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Fr EdOz, Sydney (2026)

09/06/2025

The Australian Filipina is glad to bring to our readers a sharing by a Filipino-Australian priest who was in Rome during the Conclave and participated in the Inaugural Mass of the new Pope. This is none other than Fr. Ed Orilla, Parish Priest of St Patrick's, Kogarah, NSW.

23/05/2025

Just got back from Rome.
The Lord has asked me to do something special and delicate in my priestly ministry- small in
my estimation, but unknown to my expectation it turned out to be ‘bigger than big.’ What a beautiful and enriching experience in Rome. Not long enough may be, or may be too long to some minds. With the joy of Easter, the sorrow of Pope Francis’ death, and the excitement of the conclave and election of our new Holy Father, and my intensive course in Rome …such were the proceedings in the minds of many, and mine too.
I departed Sydney 7th May- the day the conclave started, arriving in Rome I had Mass at the Basilica of Maria Maggiore near the tomb of Pope Francis. Afternoon of that day I went to St Peter’s Square, hoping that the Cardinal-electors have 'done their job' under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and deep down within me to get a good glimpse of the white smoke from the chimney of Sistine Chapel. Lo and behold, I was blessed to witness it, just perfect timing: I was at the Augustinian Generalate House next to the Vatican colonnades, a vantage point, almost level with the loggia and rooftop of Sistine Chapel. It was not just merely a smoke, but something more beautiful experientially and existentially, sort of ‘once-in-a-lifetime experience, rejoicing and uttering ‘Yeahhh’ unreservedly with the my Augustinian brother-priests and friars as we watched and awaited for the final announcement of the newly elected Pope and Vicar of Christ after Pope Francis. The screaming reached its peak as we audibly heard the name of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, an Augustinian priest (and I was at the Augustinian Generalate House). Then, I sprinted to St Peter’s piazza to join the innumerable crowd, rejoicing. What an experience! Went back to Domus Australia where I stayed, still elated with the succession of beautiful events.
Attended the 1st Regina Coeli (Angelus) given by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV (Sunday). Classes started the 12th of May for the entire week. Then our class 2025 had a special Mass inside St Peter’s Basilica after carrying the Pilgrimage Jubilee Cross from Piazza Pia to the inside of St Peter’s Basilica. Was privileged to distribute Holy Communion during Mass inside St Peter’s Basilica.

The apex of this time in Rome was the attendance of the Solemn Mass of Inauguration of the new Pope on Sunday 18th May. It was just beautiful! It was sheerly overwhelming!
Many unexpected events in the past weeks happened that I needed a space for quiet reflection before flying back to Sydney. I went to Loreto, Northern Italy, for prayer and reflection. (Sitting in the train for ca. 4 hours on the way and another ca. 4hours back gave me ample time to ponder and reflect and pray about the experience). Had Mass again early morning at Maria Maggiore Basilica the morning before I flew back to Sydney. Now am back here at St Patrick’s Parish, Kogarah

I prayed for you and your family there. I praised and thanked God Almighty and the Blessed Mother for everything that transpired.

07/12/2023

8 Dec Year of the Lord
Solemnity: Immaculate Conception of Mary our Mother and Mother of Church and of every one

This is a doctrine revered by many even before it was defined by the Church thru St Pius IX on 8 Dec 1854. Even Muslims believe in the immaculate conception and virgin birth of Mary (thru St Anne - and his father St Joachim). Being a dogma, it is the truth to be believe. Yes, Mary, from the very first moment of her conception, was free from original sin.

What a privilege given to the Blessed Virgin. She was the only one given this privilege, no other person born on earth other than Jesus and her. But why? Well, 1st, God has divine plan. He planned to bring a Saviour, a Messiah thru a virgin - pure holy, clean vessel/chamber, that’s why Jesus is all-pure. Who can dispute that? 2nd, Mother Mary deigned her to help Jesus save mankind from sin, the reason we call her “Co-Redemptrix” or “Co-Redeemer” of Jesus our Lord.

