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Farewell Message of Fr. Rolly to PCJ Parishioners
(During the Thanksgiving Dinner last June 25, 2011)
All of
you know very well that the general reshuffle of our
parish assignments has been announced to you since last
year. For quite a long time you have been made aware of
this and in fact a transition team in every parish was
organized to ensure a smooth transfer of leadership and
management in every parish. It has been the wish of our
beloved Bishop that with this process, you and the
parish priest will be much prepared for this big
“CHANGE” . Certainly this was to make you ready to
welcome your new parish priest and bid your outgoing
parish priest goodbye in the spirit of charity, respect
and love.
But in
our tradition of changing assignments among parish
priests, there are always mixed emotions and
difficulties among parishioners. One type of
parishioners hesitates to welcome a new parish priest
because they can’t let go of the outgoing parish priest.
The second type joyfully welcomes the new parish priest
while giving a warm send off to the outgoing parish
priest. I believe you belong to this second type of
parishioners. This is the kind of community that is open
to change because of its openness to the grace of the
Holy Spirit.
Saying
goodbye is never easy. Parting among friends and people
dear to us is truly sweet kind of sorrow. We all have
moments of goodbyes in our lives, some more painful than
others. One of the bittersweet joys of priestly ministry
is being in a community where people come and go, saying
hello and embrace them, and then later on say farewell.
There are so many people coming into and leaving our
lives. That’s what our ministry is all about: endless
hellos and goodbyes again and again and again.
Tonight, my thoughts return to the first time I met each
one of you in 2005. We were then relatively strangers to
each other. I must admit it was not easy forging
friendship with people. As a new parish priest it was
hard getting things done because of the culture of
adherence to things of the past. There was seeming
resistance to change. My only strength were prayers and
the realization that God was with me. Each day was a
constant struggle reaching out to many of you. On the
day of my installation as parish priest in September
2005, I remember making a commitment to continue what
has been left behind by my predecessor and I sought your
support and cooperation to make alive this Christian
community. I had some anxieties but I was hopeful. As
days and years went by, you are witness to how we
blended together and worked to organize people and
activities in keeping with the vision/mission of the
parish. While we worked even harder to respond to these
needs, we made sure that the life of the community
remained deeply rooted in the love and friendship of
Christ. Building up this community started with the
physical structures in order to make our place of
worship conducive to prayer. This was followed by the
introduction of modular formation programs in order to
make good your desire to get involved in the different
ministries of the parish. The formation programs have
increasingly become engaging activities for those who
wanted to attain a life of spirituality. By all
indications now, many of you have grown and imbibed the
virtues of a spiritual person. You have transformed from
the devotional churchgoer or church worker to spiritual
persons. By spirituality we mean having a personal and
intimate relationship with the Lord and not just doing
external functions in the church.
Dear
friends….. For five and nine months, it has been pure
joy and fulfillment to have served as your parish
priest. Ours had been almost a beautiful collaborative
ministry that spelled growth and maturity in our
Christian lives. In my 20 years as a priest, almost 11
years were spent in parish work and the rest in other
ministries. My life here at PCJ spent in the prime of my
age had never been perfect, but I can tell you without
hesitation that it had been very, very enriching and
edifying that kept me grounded to my priestly promises.
You gifted me with so much respect, love, care and
assurances of prayers for my well-being. You trusted me
that I can help you in your spiritual and emotional
well-being as well. We discovered each other’s gifts and
weaknesses that made us mature in our dealings with one
another. In our difficulties, conflicts and quarrels, we
learned repentance and forgiveness. In our journey of
faith, we prayed together and found comfort in each
other and in the love and goodness of God.
Tonight I am filled with gratitude…… but I have mixed
emotions….i am happy seeing all of you here and joining
me in thanking God for the fine blessings He has
showered this parish. To me, your presence is an
expression of your gratitude to God who has accompanied
us through the years. I feel sadness, because we will
not be seeing each other as often as we used to be. Yet,
I am consoled because we will remain connected through
the internet and our text messages. I will just be a
phone call away. Stay on line always……
These
past few days I have been receiving from many of you
heartwarming messages of appreciation, of thanks and
assurances of prayers in my new assignment. Many of you
came to me to say thank you for the good things that
have happened in your lives. As you thank me for the
things I may have done for you, let me thank you even
more. God is good! Thank you for your friendship. Thank
you for allowing me to enter into your lives. Thank you
for welcoming me into your homes where we shared happy
moments of fellowship. Thank you for your support and
encouragement in times of difficulties and failures in
my work. I am sorry for the times I may have hurt some
of you. Really, it pained me too to realize I have
caused heartaches and resentments. I thank GOD for the
grace of humility to seek repentance and forgiveness for
all my misgivings.
May I
take this opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude and
appreciation to the entire PCJ staff for your dedication
to work, zeal and honesty that made our office very
welcoming to the parishioners. Please keep up the good
work and be more devoted to your prayers.
I am
greatly indebted to our beloved Bishop for his paternal
guidance and blessing in all my priestly endeavors. I
cannot thank him enough for everything. Likewise, I
thank my brother priests here at Bahay Pari.. Fr. Jess,
Fr. Rio, Fr. John, Fr. Willy, Rev. Rap for all your
friendship and support. I will miss our occasional
fellowship!
As you
honor me tonight, please allow me to honor you as well
for your uncompromising and unprecedented support to me
and to the vision/mission of this parish that has come
to a beautiful and happy conclusion of my pastoral
ministry here.
In a
matter of days I will be leaving you and pass on to Fr.
Rodel this parish which has been a witness to a
wonderful journey of faith with you. As the song goes,
“what a journey it has been…”
Let me
leave you this wish and prayer……
Christian life is dynamic and therefore must be
nurtured, cared and shared. Whatever lessons you have
learned, let these be your legacy to the next
generation. Continue discovering God, loving Him and
praying to Him. These are the ways of a true Christian
worker.
Goodbyes are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end. They
simply mean I will miss you all, till the time we meet
again. Let us all stay happy and healthy for the greater
glory of God! May God our eternal Shepherd through the
intercession of Our Lady of the Presentation bless us
constantly in all our undertakings for the Church. I
Love you all!
REV. FR. ROLANDO R.
AGUSTIN
Parish Priest
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