3 Volume 32 No. 1 | Autumn 2022 Society Matters Five new priests ordained for Christ’s mission “It asks that you have a real care for people, aware that to be for others we first need to be with them. Your priestly ministry is grounded in the life of the community where together we are open to the discovery of God’s will and the guidance of the Spirit. Your witness will be more in how we live our need of God’s love and not just to tell it. “Edward, Hai, Francois, Marius and Duc you are now to be ordained for priestly service to the Church as missionaries in the Society of the Divine Word, to carry the good news of Christ our incarnate saviour to a waiting world. Here is your life’s purpose. May it bring you the same joy it has brought to me for what are now 50 years of ordination. May you be blessed today and always.” At the conclusion of the Mass, Fr Francois delivered the words of thanksgiving on behalf of the new priests. “We are happy!” he declared. “If you are happy, we are happier. And if you are happier, we are the happiest today. We want to first-of-all thank God who has not only called us but also has chosen us to be one of his servants, one of his shepherds, to be part of and to extend his Kingdom. Thank you, God.” Each of the newly ordained spoke a few words in their own language to family and friends watching online, before Fr Francois thanked Bishop Curtin, their formators, teachers and all SVD members of the AUS Province. The young missionaries have been assigned to: Edward - Zimbabwe Region; Hai - Colombia; Francois - Australia; Marius - Netherlands-Belgium; Duc - USA Chicago Province (Canada). Five young Divine Word Missionaries have been ordained to the priesthood and will soon leave for their missionary assignments in countries across the globe. Duc Le from Vietnam, Edward Teye from Ghana, Hai Nguyen from Vietnam and Francois Andrianihantana and Marius Razafimandimby, both from Madagascar were ordained on Saturday, November 27, by Bishop Terence Curtin, Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne, at the Our Lady of La Vang Shrine in Keysborough, Victoria. In his homily, Bishop Curtin spoke of the personal call to priesthood, as illustrated in the readings chosen for the day. “Marius, Francois, Duc, Hai, Edward, these readings set the path for the sacrament you are about to receive,” he said. “As the prophet (Isaiah) spoke of his personal call, so for you, this is a vocation, not a career, which you are entering into. You first heard that call as He began to whisper in your hearts even in childhood. Today you hear that divine call through the Church as I call you forth to orders. God is the one who has loved us first and the Church now recognises your vocation as a true response to that love. Be confident of that call.” Bishop Curtin referred also to the gospel reading from the Prologue to John’s Gospel. “The Word pitched His tent among us,” he said. “Your lives will now take on new dimensions as you set forth for your missionary journeys in five continents. A tent is not the strongest of buildings, but its very fragility offers a space with that necessary close connection with the peoples you will serve.
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