Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma (right) ordains a new deacon at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, Wednesday morning.
(CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Reverend Arnel Dionaldo, 31, is now a step closer to achieving his dream of serving God and his people by becoming a priest.
But Dionaldo said he could not help but feel nervous because of the big responsibilities that he will have to face.
“Kulba ’cause it is really a big task for me and for those who have been ordained today. But at the same time, hopeful kay the God who calls us, who calls me, I know I am very sure will give me the grace and the strength to perform my duties and ministry later on,” he said.
Dionaldo, the youngest of four siblings, said he was inspired by his uncle, the late Fr. Felix Dionaldo, to become a priest.
He recalled that there were about a hundred of them in their batch who started out as seminarians at the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos in Barangay Mabolo and at the Society of Angels of Peace in Talisay City.
But after 10 years inside the two seminaries, only 10 percent of them remained, to be ordained as deacons.
Reverend Dionaldo was among the 10 seminarians who were ordained by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral on Wednesday morning.
Eight of them were from the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos while the two others were from the Society of Angel of Peace.
Archbishop Palma said the ten belonged to the first batch of deacons whom he ordained during the “Year of Clergy and Consecrated Persons.”
“It is very fitting occasion because if you are ordained this year, in your heart and in your mind, you are saying, how privileged I am to be able to join the community, the ranks of Presbyterium, in the very year when they are reflecting and the vocation and mission of deacon, especially the theme, the servant ministry,” Palma told reporters in an interview after the ordination.
“We are called not to become Lord and masters but to serve in different ways. Maybe simple and humble but they can contribute to the church.
Nindot kaayo ba nga dili sa rason nga you seek honor, glory and dignity but the joy of service,” he added.