A priesthood inspired by Bruce Lee
“GOD called me to follow Him and He called me through Bruce Lee.”
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas shared this little secret in his homily during the Mass celebrating his silver anniversary in the priesthood on October 6 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Dagupan.
As a sickly teenager, Villegas was an avid fan of the Chinese-American martial arts icon. While he could not practice martial arts himself, he read up on Lee’s philosophy and was deeply taken by it, particularly the words: “Be yourself and learn the art of dying”.
The San Carlos Seminary, Villegas continued, took him as he was — a Bruce Lee fan.
There, he was open with his spiritual director but never talked about it with his classmates, afraid they would not understand because they were there for Jesus while he was there for Bruce Lee.
His spiritual director, meanwhile, taught him this: “Two thousand years before Bruce Lee, another wiser man said in Galilee, ‘If the seed dies, it bears fruit’.”
Hearing this, he fell in love with that wiser man so he laid aside his Bruce Lee album and magazine collection and answered the call of Jesus to “Come follow me”.
The late Jaime Cardinal Sin ordained the young Villegas on October 5, 1985.
“Every day of my life since October 5, 1985, I have never missed a single day without offering the holy sacrifice of the Mass thanking God ceaselessly for calling me to be His priest,” he said.
Bruce Lee’s credo has nonetheless remained in Archbishop Villegas’ heart as he said, “Among all men in society, it is the priest who must be an expert in the art and science of dying.”
Among those who attended the Mass were President Benigno Aquino III’s sisters, Balsy, Pinky, Viel and Kris. Others who joined the celebration included bishops from different dioceses and archdioceses in the country, his classmates at the San Carlos Seminary in Makati who are now priests as well, seminarians, friends, members of the laity in Pangasinan as well as Bataan where he previously served, government officials and his relatives.
As the archbishop ended his homily, he thanked Bruce Lee for being an angel to him and Cardinal Sin “for teaching me to love my priesthood”.—LM
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