Going out on mission? Why?
By Father Hermes ‘Larry’ Sabud SM
Father Larry Sabud was the first Filipino Marist to be ordained and also the first Filipino Marist novice master.
These were the questions raised by my parents when I told them that I was going to Peru andVenezuela to serve as a Filipino Marist missionary. My father continued to ask me, ‘Why do you have to go there? We have enough missionary work in the Philippines. And besides, there aren’t enough Marist priests in the Marist District in the Philippines. Why go, Larry?’
How would you have answered those simple and profound questions of Pastor and Raquel, my parents? I told them that what pushed me to decide to go on mission was my experience of grace. I joined the Society of Mary in 1985, made my first profession as a Marist in 1989, and was ordained priest in 1993. Despite many struggles and difficulties on my journey, I can say that I’ve received so many blessings from the Lord.