How close are you with your Bishop?

Allow me to share with you one of my very personal reflections during the 5th DADITAMA Youth Convention.

Around a decade ago, when I entered the seminary, I can vividly recall the first time that I saw Archbishop Romulo Valles. This was when he celebrated Mass at the start of the Seminary’s school year.

As the years went by, I heard different things about Archbishop, some positive and some negative. For some reason, the negative things that I heard about him stuck to me the most. One of those was that he wasn’t that close to us college seminarians. I would hear comments from others who would say that “If I aim to be a priest, shouldn’t Archbishop make more effort to get to know me better?” I would hear others say “A Bishop I know from some place even knows the parents of his college seminarians, unlike ours” or “I wish he would take some time to actually talk to me at a personal level.”

Fast forward years later, after leaving the seminary and continuing to serve the youth ministry, I started to notice the small things that our Archbishop would do, that would reflect his personality. Whenever he would walk during the procession at the start of the mass he would always smile and try to make eye contact with the mass goers. This he always did without fail. I asked myself, why would he always do this? Why is this simple act so important for him?

During the 5th DADITAMA Youth Convention, he was present for all three days. During dinner time on the first day, he took the time to go the different tables in order to talk to the youth who were seated there. He asked “What parish?” and when we would answer, he would always have an animated reaction of “Ohhh that parish! That’s good!” or another reaction with his signature smile. He took the time to bless us or pat our heads.

How beautiful it would be if our Archbishop would take the time to listen to all of our stories, our struggles as youth leaders, our problems at work and in our families. However, as I reflect, I realize that is something that our beloved Archbishop would actually love to do, if only he had the time. But with what he can do, he really does his best. That is, to be with us in the moment and to make us feel that he is here with us, that he might not know us down to that personal level that some of us might long for, despite the effort required to come to us and stand for a simple picture with the various parishes in Davao, vicariates, groups of friends, and others who wanted a photo with him, he graciously complied. As more people approached him for a picture, a long line began to form. I thought to myself how tiring it must be to stand and smile for more than 30 minutes, but he did it anyway.

With this, I started to look inward. As an assistant parish youth coordinator, have I done my effort to get to know better those who have been entrusted to me? Down to the PSBS and different youth members in the chapels under our parish, to even my fellow core group members? As the formation ministry head of DAYCA, have I really given my all with regard to my role and responsibility?

How I wish I had the time to talk to them, share in their struggles, especially with those youth who appreciate the mere fact that we decided to visit their chapel and be with them. . I remember one of the kids at the chapel even asked “Kanus-a mo mu balik diri kuya?” And I could only smile. I felt guilty of having that negative judgement towards Bishop during my earlier years. I realize that I myself struggle with being with my fellow youth members, even those in the core group.

On the last day, during the encounter with Archbishop where we were given an opportunity to ask questions to our Bishop, one of the questions pointed out ways the lack of support that youth members felt when it came to their parish priests. In an admirable way, Archbishop first apologized that he himself is guilty of this, which is why he is trying his best to make up for it. What a humble gesture! I thought to myself.

At the end of the day, we can only do so much with the time that we are given by God, and it is truly a challenge to bring this Joy and Hope to those around us. One thing I can say is that I truly appreciated the presence and effort that Archbishop made for us during the DADITAMA Youth Convention.

I might not be close to our beloved Archbishop on a personal level. But through his presence and simple gestures I can say that our Archbishop has brought me closer to God, and in that way I can say that we are close. (Kim Amparo | Photos by John Rodel Tinampay)