It was a joyful occasion for the Divine Word Missionaries Australian Province when three young missionaries were ordained to the priesthood in a beautiful, multicultural celebration at St Paschal’s Chapel, Box Hill.
Trien Nguyen SVD, Prakash Menezes SVD and Bernadinus (Bedi) Asmon SVD were ordained priests on Saturday, September 13 by the Bishop of Darwin, Most Rev Eugene Hurley.
The three men, Prakash from India, Trien from Vietnam and Bedi from Indonesia, have been in Australia for the last few years completing their formation at Dorish Maru College, Box Hill.
In his homily, Bishop Hurley said it was an “enormous privilege” to be asked to ordain the men.
“There’s nothing that makes you aware of the fact that you’re a bishop any more than ordaining a priest,” he said.
Bishop Hurley expressed gratitude “to both God and the families of these three men”. He emphasised the “great contribution that families make to the church by encouraging and supporting their sons to be priests, particularly in a foreign place”.
He urged the three missionaries to launch into priestly life with a sense of being enormously privileged to serve God, particularly in the people that will surround them. He said this should be done with enormous joy.
“You can’t maintain that joyful fidelity without a deep and abiding relationship with the Lord himself,” he said. “If that fades, then everything fades along with it. We need to be intimate with the Lord in prayer, in the Eucharist and in recognising him in the people we serve.”
St Paschal’s Chapel was full to overflowing, with confreres, family and friends, a number of whom had flown in from overseas for the occasion. Some of those family members and friends took part in the investiture of the stole and chasuble during the ordination ceremony.
The multicultural theme of the occasion was expressed beautifully in the music, which was provided by the combined choirs of Dorish Maru College, the Vietnamese Catholic Community, the Konkani (Indian) Catholic Community and the Indonesian Catholic Community.
The Book of Gospels was processed in from the back of the Church, led by East Timorese dancers from the SSpS Holy Spirit Sisters.
Speaking after the ordination ceremony, Provincial, Fr Henry Adler SVD said the multiculturalism evident in the joyful ordination Mass was a key component of the Divine Word Missionary charism and had been an essential part of the formation of Trien, Prakash and Bedi.
“Intercultural formation of missionaries has been the priority of the AUS Divine Word Missionaries for more than two decades,” he said.
“We believe that the experience of formation in multicultural communities prepares our young missionaries for multicultural mission in our increasingly diverse world.
PHOTOS: by Thien Nguyen SVD
From top to bottom, Bishop Hurley lays hands on Trien, Bedi and Prakash. Bottom photo: the three newly ordained priests.