Fr. Dante P. Estepa, Jr., a 2009 graduate of MS Industrial Economics in UA&P, celebrated last July 10, 2019 his first solemn mass in the Philippines at the Sancta Maria Stella Orientis Oratory of UA&P. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 29, 2017 in the Basilica of Sant’Eugenio a Valle Giulia in Rome, Italy by His Eminence Giusepppe Cardinal Bertello, President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.
The text below was first published in Universitas (print) in 2018 under the title Dragons of the Cloth, a collection of brief updates on the lives of UA&P alumni-turned-clergy. Photos of the Mass are now included here.
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On the day he was about to enroll in a university in Iloilo, the boy whom everyone called Dan received news from the Admissions Office of UA&P that he was eligible for a full merit scholarship. “Wonderful!” the youngest of four siblings thought. The catch was that there were no engineering courses yet in UA&P, and he wanted to become an engineer just like his father. But he remembered how his parents, who both went to universities away from their families, would talk about their college days with a lot of joy.
“I think that this, in part, affected me even as a child because since then I wanted to go through the same adventures: knowing how to be independent, knowing how to be out of one’s comfort zone, knowing that even if sacrifices are involved, it will be worthwhile, ” he said.
In the end, he who used to join taekwondo competitions in grade school opted to try his luck in this university in Pasig City. Little did he know that this decision would—13 years later—lead everyone to calling him Father Dan. He celebrated his first year of priesthood just this April 29.
It was in UA&P, when he was about to start his sophomore year, that God knocked on his door to call him to Opus Dei. He joined, wanting to sanctify his ordinary work as a student and later as faculty member of the UA&P School of Economics. After some time, God knocked on his door once more to call him to the priesthood. His discernment took years, but when he said yes, everything fell into place.
“At first, there was apprehension,” he recalled his parents’ reaction when he informed them about his decision to become a priest. “That was normal. Probably they thought that my decision to give my whole life to God was a matter of momentary enthusiasm. They had their own plans for me, but when they realized that God was really calling me to the priesthood, they gave way and supported me all the way.”
In college, he liked Calculus and math-related subjects. More than this, however, he appreciated the holistic education that the University offered him. “I realized that life is not only about getting a stable job and having a successful career,” the former faculty member of the UA&P School of Economics said. “There are also other worthwhile endeavors in this life, such as service to others.”
This now translates to the challenge every priest face: bringing Christ into the lives of the men and women of today. “Things have changed, and maybe there’s a tendency to think that the message of the Gospel is a thing of the past,” the Rome-based priest said. “But the message of the Gospel is always new. It continues to be a force that can guide the life of the contemporary man. Now how to make people realize this is the challenge because we priests have to communicate this truth in a manner that the youth of today will understand.”
To the students, faculty, and staff of the University, he gave this message: “Dream for yourself, for the others, and for the University. Despite its 50 years, UA&P is relatively a very young university. It’s a small university growing in prestige, and I’m sure that it will continue to grow if we all know how to dream for the University.”
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