Person of the Week – 2 – 2011
by Christian Martinez
St. Edward the Confessor Church
St. Edward’s Church is one my “homes.” Moving to Canada was one of the most life-changing events in my life. We had to start over from scratch in all respects. We don’t have any relatives here, and so my family literally had known no one in Winnipeg. My brother and I were particularly culture-shocked, because, to make it simple, we expected everything to be “better” in Canada. What were we to expect? What other reasons could children think of as reasons for the momentous changes that our parents seemed to have wanted for us? As we arrived in Canada, I felt so many things, yet disappointed would have been an understatement. I mean come on: we had maids, we had a nice house, our family life was flourishing, and in the middle of it all, we simply went away. It seems fitting, then, that we, especially my mom and I, fell through dark times. We just didn’t want to deal with it anymore. We wanted to go home, and home was in the Philippines.
My brother and I eventually attended Daniel McIntyre Collegiate. I was also invited to become part of St. Edward’s Youth Ministry. I met new friends in both places, and I quickly found myself loving the new lifestyle. Instead of dreading the changes that had occurred in our lives, I learned to adapt to life in Canada. I reveled in all the activities that I became involved in; the more I took part on, the better! Eventually, it became a distinct possibility that I might just learn to consider Winnipeg my home. Eventually I became President of the Student Council at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute, and today I am the Director of St. Edward’s Youth Ministry.
This was a veeeery short, summarised version of our experience moving to Canada, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunity in the future to elaborate on that. As well, DMCI played such a huge role in my life that I need a separate blog post for it. Today, I’ll focus on St. Edward’s Church.
The more things I learn, the more it becomes clear to me that God exists. Such magnificence, such complexity, such profoundness of life can only have been conceived of and created by such a great, omnipotent being. I remember going to Church on monday for a meeting, while there was no activity going on, and only the caretakers were left in the massive space of the Church sanctuary. As I went downstairs, I was met again by a wall of space and the deafening silence, filled by but one soul – tita Molet’s. She was talking to me about her life and experiences. Then, it hit me: there were so many things I was involved in, so many things I considered important, yet as I was listening to tita Molet’s stories, which truly bore no significance nor contribution to any of my life’s activities, I felt so stable and at peace. I realized right at that time that it was the Church that gave me that stillness. I felt like I was where I needed to be, and all the buzz in my life were unnecessary consequences of a distraught world. Church, particularly St. Edward’s, made me feel safe. It made me want to be good.
Upon further pondering, it became equally as clear that it wasn’t just the Church that gave me all of these feelings. Moreover, it was the people that comprised the Church. After all, “We are the body of Christ,” right? I’ve met so many awesome people in the Church, the foremost of which is the subject of today’s post: Fr. Rainerio Sarce.
He’s just so darned cool! He’s awesome, and you will never meet a more accepting and patient person in the world. He is father to his thousands of parishioners, and we had a conversation where I quickly got the sense that he truly took his responsibilities to heart. If you think I’m busy with all the things I’m involved in, I’ve got nothing on Fr. Sarce. He literally needs to run around the parish (I’m serious, literally running, like… 1, 2, go run!) in order to get to all of his appointments. The thing is, he never says no. From his perspective, he simply can’t, after all, he is a “servant” of the Lord. Although this seems straightforward and unremarkable, how many people do we know who actually take their vows seriously nowadays? How many public servants’ words do we actually trust? I, for one, would not hesitate to trust Fr. Sarce’s words.
One day, I was holding a meeting at Church when Fr. Sarce passed by. He looked quite exhausted, as he was on his way to his nth commitment on that day. I stood up from my chair so I could talk and respectfully acknowledge his presence. What I really wanted to do was to comfort him, and ask him to slow down. I was genuinely worried. Instead of succumbing to complaining about his hectic schedule, as I’m sure I would have done if I had been in his shoes, he told me, “Christian, don’t hesitate to call me if you ever need anything. I am here for you.” It truly touched me. To this day, he serves as one of my greatest role models. Through his example, he has instilled in me the virtue of serving others, and what an honour it truly is.
One note about Fr. Sarce is that, as I’ve briefly mentioned earlier, he never complains. At the end of the day, after being in the throes of the public, being bombarded by all of their problems and truly living Christ’s “carrying of the cross,” he has never sought recognition, nor comfort. Yet, we all need comfort! One of the most profound moments of my life was when we had just finished conducting a fundraiser at Church. Father Sarce helped us out as much as he could. My friends and I had enthusiastically talked about our lunch plans, and as food tends to do, we got very excited. All that time Father Sarce had been watching us, and so he casually inquired about the restaurant we had mentioned. Right before we left, he had asked with sincerity and yearning, “Would you take me there?” I was so moved. I was moved, mainly because the reality of Father’s situation smacked me right in the face. In his life here in Winnipeg, he has been alone. For all the things that he continually does for his flock, he never asks for anything in return, and simply walks back to the rectory by himself. Despite their faith in God, on the most human level, the life of a priest must be a lonely one. Yet there we were, going about with our lives, and our priest just asked for our presence. Without hesitation, we had all said yes, and a good lunch with meaningful conversations was had. That experience put things in perspective for me. He embodied what it meant to “serve.”
For the future, I truly intend to be a good friend to Father Sarce. I scheduled a dinner with him, along with the Youth Ministry members, two weeks from now, to which he responded with excitement. He continually inspires me, and I could only wish to have a fraction of his goodness and patience. Much like my family as we arrived in Canada, Father Sarce had to start from scratch, and yet where I have a family to go home to at the end of the day, he has none. This was the life he had signed up for. For my part, I will strive to be there for him, as I’m sure my friends would rise up to do as well. He, on the other hand, would continue to serve , perhaps even for the rest of his life.
A great man. Father Rainerio Sarce.
