Thanksgiving of Rev. Fr. Adonis R. Rimano

My dear friends in Christ, we are here today to thank God for His gift of priesthood to our Christian community. As I say this, I would like to emphasize that the gift of ministerial priesthood is God’s gift to the whole Christian community, the Church and not a gift to an individual or individuals. This is in line with the thought of John Paul II manifested in his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia –If the Holy Eucharist as the “source and summit of the Christian life” is Christ’s greatest gift to His Bride, the Church –it is only thanks to His prior gift of the ministerial priesthood that we still have the Holy Eucharist in the Church. Thereof, in this “Thanksgiving Mass”, it is we, the Christian community who give thanks to God and not Fr. Adonis alone because the gift of ministerial priesthood which is strictly linked to the gift of the Holy Eucharist is God’s gift to us all. In other words, as we celebrate this Thanksgiving Mass to affirm God’s gift of priesthood, this celebration is not a family affair although it includes a family affair. This is not also a personal matter to Fr. Adonis although it includes his personal matters. This celebration is about us who are blessed by God with the gift of priesthood. We are gathered here as one Christian community, as a Church, to claim as our own the gift of ministerial priesthood through the person of Rev. Fr. Adonis Rimano. Moreover, this Thanksgiving celebration makes us realize that just as we have our share in this precious gift of God, we too must take our share in the responsibility over this gift. If we have our share in the blessings of the priesthood, we also have our share in the burdens of our priests who serve the Church. (Ro pari sarang makabati sa tawo it palakpak o libak.) Priesthood is God’s gift to you and me, to us, to our Church, we better take good care of such gift. If you and I belong to the same Church, let no one among us casts doubts against the gift of priesthood. (Kon regalo o bugay it Dios katon ro pagkapari, indi ta pag samaron ro pari. Kon ginasamaran ta ro isaea ka pari, ginasamad ta mismo ro Simbahan nga ginapatatap ku Dios sa ginpadaea na nga mga pari). The same burden is also given to us priests, especially to our newly ordained priest, Fr. Adonis. Fr. Adonis you have to take good care of the gift of priesthood not because it is yours now but because above all else, it is God’s gift to His Church. Never think of the gift of priesthood as your personal achievement that you can include in your resume to find an income-earning job. Never think of the gift of priesthood as your personal success as if it is part of your credential. Rather, think of what it means to say that priesthood is God’s gift to His Church. Go back to your experience. Remember, no matter how you wanted to become a priest when you were in the elementary, you were not included in the list of those who were admitted in the seminary. Remember, after a year of waiting, you were finally admitted in the seminary yet your health suffered as you tried to adjust with the seminary life. Remember, when you were advised to take your regency. Remember, your pre-diaconal and diaconal struggles. Remember the question of the people in Camaligan, -why is it that after you finished your seminary training, there is no guarantee of ordination to the priesthood. Well, all these remind you of your unworthiness yet God has chosen you to be His priest. God wants you to realize through your experience that priesthood is a gift. And now that you are a priest, you have received priesthood as a gift from God, so you must serve the Church as a gift to God. This is what I realize in my thirteen years in the ministry: people love us, respect us, and trust us not because of who we are. Rather, they love us because we carry with us the gift of priesthood. There are many good singers in the community, yet they are not loved the way we are loved by people. There are great public speakers, yet they are not trusted the way we are trusted by people. There are many kind teachers, yet they are not respected the way we are respected. This is so because people believe that the gift of priesthood which we bear with us, is God’s gift to them. To go further from this, there are many gays or homosexuals who suffer discrimination in our society just because they are gays or homosexuals. There are hot-tempered persons who are avoided by their neighbours because they create tensions in the community. There are some fathers of the family who gain no respect from their children because they are bad. But look at us priest. No matter how big our sin is, no matter what kind of mistakes we do, people still accept us as they accept God’s gift of priesthood in us. People love us because from among many, we are the ones chosen by God to be His priests. Therefore, Fr. Adonis you must take good care of the gift of priesthood with utmost diligence. When you are troubled, when the gift of your priesthood is endangered, call on Jesus Christ, the one and the only good shepherd. Young as you are, you are full of energy, full of ideology to be a good priest. But it could happen you might commit big mistakes or make some error of judgment. If such times come, never think that God is wrong when He bestowed on you the gift of priesthood. Rather, believe that you will mature in time because God will continue to give His grace that you may be able to preserve the giftedness of the priesthood. Fr. Adonis, we may not always understand you. We may not always like you. We may not always accept you. But one thing is sure God always loves you, He has chosen you as a shepherd after his own heart. God will never regret in choosing you. God is never wrong in choosing you, a priest for His Church. Amen.