Fr. Nilo Macapinlac celebrates 20 years of priesthood

Rev. Nilo Blevis Macapinlac’s priestly journey began long before he stepped into a Canadian seminary or donned the vestments of a parish priest. Born on September 27, 1972, in Iloilo, Philippines, his earliest memories are steeped in the vibrant Catholic life of his childhood community—and in the warmth of his grandmother’s home, where visiting priests would gather after fiesta Masses.

“It started there,” he recalls. “These men were happy. I wanted to become like them.” As a young boy, he tied blankets around himself like a cassock and pretended bananas were Communion hosts, reenacting the sacred rituals he saw with childlike devotion.

His childhood imaginings took clearer shape in high school, during a season marked by challenges. With his parents working abroad, he carried heavy responsibilities at home. But God continued placing guides along his path—most notably Sister Basa, his Carmelite English teacher. “She opened the door to the priesthood for me,” he says. Encouraged by her, he took the entrance exam for seminary and entered in 1992 after university.

Those early seminary years were not without fear. Life was highly structured—bells marking every hour, days tightly ordered. “Sometimes I felt like I was in jail,” he laughs. Yet over time, clarity emerged through countless small affirmations: being installed as a lector, being recommended early to major seminary, and the steady encouragement of spiritual directors who recognized his growing interior life.

Raised among diocesan clergy and drawn to community ministry, he discerned that his calling was not monastic but pastoral—“among the people,” as he puts it. He embraced roles in retreats, prison ministry, and leadership even as a seminarian.

But discerning the priesthood didn’t happen without wrestling with sacrifice. As the eldest son in a middle-class Filipino family, he worried about leaving his parents and siblings without financial support. He feared never marrying or having children. “These were normal insecurities,” he admits. Scripture gave him courage, especially Jesus’ words about renouncing marriage for the sake of the kingdom. “Heaven begins now,” Father Macapinlac says. “God doesn’t want us to live miserable lives.”

Heartbreak deepened his faith. Four deaths in his family—including his father, the breadwinner—occurred while he was in seminary. “A part of us was dead,” he remembers. On a retreat shortly afterward, he found consolation while watching leaves fall from the trees. A passage from Jeremiah spoke to him: I have loved you with an eternal love. “Every leaf falling was God’s love coming to me,” he says.

A Priest in a New Land

Answering God’s call brought him across the world to Canada, where Archbishop Thomas Collins and vocation director (and now Archbishop-Designate) Bishop Stephen Hero welcomed him into formation at Newman Theological College and St. Joseph Seminary. He was ordained on November 21, 2005, at St. Joseph’s Basilica.

His ministry began the very next day as Associate Pastor at St. Theresa’s in Edmonton, a parish dear to him not only for its vibrant community but also because he had been ordained a transitional deacon there. Between Masses, school visits, and pastoral duties, he recalls simply: “There’s always joy in serving.”

Yet the transition was difficult. He had to learn to drive, type his own paperwork—tasks that were foreign to him after working in the Philippines as a college professor with a secretary. He was homesick, overwhelmed, and unprepared for the brutality of Canadian winters. But again he found comfort in Scripture: I will be with you always, until the end of the world.

Faithful Service Across Alberta

From that first assignment, Father Macapinlac’s ministry blossomed across the Archdiocese of Edmonton:

• 2007–2013: Pastor of St. Martin of Tours (Vegreville), Holy Heart of Mary (Viking), and St. Gregory the Great (Holden)

• 2013–2019: Pastor of Sacred Heart (Wetaskiwin), ministering also to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows (Maskwacis) and St. Theresa (Ma-Me-O Beach)

• 2019–2025: Pastor of St. Stephen (Olds), St. Anne of the Prairies (Trochu), Our Lady of Fatima (Sundre), and St. Anthony (Didsbury)

Each community shaped him, he says, and each revealed anew the beauty of the priesthood: “To serve is always joy.”

A New Chapter in Beaumont

As of May 28, 2025, Rev. Nilo Macapinlac serves as Parochial Administrator of St. Vital Parish in Beaumont, bringing with him nearly two decades of pastoral experience, gentle leadership, and a deeply rooted spirituality shaped by both Filipino tradition and Canadian mission.

Advice for Future Priests

To young men discerning the priesthood, Father Macapinlac offers simple, profound counsel:

“Go back to your prayer life. Listen to the Holy Spirit. God has a beautiful plan—like a pencil being sharpened, He will make you ready. Keep the Word of God close, especially when you are fearful. Heaven begins now.”

From a small chapel in Iloilo to the parishes of rural Alberta, Rev. Nilo Macapinlac’s story is one of faith nurtured by family, strengthened by hardship, and sustained by Scripture—a testament to a life lived in answer to God’s call.