Aitape: On 26 November 2023 Blessed John Muzzuconi Sub-Parish, Warapu, of Sacred Heart parish, Sissano, celebrated two great events: The Solemnity of Christ the King and the Sacrament of Priestly Ordination.
Fr. Adrian Yandani, is the 6th priest from Warapu, was ordained for the Diocese of Vanimo by Most Reverend Siby Mathew Peedikayil, HGN, Bishop of Aitape Diocese. It was a privilege for Fr. Adrian to be the first priest to be ordained by Bishop Siby Mathew. Present at the celebration were five priests, one deacon, religious nuns from six different orders and nine seminarians, important guests and a large number of faithful from Vanimo and Aitape dioceses.
For his priestly ordination Fr. Adrian chose the theme, “My shepherds, come follow me”. He expressed that to be a priest is not very easy.
“You have to lean on Jesus, the King and master of your life and you must have self-dedication and perseverance despite human weaknesses.
The people of Blessed John Muzzuconi, Warapu, filled with joy, gratefully thanked God for the goodness and mercy he has bestowed on them and blessed their families with a good number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
In his homily, Bishop Siby Mathew thanked and congratulated Fr. Adrian, his family and all who helped him in life.
Bishop Siby encouraged the new priest to take good care of this "treasure in clay", the holy priesthood.
“By the sacrament of priestly ordination, you become a servant of God and a servant of God’s people. Through this great sacrament you become 'Alter Christus', another Christ. You will be preaching the word of God and administering the sacraments, and caring for the people in the name of Jesus. The first duty of the priest is to work for his holiness and the second duty is to work for the sanctification of the people entrusted to him by the Bishop”.
He also reminded Fr. Adrian as well as all priests, religious and laity of the recent invitation of the Holy Father Pope Francis to “return to worship” and adore the Lord in the Most Holy Eucharist.
Bishop Siby concluded by saying that although the priest becomes “another Christ”, his human nature remains, therefore, he needs to work with God’s grace to overcome his weaknesses, struggles, and temptations.
Bishop also stressed to the people that the dioceses need many more holy priests emphasising that formation must begin from the family and the village.
The celebration was well planned and organized by Fr Patrick Posani the parish priest and parishioners, with beautiful traditional processions, decorations and lovely music and brought a lot of joy to all the people who participated in the celebrations. At the end of the Mass Fr. Adrian thanked everyone for their help in the journey of his life. He thanked the priests, religious and the laity of Vanimo diocese, and especially Most Rev. Francis Meli, DD, JCL, the Bishop of Vanimo, who promoted him to the holy priesthood.
Comments