On February 19, Monday, during the Mass for the monthly Clergy Assembly, Bishop Mylo Vergara presided over the sending-off rites for Fr. Alex Pontilla, who volunteered to do missions in New Zealand. He was accompanied by priests from the Mission Society of the Philippines (MSP), the missionary arm of the Catholic Church in the country.
Fr. Alex is a priest from the City of San Pablo. Ordained in 2009, Fr. Alex served as parochial vicar for some parishes in the diocese while at the same time serving the youth by assisting in the San Pablo Youth Commission as assistant director and eventually as director.
Doing missions is not new for Fr. Alex. Before being the parish priest of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Real, Calamba City, Fr. Alex served in Papua New Guinea. His desire to do missions is, for him, a source of renewed spirit in the ministry, as he shared during the August 2023 Clergy Assembly.
In his homily for the sending-off, Bishop Mylo emphasized that doing missions, especially in other countries, is not an easy task. Instead, it is full of challenges and difficulties. But what brings consolation to missionary task is Jesus' message in the Gospel: "Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me" (Mt 25:40).
Fr. Alex will serve in the Diocese of Aukland, New Zealand for three years.
