Personally, I agree when people react this way: “Father is late,” “Father is always busy,” “Father didn’t visit us,” “Father forgot this…,” “Father didn’t do that…” And, yes, I can say that these are valid complaints because they really happen. But I don’t believe the demands of the priestly ministry are that heavy.

If we want to understand what’s behind a priest’s schedule, let us look at how seminarians are formed.

I have read an article on the decrease in priestly vocations. It said the number of men entering the seminary to become priests has been less than expected considering the majority of the country’s population are Roman Catholics. Reactions have varied, but I want to correct the false perception that there are seminarians who are leaving because it is God’s will. That God’s plan for each individual is different. “Man proposes, God disposes.”

Where does the problem really lie? With the individual or with the formators? Oh yes, you read it right, the formators. I remember one of my classmates was having problems with his formator and that was not something new. I hope there are some brave men out there who have undergone seminary formation who will agree with me. Let me make this clear, a seminarian leaves the seminary or is asked to leave and take his Regency (a dedicated period to verify his vocation) for one primary reason — his formator.

I usually say that the mere fact a young man has a desire to become a priest is an indication that he is being called by God, that he surely has the priestly vocation.

In August 1994, while I was preparing the things needed for Mass, the presider arrived — the late Cardinal Jaime Lachica Sin, the archbishop of Manila. I reverently kissed his ring and he asked if I was already a priest.

I replied, “No, not yet, your Eminence.” Then he slightly slapped my left cheek, saying, “Then you should be one, happy birthday!”

On another occasion, while I was at the Arzobispado de Manila, we were together again. Cardinal Sin received a letter from the UST Ecclesiastical Faculties saying that I had passed the exam for the Faculty of Philosophy. He greeted me and said, “I pray that you become the priest that God wants you to be.” Then he added, “If you want UST, UST; if you want San Carlos, San Carlos,” referring to where I would take my Philosophy and Theology courses. And the rest is history.

So, if you will ask me again, the problem lies with the formator who insists on how a seminarian should be and what a seminarian must do.

I remember a Filipino Roman Catholic diocesan bishop talking to formators, saying, “A priestly vocation is like a flower vase — if you don’t handle it with care, you are answerable to God.”