Roy Aris B. Ballacillo knows what it means to be in formation for the priesthood. Between entering a high school seminary at age 12, attending a collegiate seminary in his native Philippines, and spending the last four years at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Ballacillo has spent the greater part of two decades contemplating what it might mean to become a priest forever.
Now, on the verge of taking the penultimate step toward ordination, Ballacillo says his long journey of discernment has prepared him to be ordained first a deacon, and then a priest.
“I am aware that my formation to the priesthood is an ongoing process,” Ballacillo said, “and the formation that I have received so far has made me more prepared and confident to say that I know God wants me to be here, and I’m just happy and thankful to him.”
Ballacillo, who grew up in the province of Abra in the northwest Phillippines, attended Christ the King Seminary in Manilla. There, he received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, and more importantly, first began to discover who God wanted him to be.
“I’d say my five years in the college seminary was among the most creative and productive periods of my life,” Ballacillo said. “I matured spiritually, intellectually, pastorally and socially.”
After graduation, Ballacillo spent a year as a postulant, followed by another as a novitiate. It was then, Ballcillo remembers thinking to himself, “I think I need a break.” He spent two years working for the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which gave him a chance “to experience real-life situations.”
He then decided to re-enter seminary life, and was invited to apply to the Diocese of Trenton’s formation program. Two former schoolmates from the Philippines who were ordained in the Diocese of Trenton – Father Mark Nillo, in St. James Parish, Red Bank, and Father Carlo Calisin, in Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish, Atlantic Highlands – paved the way to encourage Ballacillo to study and become a priest with the Diocese.
Since then, Ballacillo said, his years of study and formation have “been a time of great learning and experiences.”
One such experience took place when Ballacillo spent a summer teaching third-grade religious education at St. Catharine Parish, Holmdel. Dominica Vullo, the parish’s religious education director, said she can’t wait for when Ballacillo is ordained first a deacon, and then, God willing, a priest.
“It was a wonderful blessing to have him,” Vullo said. “When he shares the Gospel, he lights up. And you can see the joy, that his heart is so full of his faith, his faith is so apparent…that when he teaches the children, his face shines.”