A NEWLY ORDAINED DEACON IN A FLAWED SOCIETY

A NEWLY ORDAINED DEACON IN A FLAWED SOCIETY

Story by: Cherry Anne De Guzman and Francine Ann Nadal

A YOUNG MAN FROM THE TOWN OF NABUA WHO WAS REARED WITH PURE LOVE AND DEDICATION TO SERVE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HAS FINALLY BEEN

Photo by: Carl Matthew Gorgonia

Meet Reverend Gem Norries Samar Penetrante, a deacon who was recently ordained at St. Gregory The Great Cathedral last March 25, 2022. He is a 31-year-old man, turning 32 on May 26 from Barangay San Francisco in the town of Nabua, Camarines Sur. He is the only son of Mr. Guillermo Penetrante Jr., who is a retired public-school teacher and Mrs. Nancy Samar Penetrante who is a State College Administrative Officer. His loving parents consider him as a warmhearted son who is full of wisdom and motivation.

A simple attraction to priesthood started when his mom asked him to serve at their local Parish Church. At that time, he was a third-grader at Nabua Central Pilot School. By then, he spent some of his childhood years serving as an Altar Server at the Parish of Holy Cross. Reverend Gem did not neglect his studies despite his commitment to being an altar server. He was, in reality, the former Editor-in-Chief of the Nabua National High School Publication, popularly known as The Pencil. He was steady in his duties as an altar server and as a student, which is why he is recognized as an achiever by many people.

After graduating high school with academic distinction, Reverend Gem continued his studies at University of The Philippines, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Before earning his Bachelor’s Degree, he also applied as a Museum Guide at The Cultural Center of The Philippines and later on took his one month internship at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City. A month after graduating, he applied for a position as a high school teacher at Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan. He spent two incredible years teaching at this university, where he was assigned to the Departments of English, Filipino, and Social Studies.

In an interview with him, Reverend Gem mentioned about his calling. “If you are seriously discerning to become a priest, the most important thing to do is to apply to the seminary. The only way to find out if this is for you, if this is the life for you, is to go there and to check it out for yourself.. otherwise, hindi [magiging] patas. The vocation through the priesthood is not just like a dream, or a profession, it’s neither of the two. It is a vocation. It’s something that you work with with God — it’s a relationship with God. Becoming a priest and becoming a deacon has something to do with discernment. ‘Yong titimbangin mo kung ano ‘yong mabuti sa maraming options. You discern where you feel at peace most of the time. When you feel at peace with an option, that’s where God is leading you. The sure sign for God’s movement and God’s pleading is peace. In my case, I worked outside, I finished college first, I was a teacher and that’s when I realized that after that, this is what I want to do in my life, to be able to give, of course not everybody has the opportunity and the luxury of time to check on their options but I am glad that I was able to look at all the options I had. I think this is where I am most happy and where I could most give my service” Reverend Gem said. At the time he was teaching in Xavier University he got accepted as a candidate at Haggerty House, Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City. A year after he left his position as a high school teacher, he completed his pre-college formation at Holy Rosary Preparatory Seminary where he got an academic excellence award.

Photo by: Carl Matthew Gorgonia

At that moment, Reverend Gem said he was so happy about everything about the seminary. That’s why subsequently he studied Bachelor of Arts in Classical Philosophy at Mater Salutis College Seminary in Daraga, Albay. In the year 2016, he already graduated from this class with academic distinction. He continued his track and got admitted at the University of Sto. Tomas Manila where he earned his Bachelor of Sacred Theology and graduated Magna Cum Laude. On the 11th day of June 2021, Reverend Gem was accepted to Aspiracy. In this phase, the purpose of Aspiracy is to assist men in the prayerful consideration

of the question “Is God calling you to be a priest?” Through this active and exclusive discernment program, an Aspirant can discover how God is calling him to give of himself to Christ and His Church. The 3rd day of January 2022, marks the compliance of Reverend Gem as a Novice at the Feast of Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara. In this phase, the Novice is preparing to deepen his commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ through the profession of vows in the Congregation, requiring growth in self-awareness and self-acceptance.

The Church aims to form an individual’s well-being for them to adequately serve the church and its people. Spiritual, human, intellectual, and pastoral formation are the four aspects of this. In this journey, there are numerous impediments that may test one’s commitment on becoming a deacon and afterwards a priest. As we interviewed Reverend Gem, he stated the obstacles he encountered on his path. “There are lots of challenges you should overcome bago makarating sa ganito. Kailangang pag-igihan at ibigay ang sarili. There are things outside of yourself that you need to deal with. Say for example right now, we are not being sent as deacons after the ordination into a world which is perfect and silent, we will be sent to a world with sickness, pandemic, and in a world where there is a war between Ukraine and Russia, as well as falsehood that spread throughout our country, beginning with the local election campaigns. I believe, being sent as deacon, is also a battle for truth, for being truthful, to always serve the truth, minister to the truth who is Jesus himself.”

Reverend Gem ended the interview with a gratifying message for the youth in general. Non-verbatim: “For the general youth, I think we have to be more in touch with ourselves. A lot of young people today have a very short attention span, including myself. We are fond of shorter videos, shorter information. In fact a lot of information is at our fingertips. But I think with all the information within our access, we have to get a hold of them and allow them to sit in our hearts. Sometimes, it’s good to put our gadgets aside, to sleep without our phones para ‘di tayo masyadong nagmamadali roon sa maraming alam natin. Kasi ang problema kapag marami tayong alam at wala tayong ginagawa sa alam natin, we’ll become like Pope Francis said, we become museums of things we don’t know what to do about. We know a lot of things but we don’t know what to do with these things. So I think what matters most is to sit with ourselves, know who we are, and know where God is leading us. These are the most important things. At the end of the day, this is what matters”