Free from sin from the first moment of her conception, what does this mean? Well, 1st, free to accept God’s will, her FIAT - her role to be the mother of God’s son. “Let it be done to me as you say God” (italics mine). 2nd, free from pride. Mary wasn’t proud albeit she knew she was chosen by God to be the vessel of God’s love. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord…” 3rd, free from fear. That’s the message of the angel Gabby to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary!”

In Mary, we learn to listen and obey Jesus: “Do whatever my Son tells you” (italics mine). The trouble is, or the irony is, we don’t do what Jesus - the Son of the Immaculate Conception - tells us to do. Instead, what we do is what we want to do. Well, again back to the premise: original sin. But that’s should not be an excuse to commit sin or offend God. By the grace of God we cannot “but cannot and should not commit sin to offend God.”

04/11/2023

5 November '23
31st Sunday Ordinary Time

Theme: the great pretender(s)

We just celebrated All Saints Day and All Souls Day, two days of observance of who and what will we become: 1)saints-in-the-making, and 2) souls geared toward heaven. We continue to pray for our dear departed brothers and sisters esp those in most need of our prayers - Mass offerings, sacrifices, lighting of candles, among others.

The prophet Malachi in the OT (Mal 1:14-2-2,8-10) and Jesus in the Gospel this Sunday speak challenging words to leaders, be it church leaders, civic leaders, parents, friends, advisers - in fact, to many, if not all of us- who have been pretenders...or shall I say 'the great pretenders'? The Gospel is warning us NOT to be actors or hypocrites but authentic witnesses of the Gospel values. Jesus says, "do everything they tell you, but do not follow their example," meaning, they taught more truth than they actually lived. Yes, the Gospel speaks about a bit of the Pharisee in all of us. We all have a gap between what we say and what we do. We question other's motives but are ready to litigate if anybody dares to question our own.

Yes, maybe there's a bit of Pharisee in each one of us.

The readings this Sunday gives us a healthy dose of HUMILITY. One thing we can learn from all the saints is humility when we acknowledge that we all fall short of the glory of God and are in need of grace. If there is a little bit of the Pharisee in each one of us, there is as well a little bit of Christ in each one of us. The question is: which one are we letting grow?

28/08/2023

St Augustine (28 August Year of the Lord), pray for us.
Heaps of wisdom can be extracted and learned from this great saint and doctor of the church. Let us continue to learn from him. Our years of formation - fulfilled or unfulfilled - weren’t enough - or never be enough - to be wise and saintly as Augustine. Restless, yes, maybe even ‘till now, older and wiser too, but never enough till we find rest in the heart - and ultimately abode - of God.
Happy feast day, mga full-pledge kag ex-Agustinos - SanAg, Iloilo or non-Iloilo.

06/08/2023

6 August ‘23

Feast -Transfiguration of the Lord

Theme: Seeing the bigger picture

With the revelation at Mt Tabor (the place which I visited a number of times together with a great number of pilgrims who where with me) let us use a wide-angle lens of our mind and imagination and a bigger understanding with the heart. The event: Jesus goes up onto a mountain…his clothes become dazzlingly white… prophets -Moses and Elijah - appear and talk to him… and when it’s over Jesus tells his disciples to say nothin’. Yes, it happened. Period. It’s puzzling but convincing.

The challenge and the promise of Christ’s Transfiguration is one of a greater world and a greater life that is our future. The transfiguration is a heavenly mystery, and what a privilege for Peter, James and John to witness such event, which for us may be just a historical event when being juggled by incredulity. It is in the Gospel put or written by the evangelists. Why, then, did it happen? There might be reason: so that we could see and understand that Jesus is the Son of God: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

It gives me great consolation in thinking and contemplating about the heavenly mystery of the Lord’s Transfiguration. It helps me see my life in a bigger perspective, seeing and understanding the events, happenings, shots, ‘photos’ in life in a wide-angle lens. Sufferings, yes; pain, yes; heart-aches, yes; tears, yes; incomprehension, yes.
Elsewhere in the 2nd letter of St Paul to the Corinthians he says that although we may have a pound of pain on earth, tons of glory awaits us in heaven; we might have a cup of suffering here in earth, but gallons of grace are ahead of us in heaven ( italics mine).

