| Fr. Joel Jason’s Educated Guess |
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| Written by Joy Sosoban |
| Monday, 01 February 2010 00:00 |
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“I could not really identify when it started,” Fr. Joel Jason disclosed as he started to share about his vocation. Father-Priest in the Home Growing up, he said, “There was no concrete something but I felt happy serving as a Knights of the Altar and I was always excited going to Mass. I had a certain attraction to the priest — his gestures and his vestments.” Fr. Joel said his family had an influence on him, especially his father. “I would see my father pray. He would lead us in the Rosary and the Angelus. He leads us as well in prayers before and after meals. On Sundays after the Mass, he would share some of his thoughts on the homily given by the priest. He became a lay minister. We had a first Saturday devotion as a family. My father was a real father-priest in the home,” he shared. When he was fourth year high school, Fr. Joel started to ask himself, “Ano bang gusto kong mangyari sa buhay ko?” (What do I want to do with my life?). Providentially, his uncle who wanted to become a priest asked him to go with him to San Carlos Seminary. He found out that there was a San Carlos Seminary not too far from their place (he grew up in Pasig). And when they visited, he liked the lifestyle of the young men he saw there. “Siguro dito ako tinatawag ng Diyos” (Maybe this is where the Lord is calling me), Fr. Joel told himself when he thought about the priesthood. Slowly the seed of vocation broke out from the ground. Purified View of God “Just like many people, I had an idealistic picture of the seminary life,” Fr. Joel shared. When he entered San Carlos Seminary on June 1986, he learned that the place was not “a place only of angels but of typical young men.” The realization did not discourage him. In fact, “It made me realize God really calls real people who are trying to be good,” he said. He loved the disciplined life of the seminary, of having time for study and work, and on the program on spiritual life. “We had daily Eucharist, daily prayers and apostolate work. Kahit mahirap, masaya ako” (Even though difficult, I was happy), Fr. Joel shared as he looked back. “Nabuo yung virtue of commitment” (The virtue of commitment was formed), he said of that period. Fr. Joel explained about how his view of God changed in the seminary. “When I was outside, I had a theoretical idea of God — of someone watching over you and checking if you commit mistakes. When you enter the seminary, those become purified. You come to realize He is a person calling you to a personal relationship,” he explained. Just Enough Time When Fr. Joel was ordained on July 31, 1996, God had become for him “the One who fulfills my deepest longing. I realized then this is my fulfillment and that He is the answer to my longings,” he reiterated. His ordination, he disclosed, “was a very emotional moment, especially the part when I prostrated myself on the floor, because that’s when you’re surrendering everything. But it was also a happy time especially when my brother-priests greeted me. I felt affirmed and supported.” Fr. Joel’s first assignment was in San Isidro Parish in Taft Avenue, Pasay, as an assistant parish priest for one year. Then he became the first parish priest of the Holy Family Parish in Gulod, Novaliches from 1997 to 1999. He said, “I just had enough time to form this new community, to do some fundraising to build the church. After the groundbreaking, Cardinal (Sin) asked me to leave the parish.” Studying the People “When I was a seminarian, I never really thought that I would be doing what I’m doing now,” he said. But he was given an inkling. “When I was about to be ordained, my mentors told me that I had a potential to be in the academe and in formation work,” he disclosed. So it was not a surprise for Fr. Joel when he was asked to go to Rome to study Moral Theology. He stayed there from 1999 to 2001 where he earned his Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. “It was difficult. It was a new culture, a new place, and a new language, but I was excited in meeting new people, of learning new things. They were wonderful years,” Fr. Joel shared of his stay there. To Fr. Joel studying is an important part of being a priest. “Studying in the priesthood never stops. As they say, there is no vacation in vocation. People have questions and you have to study. It’s not just book knowledge. You have to interact with people and listen to them. Pakikiramdaman mo ang kultura. Pinupulsuhan mo ang bayan (you understand the culture and listen to the prevailing atmosphere of the people) so that you can explain the Gospel to them,” he said. Part in Forming Priests Now as the Academic Dean of the Theology Department of San Carlos Seminary, its Admissions Director as well as a professor of Moral Theology, Sexuality and Bioethics, Fr. Joel’s life is steeped in books, students and the academe. As head of the Ministry for Family and Life of the Archdiocese of Manila, he is able to share about his knowledge of the Theology of the Body of Pope John Paul II, which was his thesis while studying in Rome. Theology of the Body has also become the foundation of his courses. He has even written a book, “Free Love, True Love,” to explain in a simple way the concepts of Pope John Paul II’s insights about love and sexuality. Published by Shepherd’s Voice Publications, Inc., it became a finalist in the Cardinal Sin Book Awards for New Emerging authors at the 2008 Catholic Mass Media (CMMA) Awards and is now on its third printing. “As a Dean of Studies, I make sure that the seminarians are intellectually capable, that they can express what the Church is teaching. So I invite all the best professors and I encourage them to let the seminarians research, to share in class, and to think,” he shared. Fr. Joel concluded, “I’ve learned to discover that I have a gift of teaching, that God is calling me to formation work. I still have a desire to work in a parish but I’m happy that I have a part in forming a priest when I see them working all over the Philippines and even abroad.” |