who-am-i

My Vocation Story

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 07:43:49 +0100

        I was scheduled for an exit interview last March 2009 in Lear Corporation. The Plant Manager asked me what I planned to do in the future. I answered that I wanted to become a Priest. The manager replied: “Well, if that is your decision, I don’t want to argue with that. In fact, I will support you when the right time comes.” Why I am saying this to you? It is because I am going to share with you my past experiences. How did I persevere in my vocation of becoming a priest? I found three revelations of my priesthood vocation before I entered the seminary. These are attraction, desire and perseverance.

        According to the Webster dictionary, “an attraction draws one object towards another one. The term may have specific meanings.” In the context of my priesthood vocation, this was my first inkling of becoming a priest. I was attracted to the “white vestment” of a priest at the age of eight. This attraction made me go to mass every Sunday. I was always on the church that time and thus, was drawn near to the saints specifically to Saint Anthony of Padua. I then realized that my attraction to the vestments results to another attraction to the saints, and this attraction burns a desire of becoming a priest.

        The second revelation happened when I was in high school, when some seminarians visited our school during their vocation campaign. I was really struck by the lyrics of the song “Here I Am” which they played. The lyric goes: “I who made the stars at night, I will make their darkness bright. Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send?” In that instance I felt a passionate desire to follow Him, and be the instrument that will bear His light upon His people. For me, a person who initially answers His call is the person who continues to walk the steps of Jesus Christ here on earth. Becoming a priest is just like Martha’s sister, Mary who chose the right path which is to sit beside the Lord at his feet and listen to Him speak. That is what I wanted to be, to live life with a purpose, to do something great for God and to answer His call and say, “Here I am, Lord!” Thus, this desire burns more and more that even a strong wind, I believe, couldn’t put it off.

        True enough, strong winds from the different corners of the world came. Way back at the age of eleven, believe it or not I had been a scavenger once. I remember one time that I ate food thrown into the garbage because of hunger. And the money I earned from that scrapped materials I picked up supported me in my studies until I completed high school. I had lost a loved one, my mother, whose death took me a long time to recover from. I became the breadwinner and sending my siblings to school, supporting them financially and giving them the motherly care were my priorities. I also encountered heartaches when I got busted by the woman I loved. I worked during the day and studied at night. To make my story short, I was able to reach my studies in 3rd year of Industrial Psychology. I had experienced much sadness and hardships but all these paid off. I got a job as a production operator. I was awarded as Best Production Operator of the Year in 1993. And not only that, I had also been promoted to engineering aide, then to Process Engineer, and lastly to Engineering Car Leader in the program management position.

        Now that all of my siblings had their own job and some of them have their own family, I have felt free like a bird, to fly in any direction. I quit my white collar job in Lear Corporation in which I had served for 18 years in service and chosen not to work again for but I had preferred to serve God by pursuing my long-time dream in life despite that I’m already 38 years old (late vocation).

        That was the three revelations of my priesthood vocation: attraction, desire, and perseverance. My attraction to the vestments and saints burns my desire to become a priest and this desire helped me persevere. Until now I am still persevering in terms of my academic life in the seminary. It may be hard but I believe that God is there to help me for I know that He is calling me. I believe that every human life has a God-given purpose and I have definitely known my own. In fact, I am so happy and at peace spending my siesta time for meditation in my sacred place (in our oratory). My day is not complete without prayers (in the chapel 5 times a day). God is so good and generous. He used some individuals as instrument to provide my needs in the seminary. The manager who promised to support me is now one of my benefactors. You should be patient; it could be that your time has not come yet. It is a life system that captures God’s wisdom for coping with our most difficult problems. Keeps that burning desire in your heart in flame because God will use not only what is in our head but He will use what is in our heart also.

