Priestly Ordinations: “God always promises the future”

From Recent News section in www.opusdei.org. The last 2 paragraphs introduces the 2 newly ordained priests from the Philippines.

34 faithful of Opus Dei were ordained priests on Saturday, May 4th, at the Basilica of St. Eugene in Rome. The new priests come from 16 different countries and join the clergy of the Prelature. They come from Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, New Zealand, Venezuela, Chile, the United States, Kenya, France, Paraguay, El Salvador, Uganda, the Philippines, Peru and Italy.

Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, Archbishop of Valencia (Spain), ordained the new priests. In his homily, he told them, “Never forget: the good shepherd is the one who, like Christ, always thinks of the good of souls rather than his own personal interests. Thus he is capable of the greatest sacrifices, because he knows how to love.”

The Prelate of Opus Dei, Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, participated in the ceremony from the presbytery. Many relatives and friends of the new priests were in attendance.

“Only love,” Bishop Cañizares said, “can give meaning to a life of dedication: a love that we want to endure ‘to the end,’ to the point of forgetting ourselves, and that leads us to live happily, working wherever God wants us, carrying out His will with loving care.”

Citing Pope Francis, Cañizares insisted: “Accompaniment is the key to being pastors today. We need ministers who embody the closeness of the Good Shepherd, priests who are living icons of closeness.” He also encouraged the new priests to take special care of the Mass as well as the sacrament of Penance: “Faced with the marvel of being a confessor, of being a minister of God’s grace, you should consider that we all need forgiveness: may you be good confessors as well as good penitents. Accompanying others means you are also striving to go forward, fighting against your own shortcomings while counting on God’s grace.”

Cañizares imagined what St. Josemaría might say to the families of the ordinands: “Fill yourselves with joy because the Lord has deigned to choose one of your family as His minister, so that he might bring God’s peace to the whole world.”

“God always promises the future,” Cañizares assured them, “and today He is announcing to us once again that He will never stop sending us shepherds and that the assistance of the priestly ministry will never be lacking.”

From the Philippines, ordained priests are Fr. Nathaniel Peña Baluda (Baguio City) and Fr. Rafael Pojol Quinto (Davao City).

Fr. Rafael Quinto is a parishioner of San Pablo Parish. After his 13 years of early education at the Ateneo de Davao University, he studied at De La Salle University and graduated with a degree in Computer Science specializing in Network Engineering. After working with Smart Communications, Inc., he pursued further studies at the University of Navarre (Pamplona, Spain) and at the Roman College of the Holy Cross (Rome, Italy) before his ordination last May 4, 2019 at the Basilica of St. Eugene in Rome.