Shepherd.

If I were to draw the portraits of the priests that had made an impression on me, the very first would be that of the priest of my pre-teen.

He was the picture of a fatherly priest - bespectacled, in his early fifties, always smiling, and warm. He used to come to the house of my grand aunt to have lunch, listen to an uncle play the piano, and even go for some rounds of mahjong (Chinese card game played with ivory tiles) with my Lola, aunts and uncles. He was an Aglipayan priest.

Next is the priest who baptized me as a Catholic. He was a Dominican, and a friendly one whom the children found approachable. His name and that of my uncle-godfather were the same, Roberto.

Other priests who made an impression on me were two Belgian priests of my high school years. One was our principal, a rotund, expressionless, forty-something priest, rather stern with us students, whom we regard with awe. He was Belgian but spoke clear English.

The other was a teacher in our Religion class. He was tall, frail, with boyish smile and ways, and although his English was spoken with strong Flemish accent, we listened to him intently and found religion class very interesting. To high school students of those years, this interest in religion was rather news.

It took many years to find another priest who made quite a mark on me. It was a young priest in Ohio that stood out in my mind - an affable, Irish priest with excellent singing voice. His voice boomed as he sang "Bless be the Lord."  He delivered good homily and the last I heard, he was made principal of a Catholic school in an adjacent city to where I used to live.

A co-priest of this Irish priest was an Italian priest who was  an excellent homilist. He would come down from the altar and would deliver his homily at the centre aisle, making his sermon more intimate and understandable.

In Canada, there was a Filipino-Canadian priest who stayed briefly in our Parish, but whom I found remarkable. He was a corporate guy before he joined the priesthood, he told us one time we invited him for lunch in our house. He was witty, he was humorous, and his homilies were always something to look forward to during the mass.

Another Filipino-Canadian priest I came to admire was a priest who came from a rich family back in Manila. He was articulate, sang beautifully, and initiated many things in our Parish which made our small church vibrant and up-to-date in musical instrument, worship books, and parish attendance.

This priest was so good he was made Parish priest of a new church and he told the congregation that the Bishop asked him to personally choose the name of the church.

There are so many good priests around. Their task is so important and daunting especially in this era where man is consumed with material things and look for source of joy in the wrong places.

These priests are our new shepherds. We look up to them to bring us closer to God, not to alienate us from the Church.