REMEMBERING FATHER MONSIGNOR ENYONG BAUTISTA (December 14, 1924- January 6, 2021)

 

By Tom Choy

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

“ My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. Never let loyalty and kindness leave you. Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.”

Proverbs 3:1-3

 

We recently lost a servant leader, Father Monsignor Arsenio “Enyong”  Bautista who used to be our Parish priest then during my youth in Bacood, Sta. Mesa, Metro Manila. He may not be physically around now but  In my mind, I can still vividly remember what a wonderful person Father Enyong was. I saw him in action, how he cared for his parishioners and I adored him.  I became  a sacristan, a church server who assists priests in celebrating Holy Masses on Sundays and some special occasions.

 

I didn’t  have the privilege of learning Latin formally in school but was lucky to be given a chance to serve the high mass in Latin by Father Enyong. I guess, my being used to be in front of the church during services must have built my character in not having stage fright in my adult years if I were to be in front of the stage.

 

“ My Tio(Uncle) Enyong was a loyal soldier of God from the get-go to his final moments,” declares Brother Marcy Soriano, our Knights of the Altar elder and leader and nephew of Father Enyong.  He now calls Washington State, USA his home. I remember Brother Marcy to be a disciplinarian leader during those times. He had to be one because at our growing years, most of us were rowdy and loud.

 

I still remember the beginnings  of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Bacood. All we had was a tiny chapel on Lakas Street. I saw the giant efforts of Father Enyong in working so hard and consistently year after year, if he needed to  move  mountains, he won’t hesitate to do it to build a new church building.  If  he had to put water in a dried street canal, he will do it to build a bigger and architecturally pleasing God’s temple in Bacood, the new edifice of the Our Lady of Fatima Church.

 

The then Cardinal Rufino Santos blessed the inauguration of the new Church. I was lucky to be one of the young kids to have kissed his ring in his finger.

 

And the current Cardinal Jose Luis “Chito” Tagle, learned a thing or two from the senior clergyman Father Bautista. Father Enyong was the young Father Tagle’s mentor. So, when Pope Francis was in town, Cardinal Chito made sure Father Enyong crosses path with the Pontiff.

 

Father Monsignor Enyong also sent me to an orientation at the San Jose Minor Seminary to take a look at priesthood preparation. I guess the calling may appeal to a lot of people but only “ few are chosen.”

 

Through Father Enyong, I was one of the lucky people to have experience the magic of the Curcillo movement. We had prayers and lots of music.

 

Father Enyong presided over a Quezon City parish and duplicated what he did in Bacood. He is like my Jesuit professors at the Ateneo who start in their early to mid twenties of their lives and would spend the next 25, 40 and over 50 years of heir lives serving communities of people. When it was time for him to retire, he chose instead to serve the community at the Hospicio De San Jose. What a man with a mission and purpose. Once a loyal servant of God, always a servant of the Lord.

Father Monsignor Enyong is now on the other side. I won’t be surprised, up there he is still doing what he does best—building communities, helping people lead good lives. He tied it around his neck, his loyalty to his dear Lord.

 

 Then Jesus called the crowd to himself along with his disciples and told them, “ If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me continuously, because whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.”   Mark 8:34-35

( Tom is a freelance writer and ET Manila contributor based in Vancouver, British Columbia)