The story of my vocation to the priesthood started when I was just an elementary student. I was in grade two when I was accidentally picked by the “sacristan mayor,” Tang Amon, to substitute for an absentee altar server who was supposed to serve during that Sunday four o’clock afternoon mass. Of course, I was afraid, and I did not know what to do. I just cannot refuse that man because he begged me politely just to serve. He assured me, though, that he will guide me all the way to the end of the mass.
From that moment on, I would come to the Cathedral and always volunteer to serve as an altar server. To cut the long story short, that experience made me decide to enter the high school seminary in Tabaco City even if my father opposed my plan. I graduated from the high school seminary and was promoted to the college (philosophy) seminary, and after four years, I transferred to the final stage, the theology seminary. After four years, plus 2 years of regency due to my vehicular accidents, I was finally ordained as a priest on August 22, 2000. Sorry for this short-cut. I intentionally not to give the details because my real purpose is to write something about the life of a Bishop.
Now, as a priest for almost 24 years, somebody asked me if I wanted to become a bishop and I promptly answered NO. First, I know that I am not fit for the life of a bishop because I cannot even consider myself as a holy man. Second, I am a very stubborn person, and to be a bishop will be a torture for me. Third, I am very outgoing and, if I become a bishop, my priests will surely avoid me during their meals and drinking sessions. Lastly, I must be an example or rather a model of a holy man, a real pastor, and a man for others. Honestly, I can never do that on my own, only except through a miracle which can transform me in just a wink of an eye. I do not want to live my life like a make-believe life. Why would I dream to be a bishop when I am still lacking in my priestly life? The grace of episcopacy is a gift given to those who are worthy of it, and I am not and can never be worthy of it.
Priests and Bishops share their lives at least in two ways. First, they are both called and chosen by God to be his ministers to the flock of believers. Second, though as a bishop or as a priest, they are still fully human and normal human beings just like anybody else. They are superior to other human beings by virtue of their relationship with God because they were taught about God in their formation. But, just like anybody else, they can still be lured with a lot of temptations especially in terms of relationships and material tendencies. The only difference is that a priest can easily be understood by the people once he commits mistake while a bishop cannot be easily accepted if he fails because his office as a bishop does not allow him to commit any single mistake. Yes, he is likened to a god by many people. Can you imagine how hard it is to be a bishop? You cannot just blow your nose off in a public even if you want to sneeze like thunder to your heart’s content. You cannot laugh out loudly because it is not a pious gesture. And you cannot get angry in public because that is not accepted of a bishop. With all the reverence that a bishop gets from the people, his life is a life of limited freedom as an ordinary human being.
As we welcome the third bishop of the Diocese of Virac, the Most Rev. Luisito Audal Occiano, D.D. I wish him all the best in his pastoral ministry here in Catanduanes. I know he will always do his best to be the man or the bishop whom you are envisioning to be, but please always consider the humanity of a bishop, the humanity of the ordained men because they are just human beings just like you and me. The best that we can do for him and for one another is to pray that God may make us all vessels of his graces and blessings. Welcome to the Diocese of Virac, Bishop Louie!