Mr. Anthony Uytingco

Seminarian , Fourth Year Theology

I grew up in Gapan City, which is located in the province of Nueva Ecija where the miraculous shrine of Divine Shepherdess is located. I graduated from elementary school at the College of the Immaculate Conception and high school in Maria Assumpta Seminary. Both schools are located in Cabanatuan City, a 45 minute drive away from our town. I transferred to Manila to study and finished Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy for 6 years and finished pre-theology program of San Jose Seminary in the Philippines. I have a big family with 4 brothers and a sister, I am the fifth among the siblings and all of us are college graduates and professionals because our family values education and my parents motivated us to study hard, since education is a gift that no one can get or steal from you and their only gift for us.

Priesthood for me is ministerial. It is an office which the Lord committed to the pastors of his people, in the strict sense of the term as service. It is entirely related to Christ and to men. It reflects Christ and on his unique priesthood; it has been instituted for the good of men and the communion of the Church. The ministerial priesthood has the task not only representing Christ - as the head of the Church before the assembly of the faithful, but also of acting in the name of the whole Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church and above all when offering the Eucharistic sacrifice. The only reason why I want to become a priest is to serve. I want to enter in a communion with Jesus the good shepherd to guide his flock towards Jesus Christ and to God. I want to become a servant leader with apostolic zeal for God’s people, wherein I will do the role of the priest as a shepherd, to bring back the lost sheep to Jesus Christ. The fulfillment comes when I become a priest and serve other people.

Our bishop, when I was elementary school, inspired me to enter seminary in my high school since he was a man of service and he showed dedication in his role as our bishop and you can see him with communion for the Church of the poor in depressed areas of our diocese. It is a challenge for me how to become a man of service for others. I am involved in church related activities such as going to the depressed areas of our parishes and giving them recollections and facilitating a prayer meeting by reflecting and sharing about the reading of the day. I am also involved in forming Basic Ecclesial Communities or BEC wherein we aim at fostering the personal growth through group sharing, group decision-making, forgiveness, group prayer and discernment, and genuine concern for justice, charity and authentic service. I am also involved in teaching catechism to the youth, and this is a preparation for the future ministry where in I am called for service to God’s people.

I can foresee my contribution to the church as priest in the future with my charism of handling a large number of people, being an occupational therapist; we are trained to facilitate group dynamics and interaction with each other. Being the facilitator of a group is like shepherding a flock as to where they will go. It is also a good experience for me as to how to relate with different classes of people whether they are elite or people with nothing, and living in the depressed areas. I can go down to the poor and motivate them to go back and not lose hope in Christ. I am also blessed in speaking in front of a large crowd and sharing with them my experiences with the blessings of God.

My life in the parish is very challenging. Despite the challenge, I became more aware of the responsibilities of a parish priest and this experience showed me the way to serve the people of God and this serves as my apostolate. I realized that parish priest will bring people back to Christ and guide them towards salvation. The things that happened to me in the parish and things that motivated me and made me realized the importance of a priest in areas such as this have been wonderful experiences. I can also say that the work of a priest is really a fulfillment to me.