Late si Father!

“Dili ba ko makasala kung maglagot ko sa late comer na pari?”
That was the message a friend sent me today, Sunday. I laughed and said, “Okay lang maglagot. We all do.”

But that simple question leads me to reflect more deeply on patience — especially patience with our dear priests.

Truthfully, I haven’t been myself these past days. I’ve been crying often and feeling the weight of loneliness as Christmas draws near. Maybe it’s seasonal sadness, or maybe it’s just the quiet truth that I am, indeed, alone. I haven’t written any Gospel reflections for my blog for a while.

Then, earlier today, I talked to a priest friend. He told me something that struck me deeply:

“Whether I’m sad, alone, happy, or angry — I still celebrate Mass. Even when I’m tired, I still do it. We priests are often alone. We are trained, in a way, to be.”

He is right. Priests may live in a community, but it doesn’t mean they always have someone to lean on. Their days are filled with service — baptisms, funerals, hospital visits, confessions — and rarely do they get to pause and ask, “Kumusta ko?” Maybe they’re not even used to expressing how they feel.

And yet, they keep going.

That’s when it hits me — life does not stop just because we feel awful. Time does not pause when we’re in pain, empty, or weary. It goes on. We must breathe, eat, work, pray, and live. We continue — even when we don’t feel like it.

Perhaps that priest who arrived late today had just finished another Mass in a distant parish, or maybe he was attending to someone in need. Or maybe, yes, it’s a habit he struggles with. But if we reverse the situation — do our priests get angry at us when we arrive late for Mass? When we boldly walk the aisle during the homily or even during consecration? The answer is no. They simply continue.

So must we.

Our faith calls us not to perfection, but to understanding — not to judgment, but to compassion. Because sometimes, holiness looks like showing up even when we’re late, tired, or broken.

And maybe that’s enough.

“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not give up.”
— Galatians 6:9

As Pope Francis reminds us in Evangelii Gaudium (No. 3):

“The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept His offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness.”

May this Sunday remind us that even when we falter, even when others falter, God’s grace continues — and so must we.