From medical technologist to priesthood

Photo from the ordination of Fr. Keith Hathaway, Fr. Michael Greco, and Fr. Ronaldo Mercado at St. Patrick Cathedral, May 23, 2015. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

Holding the hand of an elderly patient at Wilbarger General Hospital in Vernon in the far western reaches of the diocese gave Father Ronaldo Mercado his first nudge toward the priesthood. The medical technologist’s warm, friendly smile and easy-going manner made him a favorite with the nursing staff and the people they treated.

“I think some of the older patients saw me as something like a grandson,” the priest says humbly. “When I took blood samples, they would ask to hold my hand, and sometimes I would initiate prayers. I was doing chaplaincy work without knowing it.”

On his way back to the laboratory after one of those visits, he wondered if there was a better way to serve people.

“I felt called to a greater ministry,” remembers Fr. Mercado, who attended a Vocation Awareness Program weekend in 2006. “And I finally knocked on the door of the Vocation Office.”

After two years of discernment, the native of Manila, in the Philippines, entered Assumption Seminary in August 2008. Seven years later, Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson ordained the 42-year-old to the priesthood on May 23 in St. Patrick Cathedral.

Family members flew in from the Philippines to attend the ceremony. His mother, Eufrocina Mercado, and sisters, Rhodora Melendrez and Pilar Mangubat, reunited with Fr. Mercado as they witnessed his ordination. A younger sister, Karen Mercado, remained in the Philippines. Fr. Mercado’s father, Jose, is deceased.

“I don’t have a biological brother, but I gained a lot of brothers in the seminary — spiritual brothers,” Fr. Mercado muses. “I enjoyed my time in the seminary, and it was a blessing for me to go to different places like Mexico and Puerto Rico.”

The former medical worker, who worked with tissue typing and DNA analysis at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Manila, had the opportunity to revisit hospital routine as a seminarian. In 2012, he spent 10 weeks at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas working as a chaplain.

“Having medical knowledge increased my understanding, my sense of compassion, and pastoral skills with people,” asserts Fr. Mercado, who was sponsored by Wilbarger General Hospital to work in the U.S. because of his laboratory skills.

The hospital internship also gave the technologist a better understanding of self.

“I think the Clinical Pastoral Education we get helps seminarians know who they are as people and not just learn about ministries like the chaplaincy,” he adds.

As part of his formation for the priesthood, Mercado experienced parish life at St. George Church where he celebrated his first Mass on the afternoon of his ordination. His duties included training altar servers and acolytes and teaching religion classes at the adjacent Catholic school.

“Whenever I’m in Fort Worth, I continue to serve there. The people are like family to me,” he says emotionally. “They invite me into their homes whenever I’m in Fort Worth.”

Many of Fr. Mercado’s own relatives still live in the Philippines where the faith traditions of his childhood are a fresh memory.

“My mother’s family was very religious,” the priest recalls. “When I was five years old, I remember going house-to-house on November 1st with an elderly uncle and cousins praying the Rosary for the poor souls.”

Those pious religious practices had an impact.

“They made me who I am now,” Fr. Mercado says. “I still have those devotions, and I hope, when I begin my ministry, to introduce some of them to foster vocations.”

While preparing for his recent ordination, Fr. Mercado went on a restorative, silent retreat. While reflecting on his years of formation, he says, “I realized that, as a child, God marked me for the priesthood.”

His aunt Josephina, who lives in California, recently disclosed that her brother, Fr. Mercado’s late father, Jose, dreamed of having a son who was a priest. The story reminded Fr. Mercado of a Christmas Day encounter with Father Oren W. Key, a Jesuit who was the pastor of Holy Family of Nazareth Parish when he was living in Vernon.

“I had just finished serving at Mass and had nowhere to go, so I stayed for an hour of adoration,” the new priest remembers. “Fr. Key was checking the doors of the church when he turned and asked me, ‘Ronaldo, do you think you have a vocation?’ I told him I wanted to have a family, but if I ever had a son, I would pray for him to become a priest.”

His answer didn’t seem to convince his pastor, who encouraged him to think about the priesthood anyway.

Fr. Mercado now realizes his wish was really his father’s.

“My father would be so happy about my ordination because this was his secret desire,” he explains.

The new priest is thankful to people in the diocese for helping him understand and accept his vocation. He will serve as parochial vicar at St. Michael Parish in Bedford starting July 1.

 “I’m just a humble servant of the Lord who wants to serve for the good of the people,” he says.