Sr. Maria Tongop PBVM

On 26 November 2023 Blessed John Muzzuconi Sub-Parish, Warapu, of Sacred Heart parish, Sissano, celebrated two great events: The Solemnity of the Kingship of Jesus and the Sacrament of Priestly Ordination. Fr. Adrian Yandani, the 6^th priest from Warapu, was ordained for the Diocese of Vanimo byMost 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 and some 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”. To be a priest is not that easy. Fr. Adrian had to lean on Jesus, the King and master of his life. His self-dedication and perseverance, despite human weaknesses, brought him to this day. He trusted completely in Jesus and in God.

The people of Blessed John Muzzuconi, Warapu, filled with joy, gratefully thanked God for the goodness and mercy He has bestowed on them. God has richly blessed their families with a good number of vocations to 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 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, he said. Through this great sacrament you become ‘Alter Christus’, another Christ, he said. You will be preaching the word of God and administering the sacraments, and caring for the people in the name of Jesus, the Bishop said. He said the first duty of the priest is to work for his own holiness and the second duty is to work for the sanctification of the people entrusted to him by the Bishop. The priest has to live a life of union with Jesus, because Jesus has said that without him you can do nothing (Jn 15:5), the Bishop said. He 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.  

The Bishop said 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 reminded the people that our dioceses need many more holy priests and the 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. It 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 holy priesthood.