Welcoming Fr. Steve Zabala, CTK’s New Parish Priest
Fr. Steve Zabala, the incoming parish priest of Christ the King Parish Greenmeadows, held his first official mass last June 17 at 9 am. This first mass was followed by a bienvenida brunch with parishioners at the Parish Social Hall.
The day before, June 16, Saturday, at the June PPC meeting, all the PPC members – PPC officers, ministry heads, mandated organization heads, prayer movement heads, village coordinators – made very brief presentations to Fr. Steve, followed by submission of written reports containing plans, objectives, and achievements for his later perusal. And even much earlier, last May 18, a Friday, Fr. Steve met with Fr. Bong and the parish staff headed by Nerisse Lazaro to review the infrastructure, finances, and processes.
Aside from taking over Christ the King Parish Greenmeadows, Fr. Steve Zabala had also been recently assigned Vicar General, replacing Msgr. Dan Sta. Maria who had earlier retired. At the PPC meeting, the members first learned that Fr. Steve will only be able to make the physical move by July 1.
Rev. Fr. Steven Ceguerra Zabala is 51 years old, having been born in Daet, Camarines Norte on March 6, 1967 to a provincial fiscal father and a teacher mother. He entered St. Camillus College Seminary in Marikina in 1984 and graduated cum laude in 1991. He then studied at San Jose Seminary in Ateneo de Manila University from 1992 to 1996, and graduated magna cum laude from the Loyola School of Theology. He was ordained as deacon in his last year, on September 16, 1995 and six months later, around graduation time, on March 25, 1996, he was ordained as priest at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Lantana, Cubao by no less than Jaime Cardinal Sin.
Upon graduation and priestly ordination, Fr. Steve was quickly assigned as assistant parish priest at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish on 13th Avenue. After a year, he was assigned as parish priest at the newly-formed Parish of San Isidro Labrador, Bagong Silangan.
Fr. Steve confessed, ’I had no clue how to run a parish. Guided by Vatican II’s understanding of the Church as people of God, I was convinced that as parish priest, I must enable and inspire the parishioners to actively participate to become a Church community, to deepen their sense of mission and to deepen their faith. Parish life means community building. And we do this in order to come to an encounter with God who is the reason and motivation why we are a community in the first place.’ The San Isidro stint taught Fr. Steve a lot. ‘San Isidro is a simple community. My first assignment as parish priest echoes Pope Francis’ call to go to the periphery. San Isidro has taught me that to be a parish priest is to build the community which must always include those who have less in life.’
San Isidro Labrador turned out to be a two year assignment because in May 1999, Fr. Steve was assigned to start up the newly-formed Parish of Our Lady of Pentecost in Loyola Heights. This turned out to be a seven-year stint. And what did Fr. Steve learn from his Lady of Pentecost stint? ‘Our lady of Pentecost became a parish with nothing—no church, no lot, no rectory, no money. It taught me how to become a builder and a fundraiser. Of course, the Cirst thing I did there was to build the community. Construction and fundraising became easier with a solid community to back you up.’ Fr. Steve added, ‘Beginning at Pentecost, all my subsequent parish assignments involved building the community, raising funds, and constructing.
Then with the diocese-wide transfers in 2012, Fr. Steve was transferred to the Parish of the Lord of Divine Mercy (LDM) in Sikatuna Village where he had stayed for the past six years. Fr. Steve proudly stated, ‘In the Parish of the Lord of Divine Mercy, we constructed a 6-storey structure that housed the rectory, meeting rooms, wake room, adoration chapel and parking. This 78 million peso project had been a dream of the community since 20 years ago. I feel blessed to have been its pastor when it was declared a jubilee church during the year of mercy and compassion.’ There’s just one minor issue when he leaves LDM. Per Fr. Steve, ‘The parish still has to raise 18M more to reach its 78M target. I feel sorry handing this shortfall to my successor, Fr. Herbie Santos, who is from CTK. At any rate, he has a brand new convent and a brand new building for his Cirst time assignment as parish priest!’
For the last six years as well, concurrently with his LDM role, Fr. Steve was also head of the Diocese Media and Communications Ministry as well as Vice Chancellor.
Unknown to many outside his parishioners, Fr. Steve has a performing streak in him. He’s been singing since childhood. In 4th year high school, he joined a band as an electric guitarist, and they got to perform weekly in a resto bar. That’s where he admits gaining conCidence performing on stage. When he entered the seminary, Fr. Steve then learned how to play the keyboard, taking on the role of organist of the seminary. He also began to write songs while inside. During his time at San Jose, they produced four musical plays and he wrote the music, ranging from rock to ballad to gospel music, using his high school rock and pop music background.
We asked if he already knew about Christ the King Parish Greenmeadows. Did he already have expectations? Fr. Steve answered, ‘All I know is – CTK is very supportive and responsive to many archdiocesan initiatives and projects. I am humbled by its generous offering of time, talent and treasure. I don’t know much about CTK and its PPC yet, which makes me excited to know more about her. I am ready to be surprised. Or better yet, I am ready for God to surprise us all, in a hopefully, meaningful and delightful pastoral and faith journey together!
