singing, and after mass, Filipino traditions come alive: bibingka, puto bumbong, pancit, arroz caldo, pandesal.
Families congregate, they sing, they dance, and raffles are held that include flat screen televisions. Funds raised go to special projects that support 50 ministries in St. Anne’s, a new ministry in Bicol, and ministries in Pangasinan, where Fr. Geoffrey Baraan’s family come from.
The circle of love, giving and compassion is being completed and parishioners’ hearts are being prepared for Baby Jesus’ coming. It is no longer of consumer goods first, but folks come to connect with and to each others’ joyful hearts beating with love and compassion, the heartprints of Fr. Geoffrey and his St. Anne’s parishioners of Filipinos, Polish and Indonesian descent.
“I am a happy priest, with a lot of passion. I love what I am doing, but I am not perfect. We are not here to build a perfect community. We are here to build a loving community. My being here is not an accident. When you go to Mass, don’t take it as an obligation, but a celebration of what God has done for us. Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian experience. This is a mountaintop experience.” Fr. Geoffrey said.
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