At an age when most young boys were still deciding what their favourite colour was Pablo Parajo knew he wanted to be a priest.
“There was a particular Mass at the Filipino church, and I noticed how extremely happy the priest was,” he recalled.
“That day my parents asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up and I said, ‘I want to be a priest.’ I was four or five years old. I wanted to serve God. It might’ve been the prompting of the Holy Spirit.”
This year Pablo is one of the senior seminarians at the Seminary of the Good Shepherd, which welcomed 13 new men beginning priestly formation this month, a sign of hope for our local church.
Pablo’s incredible story and this year’s boom in the numbers of men discerning the priesthood are timely reminders that forming priests is essential work which depends entirely on the generosity of faithful Catholics in Sydney.
Now in his seventh year of formation at the Good Shepherd, Pablo was raised in a devout Filipino family whose members served their parish.
Although his mind was firm on his priesthood aspirations, he was encouraged by his family to “experience life a bit more.” He completed an engineering degree and worked before a season of discernment and counselling led him back to the seminary.
Pablo’s story reflects a central truth at the heart of the Good Shepherd’s mission: formation takes time, care and investment.
“The Seminary of the Good Shepherd has an all-encompassing approach,” Pablo said. “Our formation is extremely important. If someone is really strong intellectually, but the human side is lacking, what’s the point of having all this knowledge if one can’t share it? Or you might be humanly formed but spiritually you’re lacking.
“The holistic approach here at the seminary means we have to integrate all of these dimensions of formation to effectively be good missionary priests.”
That holistic formation, human, spiritual, pastoral and academic, prepares men not only for sacramental ministry but for parish life. As part of their formation, the Archdiocese of Sydney requires seminarians to spend 12 months serving in parishes.
Pablo’s placement in Austral gave him a front-row view of parish renewal: “In the space of one year, you could see developments come. This little church in Austral was becoming this haven of families from all parts of Sydney. You see kids running around. And you got this young priest who wants to build this parish. It was the right place to be because I could see a parish built from scratch, in a way.”
Those parish experiences matter for the whole archdiocese. Pablo and his peers bring to parish life the zeal and practice they encounter at the seminary: lively youth ministry, reverent liturgy, solid catechesis; elements that can spark revival.
Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has described the current moment being experienced by the church as a “second spring of faith,” pointing to renewed interest in Catholic teaching and the growth of media and ministries reaching millions.
It costs approximately $24,000 per year to support one man through the formation he needs to serve as a priest.
By supporting the Seminary of the Good Shepherd, donors partner directly in the renewal of parish life and the church’s mission in Australia.
As Pablo’s story shows, gifts don’t merely pay tuition or food, they help form priests who will baptise, marry, counsel, preach and build parish communities for decades to come.
“Pablo is a wonderful example of someone ready to meet the future needs of the church,” said Tania Penny of the archdiocese’s Development and Fundraising Office which is driving the fundraising effort.
“I believe the Catholic community should stand behind him, and all seminarians, who are the future of the Catholic faith in Sydney.”
Please consider a generous donation to support Pablo and his fellow seminarians at the Seminary of the Good Shepherd.
Your gift helps ensure that these men are well formed humanly, spiritually, pastorally and academically, and prepared to serve the people of God in this promising season of faith.
Donate at www.ourfaithourworks.org
