Published by Since the beginning of time, priests are perceived as holy men, men in white who had devoted their lives to God unconditionally under his divine service. However, with all the recent scandals that stormed in Catholic Church, are these men in white still perceived the same way? Are these men supposed to be perfect? What are their lives like? How did their loved ones react to their chosen vocation? Did they pass their vows with flying colors? Had they ever been in love? These are just some of the questions that come to mind, since men of the church are assumed holy and perfect, but what is the unseen side of them?
I was fortunate to hear the side and point of views of one well-respected priest of one well-known parishes of Baguio, whom I will just call Reverent Father “Raven”.
Father Raven’s calling to priesthood started with an attraction with the priest’s clerical vestments in mass. The four liturgical colors red, white, violet, and green amused him. Aside from this, he was also attracted with the ringing of the small bells during mass, benediction, and the burning and smoking of incense. To see more of these, he applied as a sacristan in their school, which was managed by sisters.
The inspiration of being a priest began when he was elementary. He always served at their school masses and at the Holy Hour and Benediction of the sisters. The priests as he perceived them were holy, dedicated, and men of service. “So I tried to imitate them at least in being a prayerful boy.” He always attended mass during Sundays and served at mass as often as he had the chance. After his graduation in elementary, the sisters who have been observing him asked him if he would like to be a priest, he told him yes. They then recommended him to a seminary and helped him process all the papers he needed.
When he entered the seminary-minor-philosophy and technology, his vocation was natured and purified. He was more inspired to continue his priesthood vocation because of his love and desire to serve the communities, especially their own people here in the Cordillera. Old, veteran and dedicated priests-missionaries also inspired him to be like them someday.
Father Raven’s family was very supportive to his chosen vocation. One time after his father’s death, he asked his mother and siblings if should quit the seminary and be of help to them since he was the eldest and they replied with full heartfelt support “If you like to be a priest, go ahead and pursue your vocation. With the grace of God, the family will manage.”
Like any other human beings Father Raven had experienced to be struck by Cupid’s powerful arrow, though love only had touched his life twice. These were during High School and College. It was forbidden to have a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship in the seminary, but he kept that relationship. His spiritual director and even the rector knew about this, since he opened up to them. They knew the girl very well so they just advised and monitored them from time to time. When the time came for him to make a choice and a decision, his desire to serve the Almighty was above his moral emotions so he informed her, though it was very hard on both their part. They parted ways but remain as friends. She got married after some time and is now happily married.
His second relationship was during his theology years. She was a nurse and he agreed to be her boyfriend until he would have his vows. Their relationship lasted for four years until he was ordained a priest. He received her last letter that informed him that she was in Hong Kong and that she wished him good luck and a happy life.
Looking back at those relationships, Father Raven is grateful because they had made him mature in dealing with the opposite sex and appreciate human relationships. There were times they were tempted to forget themselves, but they were able to control them due to love and respect for each other and knowing the consequences of their actions.
“For us secular priests, we only have two vows, the vow of obedience and the vow of celibacy. Human beings as we are these vows are hard to faithfully keep. To be obedient to the bishop and superior is not easy. At times, I find myself disobeying or compromising with them. To remain simple is possible; to remain chase is another question. There are times when we get tempted to have a child of our own. There are times when we long for somebody to take care of us and our needs, especially when we our sick and alone and our relatives friends are away.”
According to Father Raven all human beings have their weaknesses. We often forget that priests and bishops are also human beings. He strongly suggested that that before one condemns a fallen priest or bishop, he or she should consider the circumstances. “For sure priests and bishops had been called and chosen by God. God knew what would happen to a particular priest or bishop in the future and yet, he had chosen them. All bishops and priests for sure have positive and negative points. The problem is many of us are only focusing on the negative points. For example, a bishop or a priest has ten acts, nine are good and one is not, we only take note of the one negative act. To help the priests and bishops remain good in the eyes of people and in the eyes of the Almighty, we should assist, support, remind, and correct them in a Christian way.”
As of the present, Father Raven is happy, contented, and enjoying his life as a priest. So far he has regrets in his chosen vocation and he constantly prays to God that will never be. God’s commandments are summarized by the Lord himself as ”Love”. To practice this in its many dimensions day in and day out is very difficult even for a priest like Father Raven.
In many ways, to hear the side and point of views of one Baguio’s respected priests like Father Raven served as a huge eye-opener for many of us that though they are God’s men in white, men he had called and chosen, they are still men from ashes bound to commit mistakes, to be weak and fragile like all of us. For no one is perfect except the Almighty.
