mkf. “I see the future of Schoenstatt very dark,” said one of the Holy Mass participants on September 4th which was a sunny Fall Sunday in Schoenstatt. His smiling face proved the contrary to his words, pointing to the many African youths who surrounded the altar and occupied the first rows in the Church for Pilgrims: there were young priests and seminarians from Nigeria, Burundi and the Congo who belong to the community of the Schoenstatt Fathers; young Sisters of Mary from Kenya; the choir of the “Daughters of Divine Love” from Nigeria, and the “Choir of the Tropics” from Cameroon. A great number of youths participated, as well as young families with small children….. This is a young Church, alive, it is the future of the Church.
Along with their joy of living expressed with tambourines, dances and applause, they brought along their profound religiosity which made “this Sunday in Schoenstatt an experience of the universal Church for us.” The Auxiliary Bishop of Treveris, the Most Rev. Jorg Michael Peters, expressed this sentiment in his homily. He emphasized “that the event this morning is not something private for only a few, but something very necessary for the people of God and for the entire Church in her totality.”
Priests according to the example of Father Kentenich
Petitioned by the community of the Schoenstatt Fathers, this Sunday, Bishop Peters ordained four seminarians from Nigeria to the diaconate: Paschal Ndubueze Agor, Joseph Chikwe Anyanu, Stanley Chibuike Ekwugha and Nichodemus Chigozie Okenawa. Along with twenty priests and seminarians from India, Burundi, Nigeria and the Congo, they are presently in Schoenstatt for three months, participating in an intensive formation course and preparing themselves for priestly service to the local Church and for the Schoenstatt Movement. In Nigeria, at the present time, there are thirty candidates preparing for the priesthood. In the community of the Schoenstatt Fathers throughout the world, there are three hundred priests and more than two hundred novices and seminarians. In India alone there are seventy youths in the novitiate at the present time. The first pews in the Church for Pilgrims were filled with German, Swiss, and Polish novices who are making their novitiate in Schoenstatt,and there were more seminarians and Schoenstatt Fathers from various countries. This is a picture which recalls the great celebrations and conferences which have taken place or will take place in Schoenstatt and throughout the world in this year dedicated to the priesthood and to the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Father Kentenich’s ordination to the priesthood. A similar event will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina from the 13th to the 15th of September.
Because the Church and the parish cannot “come about” by themselves
During Holy Mass -which was celebrated in German and English and was accompanied by hymns in English, German, French, Latin, Ibo and Bamiléké – Bishop Peters highlighted the importance of the diaconate and the priesthood for the entire people of God: “by means of our witness, the good news of the Gospel should appear with all its strength, truth and charisma so that mankind, at all times, may find access to faith and to God. Because the Church and the parish cannot “come about” by themselves, living bearers of this testimonial service are needed. With the power of the Holy Spirit, they may announce the good news of the Gospel. May they strengthen it in the service to one’s neighbor and may they administer the Sacraments. This ability, in the power of the Holy Spirit, is received with the Sacrament of Holy Orders. What God wants to work in these four men who are among us today is the reason why we are here to celebrate with them.
Mary: the measure of all conduct
Bishop Jorg Michael Peters mentioned some testimonies which had touched him in his meeting with the four candidates last Monday in Treveris. Following are some of them:
“I want to be an instrument in the House of God…..servant to the service which God offers us…..open to his Will and to the needs of our times.”
Another said: “With a Marian attitude, I want to understand the service given to me and to take Mary, the bearer of the Incarnate Word, as the measure of my conduct and thus be a servant of God and of mankind.”
Or: “I want to endeavor to reach sanctity in my life according to the example of Jesus, and with that attitude, I want to celebrate the Sacraments with the people.”
To serve Christ in his Church
Bishop Peters greeted all who were participating in the Eucharist by means of the direct Internet transmission, especially those who were in Africa.
This demonstrated that the ordination of the deacons was not a private matter, “nor a distinction for a few among us.
The ceremony is really about the dedication to the service of men and women and the acceptance of this service… about being disposed to serve the Lord in his Church in these our concrete ecclesial situations and thus be transformed into witnesses of his magnificence… about being with men and women in their needs and sufferings… and about sometimes passing through the threshold of death. In an era in which career, efficiency, and success are so important, these four men have the firmness of will to guide themselves by the model of this bewildered Jesus who is our Lord.”
I wish you God’s blessing for this service.
The rite of ordination
The moment then arrived. Fr. Fred Kistler, rector of the seminary in Ibadan (Nigeria), who accompanied the candidates throughout the long journey until now, presented them to the Bishop who called each one of them by name. The response was heard clearly: I am present, I am here. It is the customary rite in each diaconate or priestly ordination and which always touches deeply those witnessing this moment. The four men prostrated themselves before the altar while the choir of the Sisters from Nigeria sang the litany of the saints in Latin, the international language of the Church. Imposition of hands…..placement of the stole and dalmatic (vestment)…..presentation of the book of Gospels…..the kiss of peace: with the words and gestures of the rite of consecration, the four were transformed into deacons, consecrated to the service of Christ and of mankind. They changed places, they entered the confines of the altar, they prepared it for the offertory and one of them, Nichodemus Chigozie Okenawa, officiated as deacon during the rest of the Holy Mass at the alongside the Bishop. When he sang at the end – in German! – “Go in peace,” a warm, loving applause burst forth.
In the Covenant of Love
The four deacons, at the conclusion of the ceremony, placed their service as deacons and their road to the priesthood under the special protection of Mary, renewing their Covenant of Love with Her…..singing, of course!
Well there are things – this is how one of them explained – which are so profound and valuable that they cannot be said with words, but only in song.
