My desire to become a priest truly began in high school, but upon graduating I decided to obey my parents’ wishes to pursue a college degree and a career that would help alleviate the financial strain of my family. I accepted this fate, thinking that perhaps God had a different path for me and that I would simply need to serve Him in a different capacity.

I enrolled at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, where I earned Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Agriculture and Horticulture. I spent these years deeply involved with youth evangelization, academic fraternities, and volunteering with Catholic charities. I thought that these small ways of serving would be a substitute for my true calling to the priesthood. I worked as a college instructor and research associate at two universities. These jobs helped sustain my family, while giving me the necessary experience to be accepted to a PhD program in Horticulture at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.

Upon my arrival in America, I came to realize that God was asking me to surrender all of my plans, and to go even further in service to the Church. I never thought that the initial seed of faith and vocation which He planted in my heart more than a decade ago would eventually revive and bear so much fruit! My greatest transformation came from my deep commitment to the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Divine Mercy, and the Holy Family.

Still, this was one of the most difficult decisions of my life. I had to choose between a vocation filled with uncertainty, or a professional career and the promise of a comfortable living. In the end, it came down to this:  to deny my calling would be to deny my truest self.

Confident that I have fulfilled my responsibility to provide for my family, it is now finally the time to fully dedicate myself to serving the Lord. I have discerned the call to become a diocesan priest with the Diocese of Memphis, where my mission will be conversion, communion, service, and unity.

As an aspiring priest, I most looking forward to celebrating the sacraments, walking with people in every season of life, serving the poor and marginalized, ministering to those in hospitals and prisons, and inspiring young people to embrace their own calling from God. As long as what I do glorifies God, inadequate as it may seem, I will keep on going with this mission.