Seminarian Marcelino A. Rapayla, Jr.
From San Carlos Seminary College, 12th January 2011

My Life Story: Shaping up my life

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 06:31:51 +0100

As I looked back my life, appreciating the person I am today and the gifts that I have, I reflected and realized that I gave so much thanks for the pleasurable, comforting and rewarding experiences of my life. But I forgot that I owed much of my thanks to something totally different-life’s struggles.

I’m the first son of a simple and pious laborer-farmer, and was born in Lipata, Lapu-Lapu City on the 21st day of April 1972. My parents are Marcelino Rapayla Sr. and Aurea Arcilla. Both of them were not able to finish primary studies. I was six years old when I started grade school. I grew up as a homebody kid but because of being exposed to the hardship in life, I matured quite early and soon I learned to understand the word “poverty”. I believed that survival is the essence of life and because of that; I did something substantial to help my family. I stopped my studies at the age of 11 and became a scavenger. There were times when our family could only have one meal in a day. There was one time when I ate food thrown into the garbage because of hunger. We could only eat good meat when we got leftovers from the garbage. (We washed and re-cooked them). The money that I earned from the scrapped materials I picked up supported my studies until I completed high school. I also lost a love one, my mother, whose death took me a long time to recover. Then, I became the breadwinner and was able to send my four siblings to school. To support them financially and to give them motherly care were my priorities. I also encountered heartache when I got busted by the woman I loved.

I did experience different kinds of job such as; construction laborer, machinist helper, and janitor in a department store. In 1991, I joined United Technologies Automotive Philippines, Inc. which is now known as Lear Corporation. I started as a production operator. In my 18 years of service, I experienced the spectrum of positions and responsibilities namely; resistance welder operator, molding operator, lead in-process operator, engineering aide and process engineer. In addition, I worked during the day and studied during the night. I was able to reach 3rd year in Industrial Psychology. I experienced much struggles but all these were paid off in my job. I was awarded as the “Best Production Operator of the Year in 1993” and not only that, I was also appointed to handle the program management position as Engineering Car Leader.

I am the person who I am today, not because I have always trusted the right people and have made the right decisions, but because I have sometimes screwed up. In 1999, I joined the youth community and became an active member of the charismatic movement in the parish. I, together with the other members of the healing ministry, visited the sick persons in the hospitals. There was one time when we conducted catechism class to the inmates in So-ong Lapu-Lapu City Jail. I tried to inspire and motivate my email mates by sending emails of personal experiences and inspirational short stories. I became a blogger and uploaded articles to my blog entitled “Heal the World.” I also compiled all those articles into a book “Life is a beautiful journey.” My life screwed up when I started to explore my curiosity. I engaged or had relationship before in both sexes and often times I went to disco, bar hopping and experienced one night stands. I let myself be influenced by my friends to take drugs, and to drink alcohol. I had a huge debt in the bank because of these vices. In spite of all the happiness that the world could offer still “my heart was restless until it rested in God.” I found the real joy when I served as volunteer in “Gasa sa Gugma,” Mabolo, Cebu City.

For me, life has a complex mixture of experiences. Apparently, there was a time that I was walking in the park while on the other days it felt like an uphill ran on a rocky road. However, every bit of it helped me to define the person who I am now. Since all of my siblings had their own job and some of them have their own family, I felt free like a bird, to fly in any direction. I quilted my white collar job in Lear Corporation in which I had almost two decades of service and chosen not to work again for I preferred to serve God by pursuing my long-time dream of becoming a priest despite that I’m too old enough. I entered the seminary to deepen my discernment for priesthood vocation, and now studying Philosophy in San Carlos Seminary College.

I feel grateful and thank God for these opportunities that He gave me. My past life’s struggles taught me to be optimistic in life. It built good character and shaped my personality as a mature person. Therefore, our life struggles, and the way we dealt with them, are among the many gifts that shape our lives.

Who Would You Be without Life’s Struggles?

