December 8, 2021 turned out to be a cold snowy day. It would have been great to just stay at home and enjoy your warm cozy space. But no! Today the Filipino Community of San Lorenzo celebrated the 30th anniversary of priesthood of their shepherd, Rev. Fr. Noel V. Osial, SDB.
He was actually ordained on the 7th of December 1991, which in that year was the solemn feast day of the Immaculate Conception. That is because December 8 fell on a Sunday, and Advent Liturgy takes precedence over any other feast. So the CBCP moved the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 7. What is important is that he was ordained on the feastday of the Immaculate Conception and that is why he celebrates his anniversary on this great feast of Our Lady.
The celebration began with the Church of San Domenico Savio in Via Rovigno 11/A, Milano gradually filling up for the 4:00 p.m. Mass. At least 200 were present for this Mass presided by Rev. Fr. Noel V. Osial, SDB. Together with him are his superiors in Milano, Rev. Fr. Alberto Vitali (In-charge of the diocesan Office for the Pastoral are of Migrants and Parish Priest of the Personal Parish of Santo Stefano), Rev. Fr. Luca Camisana (Parish Priest of the Parish of San Lorenzo), and Fr. John Paul Avila (fellow migrant chaplain and head of the Pastoral Council for Filipino Communities of Milan).
The Mass was celebrated in Italian but the Liturgy of the Word was done in Tagalog. The FCSL Choir made sure that angelic voices raised the people’s minds and hearts to God. The Mass was capped with Fr. Vitali giving Fr. Noel the apostolic blessing from the Pope on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of his Priesthood.
Then a short program followed in Teatro San Domenico Savio. Hosted by Ms. Jinna Marasigan, Ms. Carina Castrence, and Mr. Efren Montillana, the program was a fitting tribute to the dedication of Fr. Bong to the mission.
Aside from the numerous testimonies and gift-giving that happened, worthy of mention are three moments that really touched the celebrant. First was the warm and personalized introduction given by the Consul General of Milan, ConGen Bernadette Fernandez. Second was the FCSL Volunteers’ brief but meaningful pantomime of Fr. Bong’s zeal throughout these 30 years using the celebration of the sacraments as springboard. And third was the MMMP’s Slide Presentation while singing “Ikaw ay Pari Magpakailanman.”
From among the video greetings presented, none would outdo the simplest greeting of his late mom, Mrs. Araceli Osial who went to the Father’s embrace just 8 days before. It was because she wanted this celebration to happen that Fr. Noel allowed it to push through. Otherwise he would have preferred to mourn in silence.
The celebration was a great success. Everyone went home with food packs especially prepared for this occasion.