The mission to be with you

(An excerpt of the Most Reverend Romulo G. Valles D.D. in his Homily during the Installation of Fr. Jesus Samaniego as Parish Priest of Sto. Rosario Parish, Toril, June 13, 2025.)

This Sunday, we heard in the Opening Prayer sa Misa, “O God, who show the light of your truth,” pagkanindot, ang kahayag sa imong kamatuoran, meaning kamatuoran nga Diosnon, kahayag nga Diosnon. Dili kahayag sa tiktok, dili kahayag sa youtube. So we pray, “who show the light of your truth to those who go astray”. Wow! The church knows that, dili ta mahiubos niana, that many times we go astray, mosimang kita. “So that they may return to the right path, give all who for the faith they profess are accounted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ and to believe after all give it honor.”

Kung maminaw ta sa First Prayer, Fr. Jess, makita nako that your work in the parish, your mission, is day after day, in word and deed, in teaching and accompaniment sa atong mga lay leaders, sa mga GKK’s nato, sa tanang engagements, day in and day out. Directly and indirectly, to give, to deliver, paborito ni Fr. Jess nga word sa Indangan, padungog-dungog. Magpadungog-dungog indirectly kay dili kaayo sakit. But mao gihapon, the divine truth, the light of the truth of Christ. That is the only mission. Ang sumada nato their work is amoang trabaho is to be with you, day in and day out bisan si Fr. Jess, Fr. Randy ug Fr. Soren mo attend og birthday party, malipay ta kay yehey naa sila mga pari! Ang storya nila indirectly unta mao gihapon, padungog-dungog the light of God.

Why is that important? We hear in the second reading today a very beautiful line: Christ is the image of the invisible God. For centuries, even before written in history, man has been in different ways seeking God. God is not like us. We are human beings and He’s divine. Kung inatoon pagsulti ang atong kuryente 210. Ang voltahe sa Ginoo 220. Dili gyud ta mag-abot. Dili makaya. Dili mag-abot. He is divine, the mysterious invisible God. We cannot. God is different. But God is now, He cannot refuse to be not love. Dili siya kapugong, mao may nature niya, reaching out to us. He wants to share His life to us.