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).
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).
