Four
Jesuits were ordained as deacons in a joyful celebration at St Ignatius Church
in Richmond on 3 December.
Korean
Jesuits Shin-jae Youh, Jin-hyon Lee, and Jin-hyuk Park, were joined by East
Timorese Jesuit Plínio Gusmão Martins at the ordination, with Bishop Greg
O'Kelly presiding.
In
his homily, Bishop O'Kelly spoke of the journeys of the four young men into
their vocation.
Jin-hyon
Lee was born in South Korea, on Je-ju Island, in 1972. He entered the Jesuit
novitiate in 2000, and took his first vows in 2002. He completed his Master's
Degree in Philosophy at the Sogang Graduate School of Theology in Seoul, and
did his regency working in the ‘Window on Life' Café as part of the Social
Apostolate.
Jin-hyuk
Park was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1973. While studying at university, he came
across a book about people working with families who had been forcibly
displaced from their homes. Describing the experience of reading the book as a
‘kind of electric shock', he decided to enter the priesthood. He entered the
Jesuit Novitiate in 2000 and took his vows in 2002. He spent his regency in
Cambodia, working for Banteay Prieb, the vocational training centre for the
disabled.
Shin-jae
Youh was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1964. As a young man, he discovered the
writings of Pedro Arrupe and decided to aspire to the life of a Jesuit. He
joined the Jesuits in 2000, and did his regency working for the campus ministry
at Sogang University in Seoul.
Plínio
Gusmão Martins was born in Dili, East Timor, in 1976. His childhood was amid
the violence of the country's national struggle for liberation. In 1992, he was
wounded and nearly killed in the massacre at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili.
He entered the Society of Jesus in 1996 at the novitiate in Indonesia, and
studied in the Philippines and Indonesia before coming to Australia.
Bishop
O'Kelly said he was intrigued to learn that both Shin-jae and Plínio, in their
younger days, had been told by different people that they had the ‘face of a
Jesuit'.
‘This
is intriguing me', he said. ‘I have fears about what some people might think a
Jesuit face might look like. That's clearly an avenue that might be explored by
the Jesuit vocations committee.'
Ordination
to the diaconate is a special sacrament within the Catholic Church, said Bishop
O'Kelly.
‘Holy
orders has three levels of practice as is reflected in the apostolic church
where we find deacons, priests and bishops. Something does happen to the inner
person with these sacraments. The sacrament imposes an inner configuration - to
use a term favoured by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict - an orientation of
the person that can never be revoked.'
As
deacons, the four young men have the tasks of proclaiming the Gospel, preparing
the Eucharist, giving communion, bringing God's word, presiding over public
prayer, as well as saying baptisms, marriages, providing last rites, and
leading the rites of burial.
‘For
me, it's a great privilege to be a servant of God', said Shin-jae after the
ordination. ‘I feel like I am the mediator of God's grace to the people, and to
show God's love and grace to others.'
Members
of the Melbourne Korean and East Timorese communities came out to celebrate the
ordinations, along with family and friends of the four men. Shin-jae said he
was surprised and happy that members of his old choir, Polyphony Ensemble, were
able to fly to Australia and perform at the ordination.
‘I
never expected my friends would come and sing for us. It was a real privilege
for me and my community', he said.
Below are some pictures from the ordination.
Pictured above: Jin-hyuk Park, Shin-jae Youh, Bishop Greg O'Kelly, Jin-hyon Lee and Plinio Martins.
The deacons and their families.
Photos Michael McVeigh, Jesuit Communications Australia.