Kauai-born EJ Resinto, a seminarian for the Diocese of Honolulu, at his transitional deacon ordination ceremony Dec. 19, 2015 at Immaculate Conception Church in Lihue. Deacon Resinto will be ordained a priest July 9. (HCH Photo | Darlene J.M. Dela Cruz)
By Darlene J.M. Dela Cruz
Hawaii Catholic Herald
When the Hawaii Catholic Herald called Deacon EJ Resinto June 17, the young diocesan seminarian was home on the Garden Isle, soaking in the sweet Kauai summer, cruising with friends and ohana.
Resinto is a short countdown away from his priestly ordination. The meantime has been busy, he said, with his preaching at various churches and “trying to stay focused” as his faith community buzzes with anticipation for his upcoming sacramental milestone.
“To them the celebration has begun,” he said.
Bishop Larry Silva will ordain Resinto at a 9 a.m. liturgy, July 9 at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu.
The 28-year-old will become the second man from Kauai ordained a priest for the Diocese of Honolulu in the last five years. Father Anthony Rapozo of Lihue — currently pastor at St. Catherine Church in Kapaa — was ordained in 2011.
Resinto was born in Lihue to parents Eddie and Shanlyne. His legal name is “EJ,” initials his parents came up with to stand for “Eddie Jr.” Resinto is of Filipino, Portuguese and Hawaiian descent.
Four generations of Resinto’s family have been parishioners at Immaculate Conception Church in Lihue. It was there Resinto first felt as a child a strong call to serve the church.
“When I was a kid I always wanted to be an altar boy,” he said. “The desire to serve was in my heart.”
Resinto had not yet made his first Holy Communion when his family asked Sacred Hearts Father Clyde Guerreiro, then pastor at Immaculate Conception, permission for the young parishioner to assist at Mass. Father Guerreiro made what Resinto called a “pastoral decision” granting him the opportunity.
Over time he developed a close relationship with Father Guerreiro, as well as Sacred Hearts Father Paul McLeod, and other clergy who passed through his home parish.
“I really looked up to the priests,” Resinto said. “I saw them as my role models.”
They, in turn, saw in Resinto a budding vocation for the priesthood. He was actively involved in teaching catechism and parish activities, and showed a heart for community service through the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts.
Resinto attended Wilcox Elementary School and studied briefly at St. Francis High School on Kauai before the short-lived school closed in 2001. He graduated from Kauai High School in 2005.
He later enrolled in culinary arts school with aspirations to become a chef. Even then, Resinto kept his faith and parish life a priority.
“I still had a desire to do something (in the church), but I didn’t know what it was,” he said.
Family and friends long told him “we always knew you would become a priest,” Resinto explained. Bishop Silva, in his homily at Resinto’s diaconate ordination ceremony in Lihue last year, said he told Resinto at their first meeting, “Someday, I’m going to ordain you.”
Resinto entered the seminary in January 2008. His family assured him that he could explore the diocesan priesthood without pressure, and leave the seminary if it wasn’t a good fit.
“If it doesn’t work, come home,” Resinto said. “No shame.”
The first part of his priestly formation was spent at Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Oregon. There he earned a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy in 2011.
Resinto completed his formation and graduate studies at St. Patrick Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California. He earned a master’s degree in theology this year.
Now approaching his priestly ordination, Resinto said he has taken time to “close the door on the seminary life.”
He recently spent a week on Molokai where he reflected on his journey to the priesthood, pondering especially those whose faith brought him to this point. In particular he acknowledges his maternal grandparents and the late Sister Florence Remata of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.
“It’s not about me,” he said. “I thank them for their prayers.”
Love of the liturgy
Father William Shannon, the diocesan director of seminarians, has known Resinto personally for 12 years in addition to overseeing part of his priestly formation.
The priest, a former pastor at Immaculate Conception Church in Lihue, said he “always admired EJ’s sense of devotion and his love of the liturgy.”
“He was a very faithful and experienced altar server,” Father Shannon recalled. “Everyone thought very highly of EJ. He was very popular with his peers, with older parishioners and with our parish staff.”
Resinto is also always willing to be of service. These traits, Father Shannon said, would make him a good priest.
“Whenever EJ came home from the seminary on vacation he always offered to help with youth ministry, liturgy, doing big cleanup projects,” Father Shannon said. “I had a standing joke with EJ, when he sent me his dates for his summer vacation I would assure that I would buy him a new pair of work gloves.”
Father Shannon encourages Resinto to “always bring (his) priestly ministry to prayer.” Priests endure “many challenges and sacrifices,” he said, “but there should be a profound sense of joy in living the priestly vocation.”
“We are other ‘Christs’ to the people we serve,” he added.
After the July 9 ordination ceremony in Honolulu, Resinto will celebrate his first Mass as a priest at Immaculate Conception Church in Lihue the next day. His first priestly assignment will be as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Ewa Beach on Oahu beginning July 25.
To other men discerning a vocation to the priesthood, Resinto said “try it out, there’s no harm.”
“Stay close to the sacraments and form a devotion to our Blessed Mother,” he said. “Trust in God and listen to your heart.”
