austraLasia #3087
EKALI
IMAM, TETAP IMAN
ONCE A PRIEST, FOREVER A PRIEST
TIGARAKSA: 18 June 2012 --
The
Salesian Delegation and the Salesian Family of Indonesia has
another
reason to rejoice in this month of June 2012. Earlier this
month, on 3
June, Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, a group of our Salesian
Cooperators renewed their promises. And, on 15 June, Solemnity
of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, Deacon Ryan Peter Ey Vergouw, a
Salesian
Missionary from Indonesia working in Papua New Guinea,
received his
presbyteral ordination in the splendid Parish Church of St.
Odilia, a
10 minute drive by car from our Salesian House of Don Bosco
Tigaraksa,
Tangerang (where there is a pre-novitiate and a technical
training
center for young people). The ordaining prelate was Mgr.
Ignatius
Suharyo, Archbishop of Jakarta. There were five other Deacons
from the
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts (SSCC-Congregation of the
Sacred
Hearts of Jesus and Mary) who were ordained.
There were more than fifty priests who concelebrated, and more
than
1,500 people who participated in the Eucharist, most of whom
came from
the families of the ordinandi, friends, Salesian Family and
parishioners. The Deputy of the Minister of Religion in-charge
of
Catholic Affairs was also present.
The 3-hour Ordination Ceremony went smoothly. The Archbishop
in his
homily, commenting on the Gospel about the Vine and the
Branches (John
15: 1-10), urged the ordinandi to be always united with the
Lord Jesus
and grow in His love to bear much spiritual fruits in their
lives. A
life like that is sustained by much prayer and sacrifice. At
the end
Fr. Ryan Peter, in the name of the other five new priests,
said in his
thanksgiving speech, “We six are not a group of super heroes
as in the
film “The Avengers,” who with their own strength could save
the world;
we are only six ordinary people who experience their rise and
fall in
the process of following this kind of vocation. We are not the
best,
the brightest, the most gifted; there were perhaps many more
who were
better than us. But the Lord called us and today made clear
that he had
chosen us…..” He thanked all the persons who made it possible
for them
to reach the day of their ordination: the Lord God who grants
everyone
his or her vocation, the Archbishop, their superiors and
formators, the
parish priest, the ordination committee, their parents some of
whom had
passed away already, their families and all who came for the
occasion.
Before the end of the ceremony, the Provincial Delegate of
Papua New
Guinea and Solomon Islands, Fr. Rafael Galve, announced
publicly that
Fr. Ryan Peter is to be assigned to Araimiri, PNG, as
spiritual
moderator of the school and assistant parish priest. The
provincial of
the SSCC Congregation also announced the assignments of the
other
priests. Two of them, like Fr. Ryan Peter, will be
missionaries in
Hawaii and Chile. After the blessing of the Bishop and the new
priests
the mass concluded, and a fraternal agape followed.
On the 17th of June, Sunday, Fr. Ryan Peter celebrated his
First
Thanksgiving Mass in his beloved Parish of St. Bartholomeus in
West
Bekasi. Again, many people flocked in the church to witness
the
extra-ordinary event. The aspirants, pre-novices and
post-novices
formed a grand choir. Fr. Ryan Peter pointed out in his homily
that the
family is really the seedbed of vocation. It is like the
“mustard seed”
of the gospel of the 11th Sunday of the year; vocation will
grow if the
family takes care of it with much love and prayer. He invited
the
families of the parish to be generous to the Lord when he
calls their
children to priestly and religious life. He reminded the
people to pray
for their priests. They can be weak, but as St. Paul wrote to
the
Corinthians, “God’s grace is sufficient for you, for power is
made
perfect in weakness.” During the memento for the dead, he
prayed for
his father who passed away some years ago.
After the mass there was a beautiful program offered by the
parishioners, especially the young people, to their new
priest. His
mother reminded the parishioners what Don Bosco said, “When a
son
leaves his family to answer God’s call, Jesus himself will
take that
son’s place in the family.” Everyone went home satisfied and
full of
gratitude to God for another new Salesian priest (the
sixteenth
Indonesian Salesian priest).