Lesson: we should not see the unfolding of life in a small screen; we should set our sights on a bigger lens. The Transfiguration gives us a bigger perspective. When we suffer, we suffer with and for Christ. When we die , we just don’t go down 6ft under the ground, or evaporate into the ozone. We go into the embrace of Christ who knows the real truth about each of us. Let us then listen to the beloved Son of God… for when Jesus speaks, God speaks to us, when we listen to Jesus we listen to God. Amen

04/08/2023

(Explanation of pic: John Vianney asking a little boy where Ars is and John told him that if he (the boy) will tell him John will tell him how to go to heaven, which the boy replied: you don’t even know where Ars is, and so how can you show me heaven)
Hmnnn… makes sense!
St John M Vianney’s slowness made sense coz God is slow to anger and abiding in love.

4 August

Memorial of St John Mary Vianney (Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, Cure de Ars), Patron of Parish Priests (all priests)

Both a good model and not a good one too! A model of devoutness - a man of prayer and love, albeit not a good model for slowness in learning (not dullness, but simply not as good as any good academicians). But God called him to a kind of holiness which surpasses many of the intellectuals who eventually became a saint. Indeed, in the life of St John M Vianney, not all are called to be intellectual but everyone are called to love God (be men and women of prayer), and that’s all that matters. He was a noted preacher (though not a Dominican)and a celebrated confessor (though not Blessed Sacrament father).

St John Mary Vianney, pray for us.

(Privilege to visit Ars, a little and unassuming village in France, several years ago and got this souvenir).

23/07/2023

23 July ‘23
Theme: The patience of God

What would have happened to us had God wasn’t patient and hasn’t shown clemency to us? We can look back into out lives at the times we sinned, or wronged or hurt God, or drifted from Him out of nowhere due to weakness (or stubbornness), or hard-headedness? It is both a comfort and consolation to know - and thank God - that He is NOT as impulsive as we are - that we have a God who is patient. Yes indeed, God is. For God, no one on earth is damned. Salvation is the right of everybody. Nobody has the right to categorise people into the saved and the damned. And that’s simply the point of the Gospel this Sunday - parable of wheat and weeds.

There exist in the world good and evil (not just bad), in the field ‘wheat and weeds’ (or good grains and poisonous grass). The world, the field, the church is a ‘mixed bag’ which couldn’t be distinguished at first. The roots, the intentions - good and/or bad- of the heart are entangled together, that if one has to rule out right away it might do more havoc than good. As wisdom tells us ‘let them be’ - for the time being. At the end, reckoning (judgment) for everyone will be done: the weeds be separated from the good seeds, the ‘goodies from the baddies.’ Some might slip thru human estimation but NOT thru God’s justice. And God’s judgment is eminently fair and FINAL.

But the beauty of God’s final judgment is laden with early warning signs, or wake-up calls, or fire alarms in the night. God is called at times the God of second chance, not just God of surprises. These warnings/corrections are signs of God’s love for us. They are grace-moments. All of us, no exception, desperately need that second chance.

Yes, despite the weeds,
despite the mis-steps and the mis-givings, there will be a harvest. The biggest question is: will we be part of that magnificent harvest or NOT?

09/07/2023

9 July 2023

Theme: Finding an oasis in pauses and prayer

Six or five days a week many of us go to work, 6 or 8 hours a day, or maybe more, depending on one’s work-time or demands (or needs). Lucky are those retirees coz they don’t go to work anymore, but even then there are still work to be done somewhere - household or taking care of grandchildren, pets, garden, among others. Even then, we have to replenish our energy; we have to pause and refresh ourselves with some sort of supply for the coming days. We need to soothe our weariness/fatigue - both physical and spiritual. This we can only find if we pause now and then, get some fresh air, but a better way is to pray. Sunday is a good time designed by God for us to do such.

