VIRIDITAS: SOUL GREENING
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
My Augustinian confreres of the past are a great source of inspiration to me. In particular, it was the famous navigator and cosmographer Fray Andrés de Urdaneta who discovered the trade route from the west to the east across the Pacific. This made possible the colonization of the Philippines by Spain and the bringing of the Catholic faith to the country.
I volunteered for the missions right after my ordination. Six months later, I was sent to Costa Rica; and then to El Salvador. From Guatemala all the way down to Panama in Central America, Spanish is spoken. So, adapting to the language was no problem for me.
We have a project in the Philippines called Tornaviaje. It is named after the return route to Spain that was discovered by Fray Urdaneta. Many explorers before him sought a way across the seas to the Philippines, but all failed. Because of his success, and mission work, Augustinians feel that we also need to go out into the world to give back to the world. We need to go out and walk with those that do not know of God. We need to be witnesses of the Gospel and Christianize them.
St. Augustine, our founder, said “Love, and do what thou wilt.” What he meant by that was that we first need to love God, and then to submit to whatever work God wills. St. Augustine’s openness to serve is my first inspiration. After his conversion to the faith, and the loss of his mother and all the people he loved, he undertook an ascetic lifestyle. Hearing a sermon on the need for priests in Hippo, he became a priest. When he was asked to become bishop, he told his followers that as much as possible, all needed to practice charity to the church. If the church needs you, you need to respond.
Heeding his words, his brothers in the ascetic community who were not ordained as priests, became ordained in order to respond to the needs of the church. Knowing that, if any were to be asked to become bishop, they needed also to accept that for the benefit and service of the church.
Coming to Hawaii a couple of years ago, I spent time serving on Kauai, at St. John Church in Mililani, at St. George Church in Waimanalo, and at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace. Now, I have been assigned to hospital ministry with outreach as the chaplain for Straub Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente.
It is harder to perform the ministry of chaplaincy in the Philippines than here in Hawaii, as there are more people who are sick there. But my work has been marked by ministry to the poorest of the poor, as the first Augustinian missionaries exampled. Even working in Tondo, one of the most dangerous places in Manila, became my joy, for wherever our apostolate is, there our brothers and sisters are.
Father Norlito Concepcion is an Augustinian priest from Intramuros, Manila. The oldest of three brothers, he is 11 years professed and five years ordained. He resides at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace.