God is Faithful!

I was asked, “If I could summarize the past 25 years of my priestly life in three words, what would it be?”  I replied without hesitation, “God is faithful!”

The past 25 years as priest is not about my personal achievements, titles or roles.  It is not about my successes or failures.  It is not even about me at all.  It is about the faithfulness of the God that called me and I tried to follow, with the ups and downs of life, for the past twenty-five years of my life of a little bit over half a century.  He called me and never ever abandoned me in the most trying moments of my life.  He was always there, in joyful and sad times or in the ordinariness of every day.  At times, He is so vivid and at times hidden, but He was always there. 

I had dreams of what I wanted to become when I was younger but when I had my perpetual profession, I gradually put those dreams into His hands.  Since then, it was Him that shaped and reshaped the way that I dream of tomorrow.  It was no longer about my personal dreams or ambitions.  In fact, I had become not of what I exactly imagined I could become but I do believe and pray to have gradually in the process of becoming of what He wanted me to become.  In this journey of constant becoming, I have experienced Him in many ordinary ways, also, in some wonderful ways, in many unforeseen occasions and in many undeserved graces and blessings that helped reshape my journey of discipleship.  Through these ordinary or even some special moments, I have come to believe that He is always there.  He is always true to His promise.  He never abandoned those whom He called to stay with Him closer.  He is closer even to me than I can imagine or strive to be as close as possible to Him.  He is indeed faithful.  I can say this, not because I read about it or had studied it in pontifical universities enabling me to have a degree.  I am saying this because that is how I had experienced Him for the past 25 years of my life as a priest and even during the first stages of my life and vocational journey. 

He, the Lord God is faithful!  He is indeed faithful!  It is His faithfulness that makes me remain to strive to become what He wants me to be until that day that I could possibly stare at His face.  On that day, it would not be because I deserved or merited it.  I have long been convinced that it is His inestimable gift of love and mercy that saves persons like me.  It is His faithfulness that keeps me going.  My little good works, if any, are just mere shadows of His love, mercy and faithfulness for me.

Now that age is beginning to show its accompanying moments of sickness, it leaves me no fear because He who was and is faithful will also be faithful until the end.  With a God of this type, it leaves no room for fear but of a day-to-day journey of whatever life may bring because whatever life may bring, He is always there!

Fr. Leo Juan Blaya Bobila, CS