by Eeso
I had the chance to work with another priest about 35 years older. I later learnt he got ordained as a priest the year I was born. In other words, he is obviously a senior priest to me in almost all aspects of priestly life. A simple person, in words and actions, I did not find any difficulty living with him. A big church building with Chinese-inspired rooftop separated our living quarters. Once to twice a week I cooked for our lunch, I had to think particular menu, never had repeated recipe for at least in two weeks, which may have caused me a lot of stress. However, cooking was a sort of advantage since I needed a lot of assistance as newbie taking care of three (3) parish communities. Our lunchtime lasting for about two hours helped a lot understanding tenets of parish life through him. There was once-a-week business meeting, which served as the most conducive, and best time for formal talks but indeed too formal. There was another lunch apart from my cooking days but together with around 20 faithfuls so that more personal and detailed conversations were impossible. What`s good about this man was his concern about my health. He never allowed leftovers kept in the fridge until the next day because of my midnight-eating habit, bringing all the cooked food in his private kitchen. Several times I found nothing left in the fridge. There`s another beautiful storyline derived from my pastoral work as spiritual adviser to three parish communities, and many more from three to another separate five parish communities years later. Celebration of the sacraments and sermons became the centre of pastoral work, as well as going out with people of different walks of life. It was easy reading the bible, talking about the bible even if its totally apart from the heart. Sharing life with them, living the Bible with them must have been another thing. Delivering a sermon is one of the most humbling role of a priest. With a very short time allotted for the homily, were indeed brief and precise, most often never a sermon in its strictest sense, but sharing of personal and daily faith-experience similar to the content of faith-sharing going on among parishioners. Not so much on teaching form, but recollections of what I have heard, of "what we have shared and learned" from weekdays faith-sharing among the same people listening. There must have been at least two to five similar words listeners often heard. In my case, words in Japanese such as "makaseru," "kami ni makasetekudasai," and "anshin shinasai" and other related statements were all the essential points.... "Leaving everything up to God," "leave the rest in Him," and "don`t worry much, leave「live」in peace ." Now that I am living very differently from the way it used to be, I am challenged to honestly comprehend the "Kami ni makaseru koto" I used to impart, now is my turn to really know its depth from the heart. After the internment of my father, I rushed to Manila for a short break just right before preparing documents for the next exit. Unluckily, turned out sick, confined at the nearest hospital for several days, uneasy the rest of the days, and months !?...what`s next, what if, irritating!...why?...uhg, a lot of "impossibles"...
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