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 07:33:23 +0100

As I looked over my life, appreciating the person I am and the gifts that I have, something occurred to me. I don’t give full credit where credit is due. Yes, I give thanks for the pleasurable, comforting and rewarding experiences of my life. But I forget that I owe much of my thanks to something totally different life’s struggles. Within moments, I asked and answered one of my biggest life questions, “Why do we suffer?” I am the person who I am today, not because I had a perfect childhood or the most supportive friends, but because that wasn’t always so. In fact, believed it or not I had been a scavenger once and ate some food threw in the garbage. I am the person who I am today, not because I’ve always trusted the right people and made the right decisions, but because I sometimes screwed up.

Life’s struggles teach life lessons. Most of what I’ve come to appreciate about myself did not develop because life has always been good to me. It’s quite the opposite. Because of my own life’s struggles, I learned to be optimistic in life. For me, as for everyone, life has been a complex mix of experiences. Some days have been like a walk in the park, while other days felt like an uphill run on a rocky road. But every bit of this has helped to define the person I am.

If you’ve ever wondered why we must endure life’s struggles, consider this: Our struggles, and the way we deal with them, are among the many gifts that shape our lives. If we can find it in our hearts to replace resentment, frustration, and anger with appreciation for life’s struggles, we can heal emotional scars and reach the epitome of self improvement success.

Life’s struggles build character. As Henri Frederic said, “You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering.” My brothers and sisters, I would like to end this article by sharing with you a story of the cocoon which will explain much enough why life’s struggles are sometimes important.

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force the body through that little hole.

The moth seemed to be stuck and appeared to have stopped making progress. It seemed as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. The man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth; so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then emerged easily. But its body was swollen and small, its wings wrinkled and shriveled. The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to and able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a small, swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

The man in his kindness and haste did not understand that the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was necessary to force fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight upon achieving its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets, and don’t forget the power in the struggle.

I Want You to Know That I’ll Be Your Kidney Brother

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 02:36:15 +0100

I want you to kn ow that the Philippines composed primarily of people with conservative and traditional Filipino values? It is difficult to initiate a discussion about organ donation. Most are not even comfortable discussing funeral arrangements openly, so the subject of organ donation is an even more sensitive matter. Filipinos are a compassionate bunch and would always welcome doing a good deed but because of cultural apprehensions, misinformation or lack of information, they are driven to believe misconceptions and thus stay off the topic as much as possible.

I want you to know that donating a kidney is a major decision. As an altruistic donor, it is important that I should fully understand how donating a kidney will affect me and my family. But I haven’t a second thought about this decision. Then, I made an arrangement to God that if I passed all the medical laboratory tests including the Bioethics Committee panel interview. I heartily believe that He permitted me to be your kidney brother.

I want you to know that we won’t forget the moment when it happens because many souls will sing praises to God because we are giving hope and inspiration to them. We are giving a deeper meaning of the Gospel verses in Matthew saying that …Love your neighbor as you love yourself. I was reminded when Jesus says “Whatsoever you do to the least of your brothers, that you do unto me.” In the other words, “It is Jesus Christ who comes to us first, making us His neighbor, to succor us, heal us and save us,” Blessed Pope John Paul II said. Indeed, in this teaching Jesus tells us that our relationship with our fellowmen is inseparable from our relationship with God. Love of God and love of our neighbors are two aspects of the same calling.

I want you to know that I am voluntarily offering my organ to someone who is depending on a machine to exist from week to week because I’m doing this for the greater glory of God. And as an advocate that everyone could be a gift of life. I made this also as a promotion to increase the supply of organs from an altruistic donor for transplantation and to help recipients experience life and not take life for granted.

I want you to know that I am also open to whatever possibly happens. At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain is ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life will stop. I am not afraid to it. I want you to know that death is not the end of life. It is far from it. It is only the beginning of real life, the ultimate reality. Death is simply the door through which we enter the real, true eternal life. Words will be inadequate to describe this eternal bliss to come immediately upon death. This is why we need not fear death at all. If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever because you’re my kidney brother.