Fr. Robert Maldondo was qualified by the call

St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church

Contact: 521 E 8th St., National City 619-474-8916 www.stmatthewsnatlcity.org

Membership: 200 (Attendance: 40-60)

Pastor: Father Roberto Maldonado

Age: 65

Born: Manati, Puerto Rico

Formation: University of Puerto Rico; Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico; Palmer Theological Seminary, St. Davids, PA; Seminary of the Southwest, Austin, TX 

Years Ordained: Deacon, 1988; Priest, 1989

San Diego Reader: Why did you become a priest?

Father Roberto Maldonado: In general, I always kind of knew I had the call, but I tried to do what we call in our business “pulling a Jonah.” God said, “Go left.” And I said, “Are you sure you want me to go left? Then I think I’m going to go right.” Then I was in a situation where I should have been dead, and that got me wondering and questioning what I was doing with my life. I found myself in the middle of a shoot-out and I survived. I was part of a security detail. Let me put it this way: where I come from, politics is a contact sport. So, I evaluated a bunch of things. By then, I had walked away from anything church-related. It was not for me. But God called me anyway. The person is qualified by the call; that means, no matter who I am in my life journey, if God wants me to do something, he is the one who qualifies me for the call, not me.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

FM: We bring our best to God’s table so all might delight in Christ’s life-changing embrace across every generation and culture. We are not a big congregation, but we have people in their eighties to kids 2 to 3 years old. To me that’s beautiful. We have a little bit of everything—Filipinos, whites, and Latinos in the community. Our mission plays out in the way we receive people, such as the refugee family that lived on the streets. We fed them and secured a hotel for them for a couple nights. Because they’re refugees, they qualify for assistance. I help them to navigate the system. We secured a school for their children and a work permit for the father. That’s what I mean by being that table where everyone is welcomed.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

FM: Let me put it this way: I believe in salvation and eternal life, but I don’t take for granted my salvation. I need to work on my salvation. Jesus warned us that those who seek to gain their life will lose it and those who lose their life will gain it. St. Theresa of Avila said to God that she is not afraid of him because of hell. Rather, she moves to love him because of what he did for her, offering salvation. What makes me do what I do is my understanding of how much Christ did for me. The least I can do is love him as much as he loved me. I am not afraid of hell, not because it’s not real, but that shouldn’t be a reason to love God either. Reward and punishment are not reasons to love God; but what moves me is the understanding of the sacrifice he did for me. My motivation is to try to be a good disciple of Christ and a good servant of his church to proclaim the gospel of salvation. In that way, heaven almost becomes a byproduct. I am satisfied with what I’m doing today, being what Christ wants me to be. I examine that constantly and don’t take it for granted.