By Jesse Castro
For The Pacific Voice

Name: Fr. Joel Gabayan de los Reyes                                               

Position/parish: Parochial Vicar, Santa Barbara, Dededo

Birthdate: May 22, 1951

Ordained: April 13, 1975, St. Augustine Parish Cuyo, Palawan

Favorite saint: St. Faustina

Pastimes: Singing, playing, composing music

 Fr. Joel Gabayan de los Reyes will celebrate 35 years of faithful service to God and the people of the Archdiocese of Agana in a special Mass 3 p.m. Sunday, April 25, at Santa Barbara Catholic Church in Dededo.

Fr. Joel was born May 22, 1951 to Jacinto C. de los Reyes and Felicisima G. de los Reyes. He is the fifth child of seven siblings (six boys, one girl).

Fr. Joel made the decision to become a priest when he was a teenager. He was inspired by his mother and two older brothers, Augustine and Jesus, who were already in the seminary.

Fr. Joel’s elder brother is a priest; he is Fr. Jesus G. de los Reyes, who will be installed a Monsignor June 15 at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines.

Fr. Joel’s calling came April, 1964 when he entered St. Joseph Minor Seminary in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines. He studied Philosophy and Theology at St. Vincent Ferrer Regional Major Seminary in Jaro, Iloilo City, Philippines. He had his Post-Graduate studies in Theology at the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary in Manila. Fr. Joel was a consistent top honor student in his high school class.

His realized he dream of becoming a priest when he was ordained April 13, 1975 by the Most Rev. Gregorio I. Espiga, O.A.R at St. Augustine Parish in his hometown of Cuyo, Palawan. He holds the honor of being the first priest in his Vicariate ordained outside the Cathedral, the See of the Vicariate, breaking its long-standing tradition of priestly ordinations conducted there.

On August 3, 1987, Fr. Joel accepted an invitation from Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron to assist at the Archdiocese of Agana. His first assignment was as parochial vicar at St. Anthony/St. Victor Catholic Church, Tamuning.

He had additional duties as a chaplain for Guam Memorial Hospital. Fr. David I.A. Quitugua, now a monsignor and his former pastor at St. Anthony, asked him to work at Catholic Social Service.

In 1987, the archbishop assigned Fr. Joel Spiritual Director of the Guam Cursillo Movement, a function he still holds. From Tamuning he assumed his second assignment at San Vicente/ San Roque Church, Barrigada as parochial vicar. Additional duties included Eucharistic Mass services at St. Dominic Senior Care Home managed by the Dominican Sisters.

Divine Mercy Passion

 Fr. Joel is now parochial vicar at Santa Barbara Church in Dededo. With all his duties and responsibilities, he has the passion to spread the devotion to the Divine Mercy all over the archdiocese.

Fr. Joel and his Divine Mercy prayer team consistently visit different homes every Sunday afternoon preaching the message of God’s mercy as revealed to St. Faustina, and pray over the sick, with Sister Ana Lee, O.P. who ministers the sacred relic of St. Faustina to families for veneration.

Fr. Joel has brought 12 first class relics of St. Faustina distributed to parishes on Guam where the Divine Mercy devotion is active. He has been doing the Divine Mercy apostolate for almost 23 years now and has preached the Divine Mercy message to more than a thousand homes on Guam.

He’s also preached the Divine Mercy to Catholic schools, conducts monthly Divine Mercy symposium at Santa Barbara Church and has given talks on Divine Mercy to Department of Corrections inmates.

Fr. Joel has preached the Divine Mercy to Saipan many times and once to Rota and Chuuk. He leads an annual Divine Mercy pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Rome, and Marian Shrines such as Lourdes, Fatima, as well as many other holy sites in Europe with the highlight at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Cracow, Poland. He had the rarest privilege of his life to concelebrate at Mass with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican Square and kissed his Holiness’ ring during the Cursillo World Ultreya held in Rome July 2000, which he and other Guam Cursillo members attended.

Fr. Joel has conducted Divine Mercy workshops and talks on Divine Mercy in Mesquite City, Texas, Vancouver, Canada, Seoul. Korea, Philippine Normal University in Manila, various schools, colleges and parishes in Manila and Iloilo in southern Philippines. He led the Guam Divine Mercy group to the World Apostolic Congress On Mercy (WACOM) in Rome in April 2008.

He also led Divine Mercy group from Guam for the Third International Divine Mercy Congress in Cracow, Poland October, 2008 where he was one of the speakers. November 22-24, 2009, he led a Divine Mercy group to the Asian Apostolic Congress On Mercy (AACOM) in Manila and was a speaker in that prestigious Divine Mercy event.

Fr. Joel is endowed with musical talent and he uses it to glorify the Divine Mercy of the Lord. So far he has composed three beautiful songs on Divine Mercy, which are widely sung in some churches on Guam and are available on CD. He plays piano, guitar, violin, mandolin, ukulele and harmonica.

He is a prolific writer and contributes a regular column in The Pacific Voice titled “Divine Mercy Moments”. Fr. Joel said his penchant for writing extends back to his seminary days when he contributed articles to their “Seminary Arts Guild” publication. His voice has long been heard everyday on Catholic Educational Radio KOLG 90.9 FM, leading the Divine Mercy 3 o’clock prayer. Fr. Joel said that the Divine Mercy apostolate is his ministry within his priestly ministry.

Reflecting on his life and ministry, Fr. Joel offers the following for those aspiring to be priests: “Vocation is a beautiful gift from God; follow your call.” He echoes these words of Jesus recorded by St. Faustina in her Diary: “Tell my priests to preach to the world about my mercy.”

Following the Eucharistic celebration Sunday, April 23, a dinner reception will be held at Santa Barbara Catholic School Gymnasium.

Congratulations Fr. Joel and God bless you!