The Society of Jesus in the Philippines rejoices over the priestly ordination of Reverends Edryan Paul Colmenares, Marlon Fabros, and Lloyd Sabio on 4 June at the University Church of the Gesú in Ateneo de Manila.
In his thanksgiving remarks, Fr Sabio said: “To say that we are fortunate to have our ordination to the priesthood at this time with our families and friends is an understatement.”
In 2021, only the Jesuits inside the campus and very few family members were allowed to attend the ordination onsite. In 2020, the event had to be confined to the Jesuit community in the Loyola House of Studies due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases.
“This occasion is indeed a time of thanksgiving for the many gifts we have received, not just today, but for the past 11 or 12 years of Jesuit formation,” Fr Sabio continued. “Thank you for the gift of love and [for] allowing us to pay it forward through our priestly and Jesuit vocation.”
In his homily, Most Rev Jose Rapadas III, Bishop of the Diocese of Iligan, reminded the ordinands of an important truth about the priesthood: “Priesthood is a gift. A superabundant gift for which you will always be grateful, every day of your life.”
He exhorted them to remember this truth and to safeguard it, so they “will not fall into the trap of a self-referential sense of entitlement, as, alas, many in the ministry do.”
He added, “Do not be demanding. Instead, always give back because you know you have already been blessed immeasurably.”
The 51-year-old bishop also urged them to take on the “task of lov[ing]” after Jesus’ own heart.
He said: “Love even those that are difficult to love. Love even those that ‘bite’ you, those that hurt you. Love even those that do not care about their lives and the lives of the people around them.”
The bishop gave three invitations for the ordinands to make their love more manifest in action. First is to relish the joy of being loved by the Lord, second is to see where love is needed and to act accordingly, and third is to witness to radical love without imposing on the beloved.
“Through this ordination, the Lord shares with you such priesthood charged with feeding His sheep. So let your heart not turn a blind eye to the suffering of the poor,” he said.
He added: “In the spirit of the call to synodality, may you walk together with the poor, with the people, and make them feel they are loved by God unconditionally.”
Bishop Rapadas concluded by thanking the ordinands for their self-gift and enjoining them to pray to have the Heart of Jesus, the High Priest, when the “task of love” seems to bring no results.
Fr Colmenares will be missioned to the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service in Muntinlupa City, while Fathers Fabros and Sabio to the Bukidnon Mission District, where the Jesuits run parishes and parochial schools in Cabanglasan, Miarayon, and Zamboanguita.