National Jesuit News » Jesuit Radmar Jao

Path to Priesthood: The Priestly Ordination of Radmar Jao

NJN Editor — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:47:26 +0000

With great joy and gratitude to God, Jesuit Radmar Jao was ordained a priest on Saturday, June 11th at St. Aloysius Church in Spokane, Wash. The Most Reverend Blase J. Cupich, Bishop of Spokane, presided at the ordination liturgy for Jao along with newly ordained Jesuit Jaime Alejandro Olayo Méndez. In this video, you’ll get to experience the ordination ceremony along with Jao and the parishioners at St. Aloysius.

Jao’s now starting a new chapter in his life as a Jesuit and we will touch base with him again in September as he shares with us his assignment as a new priest in the Society of Jesus. So, stay tuned!

And if you missed any of the previous video diaries with Radmar in the months leading up to this milestone moment, you can find them all here.

Path to Priesthood: The Path is Ending, The Priestly Life is Just Beginning

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:30:26 +0000

Radmar is going to be ordained tomorrow, and in this last video blog before ordination, he thanks his viewers and encourages you to watch the live streaming of the ordination.

To watch the live streaming of his ordination, visit National Jesuit News’ UStream Page, which will be live streaming at 1 p.m. Eastern /10 a.m. Pacific.

Path to Priesthood: Thank You

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:00:18 +0000

“I hope that these videos continue to feed your own prayer as they are actually beginning to feed mine. I am surprised how much I am actually thinking about my own path now, toward this path to priesthood, because I have to be conscience about every experience I have every day now, I’m thinking ‘okay, can I blog about this’ and it forces me to reflect on what God is doing and how God is actively working in me and through me to affect other people.”

As we follow Jao on his journey to ordination in June, leave a comment or ask a question here on the National Jesuit News blog, comment on YouTube or on Twitter via @AskAJesuit and he will respond in an upcoming future video diary. Check back weekly for more video diaries from Jao.

Path to Priesthood: One Month Until Ordination

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:00:04 +0000

Radmar Jao is officially one month away from being ordained a priest, and if there is one thing he wants this vlog edition to communicate, it is his excitement at this next stage of his life as a Jesuit.

“I’m feeling excited that the time is coming…This is not the end of a journey. No, if anything the excitement is really in the knowing that a new stage of my life is beginning,” says Radmar.

Path to Priesthood: The Process of Discernment

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Mon, 09 May 2011 12:11:49 +0000

“In my own discernment, it’s been an ongoing process; what really turned me around during the discernment process was a prayer experience I had during a discernment retreat, where I got this real sense of Jesus, falling in love with me. It sounds strange, but it’s a relationship and ultimately that’s why I’m a Jesuit, because of my relationship with Christ.”

Path to Priesthood: Why I Became a Jesuit

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:00:37 +0000

In this video diary entry, Radmar talks about why he became a Jesuit and his struggle with realizing his vocation.

“In all of these things I was doing, I thought I was doing God’s work and this is all that is required of me,” says Jao. “But I just felt like God kept pushing and tugging and saying ‘No, no, no, I want more, I want more’ to the point where I just started playing bargaining games with God saying ‘Look, if you want me to become a priest, then give me this audition, help me pay my rent, do all of these things to prove that this is what you want for me.’ Be careful what you pray for, because God answers prayers.”

Path to Priesthood: Jesuit Finds Renewal in Pastoral Ministry

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:00:30 +0000

One step of Jesuit formation on the path to priesthood is working in pastoral ministry, which helps prepare the Jesuit for his life immediately after ordination. Often during this formation time, the Jesuit will work in a variety of places; for Jesuit Radmar Jao it is as a deacon at Saint Agnes Parish in San Francisco, CA and the Children’s Hospital in Oakland, CA. In this video, Radmar talks about a pastoral ministry experience that deeply impacted him.

“My strength lies in accompanying people in the midst of their pain, in the midst of their struggle, in the midst of their confusion, just to be able to be with them and walk with them,” says Radmar.

As we follow Jao on his journey to ordination in June, leave a comment or ask a question here on the National Jesuit News blog or on YouTube and he will respond in an upcoming future video diary. And check back weekly for more video diaries from Jao.

Jesuit Starts Video Diary on his Path to Priesthood

NJN Editor — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:00:48 +0000

Along with preparing for the priesthood, studies and comprehensive exams at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University at Berkeley, soon-to-be ordained Jesuit Radmar Jao is discovering that he has created yet another set of expectations by participating in the Path to Priesthood video series.

“Expectations are something that I struggle with a lot. Being a performer, I feel like I have to perform; I feel like I have expectations of myself and I pay attention to other people’s expectations of me. And, that necessarily isn’t such a wise thing to do, I know, and I’ve kind of been working on that in my formation, just to…be. To be with whatever situation I may find myself with, but it’s hard,” says Jao.

Jesuit Invites Viewers to Join Him on His Path to Priesthood

NJN Editor — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:00:33 +0000

Today, we launch a new online video series via YouTube focusing on a Jesuit in the last few months of formation before his ordination to the priesthood. Called “Path to Priesthood”, the series gives viewers an opportunity to follow Jesuit Radmar Jao in the months leading up to his ordination, join his actual ordination ceremony and hear his reflections before his first assignment as a Jesuit priest. The series also offers a collection of weekly video diaries from Jao himself where he gives his thoughts on the approaching ordination, to what happens in his class, ministry or that day in his community.

Jao, who is currently in his third year of theological studies at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University at Berkeley in California, is preparing for his ordination in June in Spokane, Wash. Formerly an actor, Jao joined the Society of Jesus in 2001. He also currently serves as a deacon at St. Agnes Parish in San Francisco.

You can view the first episode below and make sure to come back next week for Jao’s first video diary on what his life is like as he prepares to become a priest.