By Christina Leslie | Staff Writer

As a young man in his early 20s, Gregg Leo Loreno Abadilla was seriously pursuing a career as a merchant marine in the Philippines.  But just a few months short of officially becoming a sailor, Father Abadilla journeyed far across other oceans to cast out his nets as a fisher of men in the Diocese of Trenton.

Father Abadilla was one of six men who were ordained priests June 4 by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.

Born in 1986 in Mabini, Jovellar Albay, Philippines, the priest and his two sisters, Frances Gay and Camille Rose, and brother, Gregorio, are the children of Cleofe Loreno Abadilla and the late Gregorio Sr. Father Abadilla was educated in the Philippines, first in Jovellar Central School in Jovellar Albay, then St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Panal, Tabaco City.

Due to his father’s illness and the financial challenges his family endured, Father Abadilla reluctantly took a leave of absence from the seminary. He worked as a coffee barista in a Starbucks while attending classes in a local community college, the Mariners Polytechnic Colleges Foundation, Manila, earning a bachelor’s of science degree in marine transportation.

“I had completed all the requirements, except the apprenticeship, to join the Merchant Marines,” he exclaimed. “I could have been a sailor!”

While rooming with a high school classmate, the two learned the Diocese of Trenton was accepting seminarians from the Philippines. Father Abadilla moved to the U.S. in 2009 to enroll in St. Mary Seminary and University, Baltimore, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in humanities in 2011. (His high school classmate, Father Carlo Calisin, now serves the Diocese as parochial vicar in Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish, Atlantic Highlands.)

Father Abadilla’s summer assignments have included Sacred Heart Parish, Trenton; Corpus Christi Parish, Willingboro; St. William the Abbot Parish, Howell; St. Alphonsus Parish, Hopewell, and Ascension Parish, Bradley Beach. He served his diaconate year in St. Mary Parish, Barnegat, and celebrated his first Mass the afternoon of June 5 in the parish’s St. Mary of the Pines Church in Manahawkin. Father Abadilla now serves as parochial vicar in St. Clement Parish, Matawan.

Despite his seminary studies in both the Philippines and the U.S., and his parish work in the Diocese, Father Abadilla freely admitted, “I am still learning. Life in the parish is different.

“In the seminary, all the scenarios are perfectly painted, but in real life, situations are different,” he continued. “We operate more on the pastoral side…. use the knowledge we learned in seminary and learn how to deal with issues in real life.”

The new priest expressed gratitude for Bishop O’Connell’s clerkship program held last summer to prepare seminarians for the myriad, hands-on responsibilities that would be expected as a parish priest. He also acknowledged the valuable opportunity of speaking with priests about their experiences and insight.

“Doctrines and dogmas are our foundation, but we have to deal with the whole person, one with feelings,” Father Abadilla said. “We cannot compromise what the Church teaches, but have to be God’s mercy to those people.

“I have learned from other priests to deal with the people gently, with compassion. Now it is the real deal,” he continued, “Unlike the scenarios we learned in seminary, there is not a made-up name in front of you, but a real person.”

Father Abadilla most anticipates “being with the people, facing the people, sharing the faith and a spiritual dimension, celebrating the Eucharist and giving them a real sense of the Sacraments,” he enumerated. “We must be servant leaders, express God’s love.

“I am not putting myself on a pedestal; I am now more mature in my faith,” Father Abadilla reflected. Describing his priestly ministry as a gift to the people of God, he added, “It is a two-way train, I am gaining from them. They give back to you an even richer experience.”

Father Abadilla had chosen Father Nestor Chavenia, parochial vicar in St. Mary Parish, Barnegat, to serve as vesting priest during the Ordination.  “He was from the Diocese of my high school in the Philippines, he took care of me, gave me advice and mentored me in Barnegat. He has been guiding me every step of the way. He is representing the Filipino clergy, and it is a proud moment for us.”

Considering the guidance that he might offer to a man discerning a vocation to the priesthood, Father Abadilla observed, “The image I use is that of a seed God planted.” He advised, “Nurture it, water it. Prayer is the most important thing.”