First OSJ priest from Tagakpan celebrates God’s call to priesthood

Priesthood is both a gift and a mystery.

All of us have beautiful plans for the future ahead of us. Some would like to be a teacher to save mankind from ignorance. Others prefer to be a doctor who saves the lives of the sick and dying. Young boys want to be a policeman or a soldier — the defender of the nation. Significantly, there are hundreds of possible professions and tracks that a person can choose depending on his interest, lifestyle, and preference. However, only few are called and chosen to live a religious life, and follow the footsteps of Christ.

Rev. Fr. Ryan Mullon, OSJ, is just one of the few who open-heartedly responded to God’s call to religious life. Fr. Ryan was ordained last July 15 in Ibaan, Batangas, as a new member of the Oblates of Saint Joseph. What makes him special is that he is the very first priest coming from Brgy. Tagakpan — a small barangay of which majority of the people are Catholics.

To rejoice his success of responding to God’s call, a thanksgiving mass was celebrated last July 22, 9:30 AM, at San Francisco de Asis Parish-Tagakpan. The mass was attended by the OSJ Provincial Superior together with his team of priests, OSJ seminary professors, Barangay Officials, friends, elementary and high school teachers, classmates, the mother, and siblings of Fr. Ryan. All of them are grateful to the Lord for the blessing he bestowed upon Fr. Ryan for not giving up despite life’s challenges, and still continued to pursue his beautiful plan of becoming a soldier of God.

During the homily, Rev. Fr. Helbert Jadraque, OSJ, said that being a priest is both a gift and a mystery. In addition, the priestly vocation is a gift given by God to and for the people. This vocation is not similar to the other vocations because the priest does not think about himself — the fame, the fortune, the love and awe of the people — but he offers himself to everyone, most especially to God.

On the other hand, the priestly vocation is also a mystery because through this, God shows His love and graces to His people. It is with the love given to the priests that enables them to perpetuate God’s presence, continue His mission on earth, and to forgive the people through the sacrament of reconciliation.

Fr. Helbert concluded his homily by telling Fr. Ryan a quote from one of Pope Francis’ letters: A priest’s duty is not to do every business, but to pray for the soul of the faithful.

The OSJ Provincial Superior, Rev. Fr. Jason Endaya, OSJ, also gave a message to the first OSJ priest of Tagakpan. He emphasized that the Lord is generous and full of compassion. This is manifested to the lives of the priests, most especially to Fr. Ryan. Thus, it is important that we should return the favor. We must be grateful to the Lord for the gift of vocation.

Before the final blessing, Father Ryan was given the chance to speak to his ka-barangay. According to him, since the beginning of his life as a priest, he is very thankful to the Lord for the gift of priesthood despite his human weaknesses.

Furthermore, he also shared that there is a thin line that separates his vocation story and the history of San Francisco de Asis Parish. With the establishment of the parish in the year 2000, he was one of the first altar servers who found joy in serving the Lord as an acolyte. He was just a Grade Six student then. After all, his vocation story is just an ordinary vocation story. But he found it very extraordinary because God has called him in this kind of life.

In addition, Father Ryan is thankful to the people around him who served as his inspiration to pursue priesthood, especially Fr. Leo Gonzales, OSJ, the first parish priest of San Francisco de Asis Parish-Tagakpan. He also thanked the OSJ priests, the Parish Pastoral Council, and everyone who organized the thanksgiving mass.

The mass was concluded with a final message from the SFDA Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Peter Fancubila, OSJ. He said that a priest is a channel of God’s graces. Hence, the hands of the priest are considered holy because it is through the priest’s hands that the bread and wine are magnificently converted to the body and blood of the Lord. This is what makes a priest unique from others. He also congratulated the people of Tagakpan for the success of Fr. Ryan. His success is also the victorious success of everyone in the barangay.

After the Eucharistic celebration, the people gathered around Fr. Ryan, along with three other newly-ordained priests to kiss their hands and receive blessings from the young priests.

As mentioned earlier, every one of us have beautiful plans for our future. Given this, we must pray to God that we will be guided with our choices. May His spirit guide us in our day-to-day existence, lead us to the right path, and enlighten us with the light of good decision-making so that we will be as joyful and successful as Fr. Ryan Mullon, the very first OSJ priest from Brgy. Tagakpan. (Jeffren P. Miguel | SFDA-SoCCom)