REV. FR. JOSEPH CHARLES
GRAMS SCHWEGMANN: REMEMBERING A SERVANT OF CHRIST
By: Al Ponciano R.
Datu
Roughly sixteen years ago, that
was in 1994 when I first saw a caucasian man playing basketball with priests at
the Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary covered court in an afternoon days
before the celebration of the feast of the patron saint of diocesan priests. I
can no longer remember who were my companions then, though one thing sure was
that they were my fellow seminarians of the Spirituality Formation Year of San
Jose de Mindanao Seminary which was just nearby. What I can remember most was
that I asked them who this particular man was and whether or not he was one of
the remnants of Irish or Australian Columban missionaries just like the late
Reverend Father Francis Chapman. I learned later on that he was neither Irish
nor Australian but an American and certainly not a missionary but a diocesan
priest assigned at the parish of his saintly namesake, Saint Joseph at Salay,
Misamis Oriental.
What specially caught my
attention was the simplicity of the man in a way that he was not wearing any
shoes while playing basketball. He was very much at home playing with those diocesan
priests and as I saw it, he was enjoying the game to the fullest. I can no
longer recall on whether or not his team won during that game but one thing
sure, whether or not the scores favored him does not matter as the happiness of
being in the game was apparent in his face.
If my memory prove me right, it was in February 1995 that I learned that
we had then our new parish priest in the Holy Cross Parish of Alubijid, Misamis
Oriental in the person of that barefooted basketball player at Saint John
Vianney Theological Seminary covered basketball court. When the time of our
vacation at the end of the spirituality formation year had come, I dropped by
the parish convent to see him, he was glad to tell me that I would be obliged
to help in the parish activities. There I learned what is meant by the phrase
that there is no vacation in vocation. Indeed I had a full hand during that
summer and in the two summers more that followed.
I can remember one occasion when he celebrated mass in Lourdes, Alubijid,
Misamis Oriental, his service motorcycle broke down so we had to walk seven
kilometers to the Poblacion. He carried the red backpack that contained the
mass kit which was relatively heavy for me while I was carrying some things
that were much lighter than his cargo. It was his custom to pray the rosary
while walking and by necessary, I have to do the same thing as he did. I was
looking most of the time on the ground and not raising my head up by the time
we reached an uphill course when we had already negotiated some three
kilometers going by way of the Barrio of Benigwayan. Perhaps it was because of
his longer limbs or perhaps more so because of his fast gait, I noticed that I
was no longer able hear him recite the hail mary and that was also the time
that I know that he was already way ahead of me. He was such a good hiker.
It was also in Lourdes, Alubijid one Sunday evening after the mass that
we were invited by a family for the usual dinner served for the parish priest.
There were three of us then as my former co-seminarian Elizer Tinoy had
accompanied us. The food was next to sumptous especially so that there was roasted
native chicken on the table. The appetite was even made good by the fact that
we were then hungry. Me and my companion were on the way to consume everything
on the table when we felt the tap on our wrist and the priest saying almost in
a whisper in vernacular: “Hinay-hinay
lang kay wala pa makakaon ang tagbalay (Take it slowly for the hosts have
not yet eaten).” I was a little bit
surprised but later on, as I go over and over the situation, it made me feel
that the man had his thoughts on the welfare of others too.
During those years that I was active in the parish works, I noticed very
well how he lived the life of poverty even if the parish can afford to feed us
with the good food. The staple of the parish was not rice but corn grits – that
was yellow corn which was and which is still the cheapest staple. He was eating
the staple of the poor people of his parish. He could not have eaten this kind
of food in the United States but he learned to eat what the people of his
parish had to eat. Not only that, he also learned the language of the people by
heart. He was a fluent speaker in Visayan so that one time, according to him,
federal agents had detained him for some hours in Hawaii because he spoke
Visayan to airport authorities. These people suspected that he was speaking
Russian and so they subjected him to some interrogation.
Whatever personal information I have of him was scant as I was not keen
on asking personal information on the one very well respected. As far as I can remember,
he came from a place near San Antonio, Texas. From a family of fishermen, he
studied medical technology at the University of Idaho, he volunteered in the
peace corps, came here in the Philippines, assigned at Lourdes, Alubijid, Misamis
Oriental and became a fisher of men.
The talk of the place in Lourdes was that he was not a religious man as
they saw him before. He served in the peace corps and whenever he had which he
readily had, he would be drinking tuba in
the barrio market and whenever he had much of it, he use the table as his stage
and there dance to the fill of his happiness to the delight of the onlookers.
