Nineteen candidates from three congregations (The Society of Jesus, The Spiritans, and The Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle) were ordained to the diaconate on 8 October in the Church of the Gesù at the Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines. Of these, 14 were from the Jesuit conferences of Asia Pacific, Africa and Madagascar, and South Asia. They were ordained by the Most Reverend Honesto F Ongtioco DD, Bishop of Cubao.
The Jesuit candidates who were ordained were Cosme Carlo Lacang (Philippines), Joseph Patrick Echevarria (Philippines), Anthony Tran Phi Lam (Vietnam), Joseph Nguyen Van Luong (Vietnam), Peter Nguyen Huy Quy (Vietnam), Chrysanthus Seung-Hwahn Yang (South Korea), Jerome Byung Hoon Park (South Korea), Mathew Boram Lee (South Korea), Jerome Aye Min (Myanmar), Joseph Thang Ha (Myanmar), Gilbert Lasway (Tanzania), James Mugwe Ng’ang’a (Kenya), Martin Damo Chour (Cambodia), and Sachintha Fernando (Sri Lanka).
The diaconate celebration, which took place in the gorgeously beautiful church, was attended by Jesuits and many guests, especially the families of the deacons. The Eucharistic celebration was warm and solemn. Besides, hundreds of people worldwide watched the ceremony in real time via Facebook and YouTube.
In his homily, Bishop Ongtioco stressed to the candidates that our vocation is a gift. We should not forget the value of this gift and the giver, who is God himself. He said that in the Gospel, Jesus confirms the vocation to the priesthood and invites us to respond and be open to the Way of the Lord. He invited us to open ourselves to God so we can discover the beauty of life, which is in our vocation.
Furthermore, the Bishop emphasised that as deacons, we are called to serve just as Jesus came to serve by giving his life. The servant forgets himself; he loses his own life for the sake of Christ, he said. In this sense, life is about what one does for God and his neighbours.
How are we to lose our life to produce many fruits? Bishop Ongtioco invited us to ponder three concrete ways of doing this. First, we have to fall just as the seed to the ground. This calls for a continual sacrifice of ourselves and self-transformation in thoughts, words, and deeds, conforming them to the person of Jesus. Second, we ought to lose our lives in our concern for the world realising that we have to get out of our comfort zones and immerse ourselves in prayer and in actual service to the people, especially the poor, the needy, and the oppressed. Third, we should closely follow Jesus, who was faithful to his service even up to the cross. Thus, we are asked not to fear losing our life because, with Jesus, death leads to life.
Lastly, the Bishop reminded us that the Gospel calls us to love like Jesus, who is chaste, poor, and obedient. Our love should be constant, faithful, and persevering. He thanked us for our generous yes to the Lord’s invitation to share his life and mission.
On behalf of the newly ordained deacons, Deacon Joseph Patrick Echevarria SJ expressed gratitude to all those who have accompanied us until our diaconate ordination. The phrase “never alone” sums up what we want to say to our companions. “We never felt alone. We never felt abandoned but always supported and guided, and loved by our Lord and by you. Your part in our journey is no small matter but has, in fact, made all the difference. And so, our hearts are full today because you, all of you—who have accompanied us and formed us—can see how putting our trust and our faith in God can bear good fruit.”
Please pray for us new deacons on this new journey in our Jesuit life filled with abundant blessing and love.
Rev Anthony Tran Phi Lam SJ from Vietnam studies theology at the Loyola School of Theology and is part of the Arrupe International Residence community in Manila.