A Homecoming

Visiting a parish after more than 20 years, to see old friends and to witness and share the changes brought about by time

By Fr. Pat Kelly, S.F.M.
November/December 2008

Return to Table of Contents
Print Article

In July of this year I visited Southern Leyte, Philippines, where Scarboro missioners had worked for some 27 years.

Scarboro missionaries first went to the Philippines in 1955. L-R: Former Scarboro missionary Fr. Fred Wakeham, Fr. Charlie Gervais (now serving in Ecuador), and Fr. Longie MacLean who died in 2002. (Photo circa 1962)

My prime focus was the parish of St. Bernard where in 1963 I became its first parish priest. You might remember St. Bernard as the municipality in which a devastating landslide occurred in 2006 in the village of Guinsaugon. A whole part of the mountain gave way and more than a thousand people were buried alive including elementary school children and their teachers, as well as a large group of health workers from many villages in St. Bernard who were attending a meeting in Guinsaugon.

I had not visited St. Bernard in more than 20 years and the homecoming was something tremendous. On Sunday I celebrated two masses in the town centre and both were packed to the gills. In the homily, I shared how truly amazed I was at the changes that had taken place in the municipality.

One of these changes was the paved road running from one end of the district where Scarboro served to the other – some 80 kilometres, from Catmon to Hinatungan – an area that seemed to us back then like the end of the line. In those days, we traveled the rough road dressed in our white soutane, covered in dust or mud depending on the weather. None of the missionaries who worked in the parish ever thought we would see a paved road in this area. It was beyond our imagination. But here it was.

I told the parishioners that in the 20 years since I had lived and served in St. Bernard my understanding of my faith had also changed. During my years there, I was focused on life after death, and a lot of my sermons and ministry of the sacraments were concerned with making sure our souls entered eternal life. Being young and active, I scoured the hillsides for souls. I have wonderful memories from that time of my life.

I shared with the people that now my life is more centred on the prayer that Jesus taught us, the Our Father, especially "your kingdom come; your will be done..." The justice and peace of God's kingdom have become real goals to pursue while looking at the world from the side of the poor.

Fr. Pat Kelly with Fr. Riolito Ramos of Dumingag Parish, Zamboanga del Sur, on the island of Mindanao, Philippines. Fr. Pat is assistant to Fr. Ramos in this large parish with 45 chapels. Strong Basic Christian Communities (BCCs) exist in this area, meeting regularly to reflect on the issues they face in their daily lives in the light of the Gospel. In the past couple of years, the people have been taking action to stop mining in this region. (See article by Danny Gillis, Scarboro Missions, September-October 2007 edition.)

This change in my understanding of my faith happened gradually, starting with my involvement in the formation of credit unions, which had been started by Scarboro missionary Tony Martin. The poor taught me an awful lot about God in their commitment to justice and peace under very stressful situations, especially during the Marcos dictatorship, and their generosity in giving their lives for others. So many times I saw goodness in them that was not in me and I would walk away ashamed.

Now, there seems to be a part of me that is focused on two points. One is what we say in the Our Father: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." If all of us did that, just imagine what the world would be like. I would say the whole teaching of Jesus, in words and deeds, shout loud and clear about forgiveness.

The other point is what Jesus teaches us, his followers: "Love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you." Just imagine if we did that.

Is this all beyond our imagination? And yet I would say that missioners are called by Jesus to do exactly that: "As the Father has sent me, I also send you."

So we do our little bit in the grand project of the Reign of God, just as many people over many years worked to pave the road in Southern Leyte and succeeded. All things are possible. We can really and truly change the world if we, as Christians, do not accept the world as it is and let our imaginations soar.

Return to Table of Contents
Print Article