However, the man was not amused to reminisce this things. One time I opened it
up to him, I can see the embarassment of his face so that I never mentioned it
again to him. He said he stopped doing it since he decided to enter the seminary
and had not tasted wine except the one that is used in the mass ever since he
decided to do so.
His decision to become a servant of God was first opened up to the late
Reverend Father Francis Chapman who was then a parish priest of Alubijid. There
was no explanation how he came up with the decision to do it but the important
thing was he did it and he made to the priesthood which was a thing that I
never achieved. He became a diocesan priests of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de
Oro and became a member of the Society of Saint John Vianney.
His simplicity was contagious. I learned to walk barefoot during the
those times that we had the matinal station of the cross at Lourdes where he
assigned me to assist deacons during the lenten seasons. I learned not to
complain and to take whatever was available that the community had to offer. I
learned to walk miles during the time that there would be no available vehicle
to ferry me back to the parish convent and sometimes did it even when a vehicle
was available out of the love of it.
When the time came that I was forced by circumstances to be out from the
formation program in the year 1997, I caught sight of him at Saint Patrick’s
House beside the San Jose de Mindanao Seminary. I told him my predicament which
he readily listened. He told me the things that I ought to do and did
everything of it even if it was against my will. I had a high respect for the
man and remain to have it even this time.
Even when I was no longer a seminarian, he still made me feel that I was
very much a part of the parish. He still gave assignments and made me active in
the youth sector. During election periods, he influenced me to become active in
the Parish Pastoral for Responsible Voting especially in the Political Education
Program that helped me acquire skills in public speaking and in convincing
others to do what is ought to be done. I was given the opportunity to deliver
the last word in the Siete Palabras which
I still held in high steem even during this time.
However, just like his favorite basketball game, everything has to come
to a close. The last time that I have a contact with him was when I was about
to be married. I had not even a time to say goodbye to him and say thank you
for everything that I had learned from him and for the past favors that he had
given me. One of these things was that it was in his office in the convent that
I learned to use computers. He was such a tech savvy priest and he used it
effectively in his ministry. I also learned that the reason why he played
barefoot was that he was flatfooted and he would be out of his balance if he
wear shoes during games. Perhaps that was also the reason why he preferred to
wear leather sandals.
Ans so I learned some things about how the man balanced everything in his own simple ways in his life. Yes in his life that like a game of basketball have its own onset and have its own end. On the thirtieth (30th) day of May 2012 when the priests at the Columban House in Singalong, Manila opened the room where he stayed to remind him of his flight that day to San Antonio, Texas where he planned to have a three months vacation, they discovered the lifeless body of the dedicated servant of God. He had died more than twenty four (24) hours from the time of discovery finally resting his life in the mighty hand of God whom he served the best part of his life. He was buried here in the Philippines at near noon on June 4, 2012 attended by throngs of faithful that he served during his ministry after a funeral mass attended by the clergy and laity and presided over by Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of the Diocese of Butuan.
Ans so I learned some things about how the man balanced everything in his own simple ways in his life. Yes in his life that like a game of basketball have its own onset and have its own end. On the thirtieth (30th) day of May 2012 when the priests at the Columban House in Singalong, Manila opened the room where he stayed to remind him of his flight that day to San Antonio, Texas where he planned to have a three months vacation, they discovered the lifeless body of the dedicated servant of God. He had died more than twenty four (24) hours from the time of discovery finally resting his life in the mighty hand of God whom he served the best part of his life. He was buried here in the Philippines at near noon on June 4, 2012 attended by throngs of faithful that he served during his ministry after a funeral mass attended by the clergy and laity and presided over by Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos of the Diocese of Butuan.
In here I am writing my final salute to one of the men who had made an
important imprint in my life and who touched my life in one way. If there were
no men of the cloth who had a dedicated service to the people of God like him, I
could have left the Catholic Church for good, but no. I believe that there are
still many Joseph Schwegmann there wearing the untainted white cloth of the men
of God who truly served him and his people. And for us living mortals, may we
be able to emulate the example of life of service which father Joe had readily
shared to all of us who came to know him in one way or another.
REQUIESCAT IN PACE.
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| The Holy Cross Parish at
Alubijid, Misamis Oriental, Philippines where Fr. Joe had first realized that he was called to a life of service
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| Latest portrait of the late priest |