Jesus echoes to us in the Gospel this Sunday (Mt 11:28-30) “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give rest…”ff). The time or moment or day with God is a sort of oasis in our journey. Oasis is a sort of mirage for a while from a distance but as one goes nearer it is actually a small body of water where a traveller can refresh oneself and replenish the supply for the journey ahead. It is a sort of ‘bottled water’ from a distance, but one has to go there and get that ‘one thing.’ (There is no such thing as free; one has to work or earn it - and work hard and earn harder).

We all need a spiritual oasis to which we can replenish ourselves. And for us believing Christians that oasis is PRAYER. It is a time or day or moment we set aside with the Lord on our own or with our family or community, but more of personal time with God. Prayer is crucial in our day-to-day life. We cannot just go on without putting the events - good and bad, misfortunes and fortunate ones - in our lives into perspective. This time of prayer (oasis) is seeing our life experiences and plans within the plan or perspective of God. It is not just a matter of doing the right thing, but it is doing what God really wants us to do; not just right but “God-ly.”

So, this Sunday - from now on - consider creating an oasis of prayer in your own personal life, and that could be: adoration of Lord in the Blessed Sacrament (Holy Hour), or daily meditation, or daily Mass, praying the Holy Rosary, “magnum silentium”, among others. Whatever form or way of oasis you do, remember this: we all need a time and a place of refreshment for our soul. Such refreshment (like a canteen during recess time) will give us enough supplies for the rest of our journey. T’is still long journey my friends, brothers and sisters, and so make the most of the significant pauses and oasis in your life. Amen

22/02/2023

Going to Holy Land tomorrow, part of our classes here in Rome. Just perfect time to begin the season of Lent. Pray for you all there … visiting Bethlehem (birth place of Jesus), Gethsemane (sufferings of Jesus), Mt of Olives, Jerusalem (via Dolorosa), Golgotha (crucifixion), Holy Sepulchre (burial ground of Jesus), the Great Wailing Wall, boat ride in the Sea of Galilee, Mt of Beatitudes, Mt of Temptation, Capernaum,,among others.

Any special intentions??? Let me know…

27/01/2023

Mass Just finished here with the Dominicans @ the Basilica di San Domenico, Napoli, Italy. A Thanksgiving Mass after decade of Rosary and Evening Prayer. God works in marvellous ways. It is, as the Gospel speaks to us today 27 January, like the farmer throws seed on the land , when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing, how, he does not know. God can make something great out of the small things we do for him.
T’was a quiet day but God speaks loudly and tenderly in my heart as I begin another 33 years or so in my priestly ministry.
A priest-classmate Fr Karl
from New York Archdiocese was gracious enough to join me for a toast over a Peroni and Aperol Spritze drink…
More wonderful things in-store from God Almighty.
Rendiamo grazie a Dio.

26/01/2023

27 January … 33 years in the priesthood … in the service of the Church, doing little things to help build the kingdom of God on earth, helping in leading souls to heaven. How I wish I can help more people, how I wish I can lead more souls back to the Faith and Truth. But I can only do the best I can. I can only embrace few with my small embrace, but I embrace you all with a loving and heavenly embrace.

Thank you for praying and supporting me all these years - 32 years and one night already. I continue to pray for you too.

It’s just opportune time am here in Rome these 3 months. I have ample time to pray … to be grateful to God… to relish the gift of the priesthood… to study … to stand at a vantage point and see the bigger picture of ministerial priesthood. I can reminisce your significance in my life. Every countenance of you flood my mind as I take a walk on the grounds ( I wish to be grounded always ) praying the Holy Rosary… meditating… contemplating.

God bless you all.

Fr EdOz