success without a successor is failure

It has been more than three months since I last wrote an article for Candle Light. It was an article of appeal, an appeal that has borne fruit ever since in the outpouring of concern that people lavished to the Seminary of St. Vincent Ferrer. After that appeal I felt that every day was really a day of grace. Now I understand what Jesus meant when he said, Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of God, for it is only they who stand before God in their need who experience miracles in daily doses.
Permit me to narrate these miracles of a generous God through his people.
Before I even came back from vacation to assume my new position in the seminary, the cathedral has already ironed out plans to support the seminary with the Seminary Sunday every 5th Sunday of the month wherein the seminary fathers are to celebrate all 9 Sunday masses in the cathedral, talk about the vocation to the priesthood and the need to support the seminary and its mission in the Archdiocese. And the colecta for that Sunday will be given entirely as financial assistance for the seminary saddled with a bloated deficit. I would never ask for it knowing that giving the entire colecta on a given Sunday (I was once the treasurer of the cathedral) would surely affect its financial standing and operations. But it was purely through the initiative of Bishop Gerry, Fr. Macky and Fr. Marvin, a sacrifice they made for what they referred to as the “heart of the archdiocese.”
Going to the northern part of Iloilo I once passed a sign on the street which says, “success without a successor is failure.” It is true and this is what every priest and parish should think about when they hear the seminary in need. I am thankful to the administrators of the cathedral whose thoughtfulness and generosity to the point of sacrifice has started so to say the ball rolling for others to get concerned for the seminary.


The parish of Jaro has never been wanting when it comes to helping those in need. When I started my second stint at the cathedral, typhoon Frank came (sometimes I get to wonder did I brought that typhoon about? I was also in Manila when Ondoy struck!) and though many in the parish were victims themselves that did not prevent them from lending a helping hand to those who came out worst. As a parish we fed more or less five hundred people for two weeks, 3 times a day. And we started the “bag-o nga panugod fund” which helped many to rebuild their homes and their lives. I was there and I saw your generosity and sacrifice for others.
Our situation here received the same response. People from the Ladies of Charity, the Catholic Women’s league and the Daughters of Mary Immaculate International came to help. But ordinary parishioners also came, most of them wanting to be anonymous. Some of those who were donating for the renovation of the cathedral did not stop their donations after the work in the cathedral was completed but instead instructed the parish to give these for the benefit of the seminary.
The Carmelite Tertiary also pledged their support, and of course Carmel who never waned in her support for the seminary through the years, not just through their prayers and sacrifices but even by sharing their blessings, resources and even the produce of their garden. One day, a somewhat dilapidated car came to our seminary and a farmer who has a farm in Guimaras gave us 5 sacks of jackfruit because he said, Carmel led him to us saying that we need whatever help we can find. Carmel even shares her benefactors with us!
But what really touched my heart was when students from Colegio de San Jose came, handing over to me a collection they made among the students and three sacks of rice. And they did this twice. When I told these to the parents of the seminarians during a meeting some left the hall teary eyed.
San Jose as an institution in the parish has always been a “faithful parishioner”. When Bagyo Frank came they practically gave the whole cafeteria kitchen for our use. They also gave us slots for the parish scholarship program and we even have a working student working in the cathedral while availing the same privileges a working student of the Colegio has. And to this day they continue to support our BEC and Kabalaka Programs with one of the sisters sitting on the board. And now this . . . for the seminary. To the Daughters of Charity sisters I could not thank you enough for your support.
When I wrote that article in Candle Light 3 months ago, a lay person and her son got hold of a copy and read it. Because of this and the insight that it created in them in the Adoration Chapel, we now have more or less fifty people who have pledged to donate five hundred pesos monthly for the seminary, and her son, a very young entrepreneur, pledged to give us 20 kilos of dressed chicken a month.
Because of the initiative of Jarenos, the concern spread to other parishes initially through people who have ties with Jaro. Fr. Philip Sinco organized some donors from the parish of Janiuay with Fr. Francis Nicolasora, their parish priest making the first donation. Fr. Peter Guarin in the parish of Carles organized his parishioners with the support of Fr. Gil Mediana, their parish priest. We went there one day and we filled up our borrowed pick-up with goods coming from ordinary people . . . we had sacks of rice, vegetables, eggs, a sack of salt, a sack of sugar and of course dried fish and cash. It was so touching because people came with what they have and what they can afford - half a kilo of this, a kilo of that . . . gathered together. We went to the market of Estancia and one “manug-uga” gave us several kilos of uga balinghon and out of the blue opened her cash box and gave to us her sales for the day.
Pavia with their parish priest, Fr. Nasty Gonzales also came, sometimes bringing vegetables from offerings in his parish and sometimes money for the seminary’s scholars. The mass-goers at the Sto. Nino Shrine at SM Delgado offered to us all the colecta for the whole year gathered every Tuesday during the 12:15 mass. This is an initiative started by its chaplain Fr. Boboy Palencia and the administrators of the Shrine. The parish of Oton headed by Msgr. Gamboa initiated a retreat which I conducted, generating more than 7 sacks of rice for the seminary. And with the mayor of Oton and his executive secretary, they organized a fun run on the second Sunday of Easter and generated funds to help the seminary.
Fr. Mario Ladra also came with his book “Straight from the Heart” which he sold in the parishes and gave 30 percent of the proceeds of each book sold for the benefit of St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary. As of this time, the foundation he started will also support two seminarians by paying for their tuition fees. We also got donors from Filipinos in the United States through the initiative of some parents of the seminarians who asked their relatives to help us campaign for the benefit of the seminary.
The Council of the Laity headed by Fr. Joel Rudi and its ever active lay leaders invited me in one of their meetings to explain to them the difficulties of St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary. I told them that money is not the primary problem. In fact it is only the off-shoot of the more pressing problem which is the lack of vocations to the priesthood. There was a time when this seminary was full of seminarians and we were sending many would-be priest to the Regional Seminary in Cubay for their proper formation for the priesthood in theology. But times have changed. Few seminarians are coming in and this year, for example, we would be sending only two seminarians for the theologate (minus the regents). Because of this problem the council resolved to help the seminary establish the Commission on Vocations in the parishes. If each parish have their commission on vocations, the work of recruiting young men for the priesthood and the work of supporting and sustaining them in their formation would be a lot easier on our part.
On July 30, (getting the idea from the public officials of Oton), if God wills, we might also initiate a fun run to generate funds for the seminary and at the same time create awareness in the hearts and minds of people especially the young, of the importance of the seminary and the formation to the priesthood for the future of the church. As I said “success without a successor is failure.”
I cannot help but thank God every time I think of all those who have been good to us, instruments of God’s miracles and providence. We are truly grateful, the seminarians most especially. Thank you for your continued support. Thank you for making the miracles of God happen through you.