On August 23, 2014, family, relatives, friends, and Jesuits gathered at the Ateneo de Manila University’s Church of the Gesu to celebrate the diaconal ordination of nine Jesuits, one from the Vietnamese Province (Joseph Pham Din Cu), five from the Korean Province (Seokbae Andrew An, Hyungsik Francis Jo, Do-hyun Paul Kim, Min Kim, Jaesang Jason Bonaventura Lee), and five from the Philippine Province (Ambrosio Faustino Flores, Alvin Dagooc Laput, Mark Peter Ledesma Lopez, Arnel Te Ong, Henry Cogal Ponce). Most Reverend Joseph Nacua, OFMCap, Bishop of the Diocese of Ilagan, Isabela was the ordaining prelate.
Deacon Arnel Ong SJ delivered the thanksgiving message for the group. “It is in God’s mercy and grace that we are ordained. We thank God who, in his mercy and compassion, chose us despite our weakness and sinfulness. We celebrate God’s grace continuously pouring and dwelling in us so that we can be vessels of grace to others,” he said.
“Our Jesuit vocation comes from God who has called us and loved us first. It was nurtured by all of you whom we have encountered in the different stages of formation. Allow me to thank you for being God’s instrument of grace to us. Our formation has not yet ended. We beg for your prayers that we may truly conform to the heart of Christ.”
Asked what touched them most deeply during the ordination ceremony, the new deacons share:
“The first reading from the book of Numbers moved me so much. I have been called and chosen by God and ‘have been set aside among the Israelites as dedicated to [him]’. Yes, I am dedicated to God to be ‘man of God’; I belong to God, to serve God and His people, neither to serve my will nor the will of others. I am called to become more like Jesus, like those who ‘come to serve, not to be served’. A Jesuit, ‘called to serve under the standard of the cross’.” Pham Dinh Cu SJ (Vietnam)
“I was (and am still) very happy to be ordained as a deacon, because of the fact that He chose me as one of His servants irrespective of my weaknesses. Before entering the Society, I was a man who wanted vain glory and motivated by my own initiatives. Now, I am called as a servant whose initiatives belong to Him. I feel set free.” Do-hyun Paul Kim SJ (Korea)
“The most deeply touching was when we prostrated ourselves before the altar and before the Lord, making our self-offering while calling upon all the saints. It felt like a real oblation. Next would be the line from the Responsorial Psalm (David Haas’ Long Before I was Born): ‘You come close to me. You lay your hand upon me. All of this is too much for me. All of this is too much for me’. It was overwhelming to see all the people present, so many of whom had been significantly part of our vocation journeys, there to show their support and join us in our prayers. ‘Too much for me’ – the way the Lord was making himself so very present through all the people who carried us through to our day of ordination. Mark Lopez SJ (Philippines)
Main image:
Back row (left to right): Deacon Min Kim, Deacon Hyunsik Francis Jo SJ (Korea), Deacon Mark Peter Ledesma Lopez SJ (Philippines), Deacon Jaesang Jason Bonaventura Lee SJ (Korea), Deacon Ambrosio Faustino Flores SJ (Philippines), Deacon Do-hyun Paul Kim SJ (Korea), Deacon Seokbae Andrew An SJ (Korea), Deacon Joseph Pham Din Cu SJ (Vietnam).
Front row (left to right): Fr Jose Quillongquilong SJ (Rector of Loyola House of Studies), Fr Renato Repole SJ (Rector of Arrupe International Residence), Rev Irmo Valeza SJ (assisting deacon), Bishop Joseph A Nacua, OFMCap, DD, (Bishop of the Diocese of Ilagan, Isabela), Deacon Henry Cogal Ponce SJ (Philippines), Deacon Alvin Dagooc Laput SJ (Philippines), Fr Cheong Dae Kim, SJ (Delegate of Korean Provincial), Fr Antonio Moreno SJ (Philippine Jesuit Provincial).