MANILA, Jan. 27, 2010─One of the priest-participants in the ongoing clergy congress lauded the ecclesial event saying it provided a timely opportunity for the clergy to reflect on their ministry and commitment.

 

Fr. Joesilo C. Amalla of Butuan diocese said it is good for priests to take regular breaks from their ministry and that the priest event is a welcome development for them to reflect on their mission and their responsibilities.

 

Paying tribute to congress’ speaker Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, Amalla said he has heard tapes of their resource person and was more delighted to have seen and heard him in person.

 

“Every priest in the Congress intently listened to Fr. Cantalamessa,” he said.

 

Asked of positive effects the Second National Congress of the Clergy may have on priests across the country, Amalla said parishioners should be assured their priests would be more dedicated to their mission.

 

He said that more than just preparing and delivering homilies, priests need time for prayer and contemplation.

 

Active member of Legion of Mary

 

With his background as an active member of the church-based Legion of Mary, Amalla, who is a B. S. Psychology major with a minor in Chemistry, found himself enrolled in a seminary and now curator of the Diocese of Butuan’s museum.

 

“I was involved in the recruitment of Legion of Mary at the University of San Carlos and I found myself enrolled in the seminary and later on became a priest,” Amalla said.

 

He said in the beginning, he said he was not attracted to any specific lifestyle of priests he knew because their parish priest was too strict.

 

But he expressed admiration of their parish priest for his perseverance and vowed to follow his footsteps and become a priest himself.

 

“During my college days we often sung ‘Service’ and I thought there was no other way but to become a priest myself and be at the service of the Church,” Amalla said, recalling his younger days.

 

“I have been a priest for over 20 years and never doubted my vocation,” he added.

 

The jolly priest from Butuan said Bishop Juan De Dios Pueblos asked them to present their celebret so he could sign it for them but he found out he has left behind the needed document.

 

But he assured his bishop that he has in his possession his sick-call kit.

 

“I never forget to bring my sick-call kit to immediately respond whenever accidents happen,” he reassuringly said, adding that whenever he attends to sick calls he would talk to the sick person and immediate relatives and try his best to reconcile them.

(Melo M. Acuna)