CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I Stood Up!

This is actually the story on how I stood up for priesthood. It was posted last September 04, 2005, my birthday. I thought since it was part of my story, I should place it also in "The Whereabouts of a Lost Soul". This is just a reminder for those who have read this part.

The experience in Germany was something to be treasured for the rest of my life! I never realized that it would be that fruitful… Everything turned out even more than I expected… God was so good… at the same time smart as well, that He gave me more than I asked of Him and it helped me realize what is it that I have to do with the life He gave to me.

I will never forget the experience in Dachau, wherein we saw posters and pictures of the people who were brutally murdered in the regime of Adolf Hitler. The agony these people had was actually felt by each and every one of us inside the museum and the gas chamber. It made us stop and think for a while… what would it be like if we were the one who where in these innocents’ shoes?

Also, the popular mission in Nuremberg was actually something that I will always remember. The testimonies of my fellow youths, their bravery, were actually an inspiration during our pilgrimage. Their life without God and how they managed to look for Him was something to ponder for a few seconds of my time.

I still remember the words that Pope Benedict XVI gave us: "observe signs…" Something that I never did when I had the chance.

There is a word that I kept hearing in my ears when we had the chance to meet Kiko, one of the pioneers of the Neocatechumenal Way. "Couragio". Courage. Fear not. So when he invited those young men who felt that God is calling them for service, before I didn’t know why but I actually stood up… and it was something that stunned some of the youth that we met. What I am holding on that time was the word I received from that pilgrimage, and after several scrutinies in the preformation, I still receive the same word over and over again. Maybe not all of the time, but when I browsed my Scrutacio notebooks, I saw that I had the same word several times. “’Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you came to birth, I consecrated you; I have appointed you as prophet to the nations.’ I said, ‘Ah, Lord Yahweh; look, I do not know how to speak; I am a child.’ ‘Go now to those whom I send you and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to protect you – It is Yahweh who speaks!’ - Jeremiah 1:5-8”

A drug addict turned priest.

"Be not afraid.” the voice in my ears said. "Be not afraid with the discriminations, persecutions, rejections, worldly things."

Courage. Fear not.

("Couragio! Fear not!" - Padre Paulino, Padre Santiago, and Kiko)