VIRIDITAS: SOUL GREENING
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP Hawaii Catholic Herald
Usually when people come to me with questions or personal challenges, I tell them that there is no difference between being a priest and a lay person in that regard as we all have our doubts and questions. What is important however, is to keep returning to the Lord. Consolation comes as we grow in learning to trust his ways more and more each day. I take as my example and inspiration the Blessed Virgin Mary who did not ask “Why?” but rather who at the end of the day said “Fiat”— Let it be.
My parents are religious, but closet religious. They go to church and pray every day, but seldom do they express their religiosity. My grandmother on the other hand was very religious. My conversion, I think, is that God just found me. Going to an all-boys Catholic school adjacent to the seminary, it just made sense after graduation to try it out rather than to waste my time by not going to college. I did not enter the seminary with the intention of becoming a priest. Day by day, however, God was revealing something to me. And I remember waking up one morning already about to be ordained.
When I first came to Hawaii 11 years ago, there were many challenges met. This was my first assignment outside of the Philippines. I did not know anything of the culture of Hawaii, nor even know what the Big Island looked like. Before I arrived I was already appointed to be administrator of two parishes. Everything was totally new to me including the restrictions and numerous laws. I also had to adjust working with a lay pastoral assistant, something I had never done before. I think I learned the hard way as it took time to learn to corral the ropes in an understandable way that was beneficial for all.
So, why am I still serving here in Hawaii? Ask the Lord. I don’t know, I have no definite answer. At one point I stopped questioning. If the bishop says I should be here, then I should be here.
A song that keeps playing in my head, although it is not per say a religious song, but it is religious in the way that you can associate it with how God loves us, is “You Say It Best When You Say Nothing At All.” Sometimes when I pray, I try pushing God to give me an instant answer. But as I grow older in age and wisdom, through the help of the Holy Spirit I have realized that God has given me many answers that I want in silence. And, in that silence, sometimes people or an event will come along and I will realize the answer and that once again God was just waiting for my “fiat.”
Father Joseph “Bong” Diaz is a diocesan priest from the Diocese of Tagum, Philippines. Previous to his assignment as parochial vicar at Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua in 2016, he served at Our Lady of Lourdes in Honokaa, Big Island and at St. Jude parish in Kapolei. He has been ordained a priest 22 years.
