When I was studying in Manila, my school was close by the church. I frequently stopped in to visit with the Lord. I also was a member of the men’s Eucharistic League, a group of men dedicated to the Eucharist who would once a month spend an hour before the Eucharist. I was assigned to the 10 p.m. hour.
What did I do during that period of adoration? I remember being told that when you are in front of the Blessed Sacrament, to imagine that you are like a little child in the presence of his father. As long as he knows his father is there, he is at peace. This was very important to me, as some events in life had happened before I became a priest. Through adoration and the Eucharist, I realized that failure is only temporary. We will overcome because God writes straight with crooked lines.
My family was in the jewelry business. I supported my parents by helping them handle the operations. One December, we had very good sales and thus decided to buy a new car. At 9 a.m. on Jan. 2 we got the car. My brother was proud of it and wanted to test it. However, he was drunk and only two hours later he hit an electric post, totally wrecked the car and broke his ribs and nose. On Jan. 28, our jewelry store was burned down. In the evening of May 15, another brother, while harvesting some fruits in the province, made a mistake and his car turned into the ditch. He broke his skull and the doctors advised him to stop his studies.
The day before Christmas of that same year, Dec. 24, our house burned down. That was the time I asked myself, “What is the meaning of life? Why is it that today we are up, and tomorrow we are down?” I never thought of entering the seminary. The family tried to recoup and support each other. We sold some of our property and began a new business, a restaurant. I continued managing the business.
During the five years I was searching, I read the stories of St. Damien of Molokai and another holy man from India. I was also able to meet and talk with Mother Teresa of Calcutta twice through a Bible study group I had joined. The first question she asked me was, “What are you doing with your life?”
I finally decided to enter the seminary. God provides. I really enjoy parish ministry. And what is it that sustains me? As members of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, we are required to take adoration time with the Lord each day. It is a special time just to be with the Lord. Sometimes I listen; sometimes I talk. Being present is all that matters. Once in a while when I read the Gospel, some inspiration may come. At other times, I can’t hear anything. But like the little child, I find comfort and strength just being with my father. And when I receive the Eucharist, it is extra nourishment for my vocation.
Father Francisco “Kit” Mendoza is a priest of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. He was born in Bulacan, Philippines, and ordained in 1982. He was helping out at Star of the Sea Parish, in Waialae-Kahala, and will be returning to his ministry in the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan, Pangasinan, Philippines.
