Appointed bishop of the Diocese of Malaybalay on February 18, 2010, Fr. Joe Cabantan will be formally installed on May 15, 2010. In this issue of LAMDAG, Fr. Cabantan speaks about his new mission, entrusted to him by God and the challenges that await him.
How did you receive the news of your appointment as Bishop of Malaybalay?
This came very unexpectedly. The secretary to the Nuncio called me in my mobile phone minutes after we laid to rest the late Fr.Idroy telling me to come to the nunciature the soonest possible. He would not even agree when I asked to go there the following week.
What was your immediate reaction to the appointment?
Right after the call, I could not understand myself. I felt I was floating in the air. I was really wondering why that urgency. When the Nuncio told me about the appointment I could not believe it. All my feelings of unworthiness, inadequacies and even sinfulness engulfed me. I did not accept the task immediately and I asked more time to pray over it. I was given few days to discern over it.
You are one of the first alumni of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary and the first diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro appointed bishop, how do you feel about this?
I feel humbled but full of gratitude to God’s unfathomable grace and overflowing love. It is all pure gift from God and full of mystery.
What for you is a role of a bishop, in the diocese of Malaybalay?
With God’s grace I hope to be a loving and humble steward of all people and all of God’s creation in this particular Church.
You are a social action director and the Church of Malaybalay is right into environmental advocacy. What can you say about this?
Malaybalay Diocese is already engaged in this advocacy even before. My appointment to this diocese I believe spurs me on to continue what we have been doing here in the archdiocese. All I can say is that God must have prepared me for this advocacy.
What are your greatest fears and your greatest strength with regards to your appointment?
When the Nuncio mentioned to me that I have great predecessors there in Malaybalay, all the more I was afraid to take the task. What do I have but God by my side. His full assurances that I received in my prayers is my greatest strength. He alone can fill up all those inadequacies that I feel.
What have you chosen as your motto?
Spe Salvi Sumus meaning “In hope we were saved” (Rom 8:24 ) This echoes Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Spe Salve. This should remind me of the whole of creation groaning in pain towards its destiny of glory which I need to take care.
When did it become clear to you that you would be a priest?
The attraction started when I was serving as one of the altar boys in our parish at St. John the Baptist. Despite the fact that I did not pursue this attraction after high school, I remained connected with the church even when I was already working in factories. After I felt that something was still lacking in my life I decided to enter at San Jose de Mindanao Seminary. But it was only in my Spiritual-Pastoral Formation Year at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary that the call to the priesthood became so clear to me.
How would you describe your priestly life prior to your appointment as Bishop of Malaybalay?
Priestly life is still mysterious and grace-filled. There are ups and downs that make us more mature in this vocation. There are challenges that launch us into the deep waters and make us more trustful in God. Full of joy and I never regret.
What would you like to tell the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro? Let us be thankful to God for the gift of vocation, and intensify our prayers for more vocations. As for me, I ask them to please double them prayers for me as I enter into this new horizon in my priestly life and ministry.
- conducted by Mary Anne Padilla, FSP
How did you receive the news of your appointment as Bishop of Malaybalay?
This came very unexpectedly. The secretary to the Nuncio called me in my mobile phone minutes after we laid to rest the late Fr.Idroy telling me to come to the nunciature the soonest possible. He would not even agree when I asked to go there the following week.
What was your immediate reaction to the appointment?
Right after the call, I could not understand myself. I felt I was floating in the air. I was really wondering why that urgency. When the Nuncio told me about the appointment I could not believe it. All my feelings of unworthiness, inadequacies and even sinfulness engulfed me. I did not accept the task immediately and I asked more time to pray over it. I was given few days to discern over it.
You are one of the first alumni of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary and the first diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro appointed bishop, how do you feel about this?
I feel humbled but full of gratitude to God’s unfathomable grace and overflowing love. It is all pure gift from God and full of mystery.
What for you is a role of a bishop, in the diocese of Malaybalay?
With God’s grace I hope to be a loving and humble steward of all people and all of God’s creation in this particular Church.
You are a social action director and the Church of Malaybalay is right into environmental advocacy. What can you say about this?
Malaybalay Diocese is already engaged in this advocacy even before. My appointment to this diocese I believe spurs me on to continue what we have been doing here in the archdiocese. All I can say is that God must have prepared me for this advocacy.
What are your greatest fears and your greatest strength with regards to your appointment?
When the Nuncio mentioned to me that I have great predecessors there in Malaybalay, all the more I was afraid to take the task. What do I have but God by my side. His full assurances that I received in my prayers is my greatest strength. He alone can fill up all those inadequacies that I feel.
What have you chosen as your motto?
Spe Salvi Sumus meaning “In hope we were saved” (Rom 8:24 ) This echoes Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Spe Salve. This should remind me of the whole of creation groaning in pain towards its destiny of glory which I need to take care.
When did it become clear to you that you would be a priest?
The attraction started when I was serving as one of the altar boys in our parish at St. John the Baptist. Despite the fact that I did not pursue this attraction after high school, I remained connected with the church even when I was already working in factories. After I felt that something was still lacking in my life I decided to enter at San Jose de Mindanao Seminary. But it was only in my Spiritual-Pastoral Formation Year at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary that the call to the priesthood became so clear to me.
How would you describe your priestly life prior to your appointment as Bishop of Malaybalay?
Priestly life is still mysterious and grace-filled. There are ups and downs that make us more mature in this vocation. There are challenges that launch us into the deep waters and make us more trustful in God. Full of joy and I never regret.
What would you like to tell the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro? Let us be thankful to God for the gift of vocation, and intensify our prayers for more vocations. As for me, I ask them to please double them prayers for me as I enter into this new horizon in my priestly life and ministry.
- conducted by Mary Anne Padilla, FSP
No comments:
Post a Comment