Viriditas2: Soul Greening
Interviewed by Sister Malia Dominica Wong, OP
Hawaii Catholic Herald
For many years, my ministry was rooted in hospital ministry and in guiding seminarians in their own vocational discernment. The Camillian spirit, caring for the sick with compassion, became the blueprint of my religious formation and shaped much of who I am as a priest.
Yet over time, I sensed a longing growing within me, a desire to see priesthood from another perspective and to respond to the church in a different setting.
Although I arrived here in Hawaii in September, it was only recently that I was called to visit some patients at Pali Momi Medical Center. The hospital environment and familiar ministry touched me deeply. I realized how much I missed those sacred encounters. Yet I also found myself surprisingly at home in parish life.
With fewer administrative responsibilities than before, I now have more space to breathe, reflect and truly listen: to the people, to the parish and to God.
The decision to step into something unfamiliar did not come easily. My spiritual director encouraged me to pay attention to what was stirring inside. He said, “If there is something that bothers you to go to another ministry and it is not injurious to the vocation, why not?” Meaning to say, “Just discern.”
This advice brought back the teachings of a Jesuit author, Father Thomas Green, whose work I used when I taught seminarians about discernment. Father Green wrote that when one stands between two genuine goods, choose the one where you find deeper happiness, because God is happy in that. Let your heart be there.
Moving forward, another thing my spiritual director said is that community prayer is easy, just follow the schedule. But it is not enough. One must nurture one’s PPL, personal prayer life. It is the space where I “court the Lord” every day, strengthening the relationship that anchors my vocation.
Through this, I have come to hold one conviction closely: Always seek the good. No matter the crisis, confusion or transition, choosing the good always leads one back to Jesus.
Learning to discern God’s voice from the ego or anxieties requires surrender. Always offer everything to the Lord. Always put everything to prayer.
Sometimes I fight with God. But, when the Lord directs you and you are docile and honest in solitude, clarity slowly emerges.
Coming here without relatives, stepping into a more independent life than in the Philippines was frightening. Yet it also felt like an adventure, another chapter in my vocation, teaching me simplicity and trust.
If you are in a difficult situation, try to please Jesus in what decision he would be making. Let Jesus decipher that for you. Reflect: How would Jesus do things? How would he look at things — the crisis, the challenge, the problem, the sufferings, or the possibility?
I trust that Jesus sees with love and wisdom. And when I follow that gaze, my path becomes clear.
Father Renato Maliwat, parochial vicar at St. Elizabeth Church, was born in Batangas, Philippines. He is 19 years ordained as a priest, and 25 years professed as a religious in the Order of the Ministers of the Infirm (Camillians).