By Bro. Amilcar D'Silva, SDB

Dili, East Timor - The 24th of August 2015 was another important day for the Vice-Province of St. Callistus Caravario, ITM (Indonesia-Timor), as it winds up the celebrations of the Bicentennary of Don Bosco’s Birth. (All the activities for the Bicentennary in ITM will end on 29 August 2015). Two Salesian Deacons from East Timor received their presbyteral ordination in the Church of the Parish of Mary Help of Christians in Comoro, Dili, East Timor. They were Reverend Deacons Ambrósio Lucas da Silva and Mário Gaspar dos Santos. The Ordaining Prelate was the Apostolic Administrator of Dili, Most Rev. Msgr. Basilio do Nascimento.

During the Ordination Rite, there were around fifty priests who concelebrated, with the ITM Provincial, Fr. Virgilio do Carmo da Silva, and the Provincial Delegate to Indonesia, Fr. Lino Belo, acting as Main Concelebrants. There were many people (the families, relatives and friends of the ordinandis, parishioners, young people, members of the Salesian Family, different male and female religious, etc.) who came to grace the occasion.

The Bishop, in his homily, reiterated the fact that the choice, the call and the mission of priests all have their Divine Origin, and so the priest can always count on the help of the Lord who accompanies him in his life’s journey. A priest is another Christ, and so he must be always conscious of his being a sign of God’s love and mercy. He also recalled what Don Bosco said, that “when a son of a family becomes a priest, Jesus Christ Himself takes his place in that family.”

The Eucharistic Celebration with the Ordination Rite lasted for around three hours and before the end of the ceremony, several speeches and acknowledgments were given. A representative of the families of those ordained expressed the hope that the newly ordained may be faithful to Jesus who called them and to their mission for the salvation of souls, and so asked the gathered assembly to pray for them in a special manner. Fr. Ambrósio Lucas da Silva spoke in a very simple manner in the name of the new priests, thanking the Lord, Bishop Basilio, their parents and families, their superiors and formators, and all those who have made their Ordination Day possible, also expressing the hope that the two of them will be Eucharistic priests, ready to be “broken and given” to God’s people, especially the young. For this reason they took as motto Jesus’ words: “Fazei isto em memória de Mim” – “Do this in memory of Me.” (Lk. 22:19) Fr. Provincial also expressed his gratitude and joy for the ordination of the two new priests during the Celebrations of the 500th Year Anniversary of the Evangelization of East Timor and the Bicentennary of Don Bosco’s Birth. Like the Bishop he quoted Don Bosco again, saying that the “the greatest gift that God can give a family is a son-priest,” and also Pope St. John XXIII who said that “the greatest gift a family can give to the Lord is a son-priest.” He also announced that the newly ordained priests will be going to the missions, Fr. Mário will be back to Mongolia, and Fr. Ambrósio will be going to Japan.

After the Mass and Ordination Rites, the gathered faithful were invited to kiss the consecrated hands of the newly ordained priests. Then, the Provincial Vicar, Fr. Apolinario Neto, asked everyone to go to the Blessed Artimedes Zatti Postnovitiate for a fraternal agape with the newly ordained priests and their families.

Ordinations happen only once in a while, and for those who are ordained priests, once in a life-time, unless, of course, they will be ordained as bishops. That is why the ITM Vice-Province and the whole Salesian Family of East Timor have every reason to be grateful to the Lord.