Take Five with Father: A Second Family
Father Ronaldo Mercado, pastor of St. Joseph Church in Arlington, on Oct. 30, 2024. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)
HE IS: Father Ronaldo Mercado, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Arlington. He was previously the pastor of St. George Parish in Fort Worth and parochial vicar at St. Michael Parish in Bedford.
ORDAINED: May 23, 2015, at St. Patrick Cathedral.
FAMILY FIRST: Fr. Mercado’s late father always said one of his children would become a priest. As the only boy of four children, Fr. Mercado waved off the comment, believing a grandson would be the priest.
While he had a firm faith, his devotion to his family and his commitment to support his younger sisters’ education kept his sight on building a successful career as a medical technologist for many years.
SCIENCE AND FAITH: Upon early graduation at 19, Fr. Mercado began work as a medical technologist, eventually leading to work with tissue typing and cross-matching for organ transplantation at the National Kidney Transplant Institute in Manila. At 27, Fr. Mercado was offered the opportunity to work at a hospital in Vernon, Texas.
In Vernon, he attended Mass at Holy Family Parish during the week, and on his time off, he attended Sacred Heart Parish in Wichita Falls.
CALLED: While working in Vernon, compassionate patient encounters helped him understand how “fulfilling the life of a priest is — that you bring somebody to Christ.”
Attending the Vocation Awareness Program in 2006 prompted him to begin his discernment, but he didn’t enter seminary until August of 2008 at the age of 35.
KEEPING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER: One of the few Filipino Catholic priests in North Texas, Fr. Mercado invites the Filipino faith community to celebrate Mass in its native Tagalog four times a year.
Whether it be participating in a novena or meeting with the elderly who need a house blessing, Fr. Mercado works to be present for his second family, “which is the Church.”
EMULATE THEM: “Nowadays, the family is being disintegrated and that is the enemy of our soul — he wanted to destroy the sense of unity of the family. And that unity starts through prayer. Let us always emulate the Holy Family of Jesus.”
HOUSE OF PRAYER: “We need to have a family faith-based ministry, not just for couples or youth, but a family base that really, truly strengthens the family, making the home a house of prayer.” In this way, he said, a family may encounter Christ both at church and in one’s home.
SPIRITUAL CLEANSE: The sacrament of reconciliation allows all faithful — priests included — to receive a spiritual cleansing.
“I find that the sacrament of reconciliation gives me healing and a sense of peace when everything is chaotic in my mind. So I’ll think, ‘I need some spiritual medicine and a spiritual bath,’ so I’ll go twice a month.
The power of the sacrament of reconciliation is beyond our merit. It’s much more of restoring us to who we are as a priest, but also that sense of connection with the grace of God, so that the flow of grace that we impart, we may also share it with the people – everything comes from the Lord.”
JOY IN PRIESTHOOD: Fr. Mercado believes that the life of a priest is mysterious and filled with grace, “but it is always coming from God, not from us. … We first taste the reward here — the joy of heaven — by the people’s encounter through us when they see in us that reflection of Christ. We are just participating in the ministry of our Lord Jesus.”