40-year celebration is ‘for entire people of God’
There’s an adage: “We’re all in this together.”
That’s true for Father Oscar Paraiso, pastor of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, West Point. As he celebrates his 40th anniversary of priesthood, he praises God, ponders his calling, reflects on his vocation and deliberates on how his priesthood is intertwined with the laity.
He said priesthood is “one of the greatest, if not the greatest, gifts of God to his people.”
“Nobody deserves the gift of priesthood. When a person becomes a priest, it is not on account of his personal merits or holiness. It is because God wants him to be a priest. God alone knows the reason,” he said in his Aug. 22 homily at the jubilee Mass.
“The whys of being a priest still puzzle me,” he continued. “In my mind are the questions ‘Why did the Lord call me? Why did he choose me in spite of all my imperfections?”
Father Paraiso, who grew up in Naga City in the Philippines, had three sisters and six brothers, one of whom died at age two. The family practiced their faith by praying the rosary together on Friday evenings and attending Mass on Sundays. He was an altar server as a boy and was involved in outreach at his Catholic high school.
His family lived across the street from St. John the Evangelist Cathedral, so they “were very close,” both physically and relationship- wise, to the pastor, Mgsr. Nicanor Belleza, who visited the family “every now and then” to relax and dine with them. Mgsr. Belleza baptized Father Paraiso, was celebrant at his first Communion and witnessed his ordination Aug. 16, 1981, at the cathedral.
Like his siblings, Father Paraiso received a Catholic education from elementary school through college.
He credits his interest in the priesthood to Msgr. Belleza, to the American Jesuit priests who ran his elementary and high schools, and to Vocation Week during his third year of high school when priests and professionals such as doctors, engineers and agriculturists visited the school to talk about their careers.
Father Paraiso entered Maryhurst Seminary in Baguio City, Philippines, immediately after high school in 1968 to discern becoming a priest. The CICM missionaries, also known as the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, (Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae in Latin), directed the seminary.
“When I entered the seminary, I thought, ‘This is my life,’” he said. “I realized this is really my calling. There was no doubt in my mind.”
At first, Father Paraiso wanted to be a missionary priest, but in his third year of theology, Father Paraiso he realized he was called to be a diocesan one.
He earned a degree in sacred theology at the seminary, majored in philosophy and English, and minored in history and child psychology.
Father Paraiso served as pastor of four parishes in the Philippines and was chancellor for the Diocese of Libmanan, Philippines, for three years. In 2000, he moved to the Diocese of Victoria, British Columbia, where he was pastor of several parishes.
He came to the Richmond Diocese in October 2011. In January 2012, he became the pastor of St. Mary of the Presentation, Suffolk, and Church of the Good Shepherd, Smithfield. He was named pastor of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament in 2016.
He said that from ordination to the present, he has felt joy and the great love of God.
“The Catholic priesthood is the vehicle through which I have been able to experience and participate in the love of God,” he said. “Because of the intimate relationship between the priesthood and the people of God, I can say that my joy is your joy, my sorrow is your sorrow, my success is your success, my failures are your failures, too.”
Emphasizing that the gift of the priesthood was given by Jesus Christ to his Church, Father Paraiso said it is “a gift to be unwrapped and shared by all of us.”
He said his jubilee is not a celebration for him alone but “involves the entire people of God.”
“My joy for the priesthood is not just my own joy, but I want my joys to be shared with the community,” he said.
“The spiritual powers that emanate and flow from the priesthood are for the benefit of the people of God,” Father Paraiso said. “Being able to celebrate the Holy Mass with Congregation is a privilege I cannot take for granted.”
Being a priest though isn’t always easy, he said.
“Ask any priest, surely they will say that the priesthood is a very challenging work for Christ. You always have to be conscious that people look up to you, ask you questions, particularly, in things pertaining to God,” he said. “To run a parish is really hard. A pastor must have great patience, understanding, strong will, great determination, Christ-like humility and deep spirituality.”