The mission that extends itself to the ends of the world passes yet again though Nazareth, known as being the same place where Jesus was raised at the School of Mary and Joseph. Indeed, it was this past June 14th, where four deacons formed in the Redemptoris Mater seminary of Galilee were ordained priests in the Basilica of the Annunciation in the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem monsignor Fouad Twal presided over the Celebration while Monsignor Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, the auxiliary bishop and patriarchal vicar of Israel who resides at Nazareth concelebrated.
The four diocesan priests that received their vocations through the Neocatechumenal Way, are both incardinated in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem while being missionaries ready to be sent in any part of the world, particularly in the Middle East at the service of the new evangelization.
It’s in fact possible to trace the signs of the mission through the many roads they have taken to reach this decisive step. Davide Meli, a thirty years old architect, and oldest of eleven children, has lived from a very young age with his family in mission in the United States. He served this last year of formation in the parish of Al Huson in Jordan. The twenty nine year old Paolo Alfieri from Nettuno (Italy), is a Classics graduate that has carried out his diaconal ministry in the parish of Shefa’amr in the Galilee. Two ordinands, both peers from Latin America, are Juan David
Aragón Bueno from Colombia, and Leandro Setuval from Brasil. They have served in their respective diaconal ministries in the parishes of Smakie in Jordan, and Bir Zeit, Palestine. A last event essential to their formation was Pope Francis’ pilgrimage in Holy Land. The new priests will certainly not forget that less than twenty days before their ordination, they had the privilege of serving as deacons in the liturgy presided by the Pope both in Amman and Bethlehem.
The ordination’s liturgy was a great feast not only for the Galilee. Apart from the participation of 35 seminarians from the Redemptoris Mater, relatives and communities of the candidates, the celebration saw the attendance of about forty priests, many religious from the Holy Land, brothers and sisters in mission from the Domus Galilaeae (Fr. Rino the director concelebrated in the ordination), around 500 brothers from the Neocatechumenal Way, and many faithful from the parishes of the communities in the Galilee, Palestine, as well as Jordan and Jerusalem.
At the Beginning of the celebration, Fr. Francesco Giosuè Voltaggio, the rector of the seminary, underlined the enormous grace that God has conceded to the ordinands in pronouncing their “Here I am!”, in the same place where the humble one from Nazareth, the Holy Virgin Mary humbly pronounced these words.
The Patriarch congratulated the newly ordained with the same words enunciated by Pope Francis in the meeting with the presbyters, religious and seminarians of Holy Land that took place in the Basilica of the Gethsemane. There, the Holy Father underlined the disproportion between the greatness of the vocation and our fragility. Straightaway, the Patriarch strongly invited the new presbyters to not let themselves be taken over by fear; they will never be alone in their ministry, since the Lord will accompany them along with their community and the church in Holy Land
A jovial banquet followed the celebration saw the lively presence of monsignor Marcuzzo, who wanted to offer a gift to the presbyters and an affectionate greeting to their families, and was animated by many songs in Arabic and other languages from the world.
These last thirty days blessed by the visit of the Pope in Holy Land, has been an extraordinary time for the Redemptoris Mater, that also receives seminarians from the oriental catholic churches. In fact, this past May 18th, in a liturgy presided by monsignor Joseph Jules Zrey, the Greek-Catholic bishop of Jerusalem, at the presence of monsignor Moussa El-Hage, the Maronite archbishop of Haifa and the Holy Land, two seminarians from the Galilee, Shadi Jozen of Me’elia and Rami Dakwar from Fassuta, were conferred the ministry of lector in the Greek-catholic rite, while Rodi Noura, a seminarian originally from Lebanon and presently living in Israel was ordained cantor and lector according to the Maronite rite.
Pier Luigi Fornari, journalist at Avvenire, Italy
More photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/medialpj/OrdinazioniPresbiteraliANazarethSeminarioDomusGalileae