Integrate fatherhood of God and motherhood of Church: Bishop Saldanha advises newly ordained Jesuits

On : 2021-10-10

“A priest must integrate in him the fatherhood of God and motherhood of the Church,” said Dr Peter Paul Saldanha, Bishop of Mangalore in his homily on Friday, October 8. Five deacons of Karnataka Jesuit province - Anush D’Cunha, Jason Martis, Joseph Kiran Pashan, Nithin Machado and Yesunath Karlekar were ordained by Bishop Saldanha at Divine Mercy Church, Fatima Retreat House, Mangalore.

Bishop Saldanha said that what gives a priest his identity is his closeness to the eternal priest Jesus Christ. “You are priests not to hold this position and that position. That is not your identity. Your identity comes from your closeness to Jesus Christ. You are called to become priests to give Jesus to others,” he said.

He also said that every priest belongs to the Bishop, and not so much to any provincial. “All priests will belong to the Bishop who represents Christ and who is the shepherd of the faithful. You in turn must become the shepherd who must recognise the smell of your sheep,” Bishop Saldanha added.

Earlier, Fr Dionysius Vaz, Provincial of Karnataka Jesuit province, invited the deacons for the priestly ordination. The newly ordained priests then partook in the Holy Eucharist with the Bishop. At the end of the liturgy, the Bishop greeted the new priests and handed over certificates of their ordination. Fr Dionysius Vaz thanked the Bishop for presiding over the ordination and consecrating the new priests. In his message he said quoting the words he had heard during his ordination: “You are receiving today Holy Orders. Become holy and bring about order in the midst of disorder and chaos.”

A short felicitation programme was held in the basement of the Divine Mercy Church. Fr Maxim Misquith, superior of Fatima Retreat House, welcomed the gathering. The new priests and their parents were felicitated by Fr Dionysius Vaz, Fr Maxim Misquith and Fr Melwin Pinto, Rector of St Aloysius Institutions. Fr Ivan Mendonca, superior of Regional Theologate Centre, Anekal raised the toast introducing the young priests, their qualities and their families, and wished them well. Scholastics from Asha Kiran sang the felicitation song. Fr Anush D’Cunha, one among the new priests, shared his sentiments of gratefulness on behalf of his companions.

The entire programme was telecast live on Divine Word TV. Fr Pradeep Crasta along with Br Larren Menezes and the prenovices from Loyola pre-novitiate made all the necessary arrangements for the programme. Fr Vishwas Misquith was the master of ceremony for the liturgy. Fr Joel Fernandes compared the felicitation programme.

- Sch. Ovin Rodrigues SJ