โOk, next!โ
Husky-voiced Fr. Rodel Paulino, new parish priest of the villageโs St. James the Great Parish, is driven and works so hard that some think he is not prone to small talk. Like the CEO or COO of a big corporation, he wants things done on time.
But up close, Fr. Rodel is warm, calling his parishioners โsisterโ or โkuya.โ Or even โbrader.โ A church guard says of him, โMagaang ang dating (Easy to get along with).โ
Still opinions of him vary but all agree that our new parish priest is a hard-working shepherd of his flock.
He hit the ground running last February when he took over the reins of the parish.
He set up meetings right and left with many of the parish commissions and ministries. He aimed for an early exchange of ideas and direction-setting. His packed schedule would have made an older priest lose his voice or come down with the flu. The heat of El Nino recently drove this 50-year-old to wipe the sweat off his face and neck consistently when celebrating Mass. This led us in the Ministry of Ushers, Greeters and Collectors (MUGC) who serve at the country club Sunday Mass to always be ready with a cold bottle or glass of mineral water within his reach.
His overarching plan for the parish? โI want two things: Faith and fellowship. We share our faith; we enjoy our life together through fellowship.โ
Fr. Rodel is a homegrown Las Pinas โcitizenโ, a neighboring city of Muntinlupa. He is the eldest among four boys and a girl.
He took up accountancy at Far Eastern University, which is possibly why he is todayโs eagle-eyed financial administrator of the Diocese of Paranaque. He was honed in his priestly calling at the St. Paul Seminary Foundation in Silang and Our Lady of the Pillar Seminary in Imus, both in Cavite. He also studied theology at the Jesuit-run San Jose Seminary.
On Mar. 5, 2005, at 31 years old, he became a priest. His first assignment was as secretary to the most Rev. Bp. Jesse Mercado who has headed the diocese since its creation in 2003.
What led Fr. Rodel to the priesthood was a โlife-changingโ moment 29 years ago at the World Youth Day celebration in Manila. It was 1995 and he was a young man of 21. The now St. John Paul II presided at that celebration, the first time an Asian country hosted the annual religious gathering of the youth and young adults for prayer, worship and celebration of the Catholic faith.
โI felt something (stir) in my heartโฆ(as I seek) a deeper meaning of my mission.โ He saw something โin the face of the youth and the Church.โ He had worked for the Bank of Philippine Islands, Meralco Foundation, a construction firm, and at Globe Telecom. Then the vocation beckoned.
His wish list for his new parish includes the church being everyoneโs โhappy place โฆ Our parish must be a happy place. If you are happy, you bring that spirit to your family.โ The same goes for the St. James Formation Center, now under construction. โBy December 2025, it will be usable,โ he promises. It will be a โhappy placeโ too.
So far, the changes he has made in church include reviving the 4 p.m. Sunday Mass in Pilipino. And turning on the air-conditioners in church for every Mass. โHow can we help Mass goers focus more on the liturgy (if they get distracted by the heat)? I want them to say, โThe Mass moved me because it was celebrated meaningfully.โโ
The extra expense for electricity is of no consequence to him. โMoney is the last consideration. โโDi naman ako magastos (I spend prudently). When I help, I give my heart. We must know how to be of service to the community.โ
The parish is now also more active in social media, proof of Fr. Rodelโs strong belief in its power to reach todayโs faithful. He is all praise for the audio-visual presentation on the recent Santacruzan held in the parish. โAng ganda, ang galing (How beautiful, how effective),โ he says.
He does not read from prepared notes for his homilies. A frequent Mass goer notes that Fr. Rodel is comfortable delivering his homilies extemporaneously in either English or Pilipino. โHe does not say โรกhโor โuhmโ โฆ which can be distracting.โ
When the usual reshuffling of parish priests was on the table after their regular stints were about to end, Fr. Rodel, then parish priest of Madonna del Divino parish in nearby Southvale, Las Pinas, asked for โa poor communityโ to shepherd. Instead, he was given St. James the Great parish in Ayala Alabang, probably one of the richest parishes in the country.
Truly, God has his ways. Fr. Rodel believes the โunexpectedโ assignment may mean he has something to share with and at the same time learn from St. Jamesโ parishioners whom he describes as โvery available. Ang daling bigyan (It is so easy to give) ng instructions. People here are gifted to organize so we can bring order to things. They do things joyfully.
โThere is COPA (Church of the Poor Apostolate). We joyfully help other parishes, the very poor parishes.
โWe will have a stewardship program โฆ we will create a manual on how to manage parishes well.โ And he goes on and on about his plans until he stops at one point to reiterate, โWe are one parish. We work together, we pray together. The shepherd is there to guide you.โ
Our new parish priest is a morning person. He likes breakfast meetings. When he fails to see folks in church, he finds a way to visit them in their own homes. โWe have to go back to our core: to evangelize, to reach out,โ he says. He is asleep by 9 or 10 p.m. โSa puyatan, low-bat ako (Late nights drain my energy),โ but he is up by 4 a.m. to read the Bible.
His pet Pomeranian โMilkie,โ said to be named after high priest Melchizedek in the Bible, loiters under the dining table while Fr. Rodel and his fellow priests eat breakfast.
Behind his desk on the wall of his โconventโ in the parish office is a big cross-stitched portrait of Jesus and His Sacred Heart. What do people not know about you, one asks the priest, but which Jesus does?
Almost as if he was in the confessional, Fr. Rodel says softly: โI am an introvert.โ
He has to address a crowd at every Mass. He has to face any and all parishioners who seek his counsel. He has to hobnob with folks, both the wealthy and powerful, and the poor and simple. He has to engage people from within and outside his parish. So how does he do it?
โI have to exert double effort. It is exhausting. By the grace of God, I am able to do it.โ
In an instant, Fr. Rodel is gone from his seat. He is at the door of his โconvent.โ
โSister, anong sabi ni Kuya Ben (Sister, what did Kuya Ben say)?โ he asks his next visitor.
