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Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil, Bishop of Kohima, with Deacon Zubemo Thomas Odyuo on Dec. 28.[/caption]
Dimapur, Dec. 28 (EMN): Deacon Zubemo Thomas Odyuo was ordained priest by Bishop of Kohima Dr. James Thoppil, on Dec. 28, becoming the sixth priest from Sacred Heart Parish, Bhandari.
Odyuo, who was in his traditional Lotha attire, was welcomed at the gate along with the Bishop by the Catholic community.
Bishop said that “it is a red-letter day for the Catholic community of Sacred Heart Parish, Bhandari, to the diocese of Kohima and also for Deacon Thomas Zubemo because the Deacon will be ordained a priest, and set apart and consecrated to God’s work and His mission.” He went on to say that the Odyuo had been preparing for the day for the last thirteen or more years and “from now on he will be called Fr. Thomas and will assume a new role and identity – the role and identity of a catholic priest.”
Bishop in his homily said that the primary duty of a priest is to lift up Jesus just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert that those who looked upon it were saved. Quoting the words of Pope Francis he said, “The priest is the poorest of men unless Jesus enriches him by his poverty, the most useless of servants unless Jesus calls him his friend, the most ignorant of men unless Jesus patiently teaches him as he did with Peter, the frailest of Christians unless the Good Shepherd strengthens him in the midst of the flock. No one is more “little” than a priest left to his own devices; and so our prayer of protection against every snare of the Evil One is the prayer of our Mother: I am a priest because he has regarded my littleness. And in that littleness we find our joy.”
The Bishop also explained the prophetic, pastoral and priestly role of a priest. ‘Once ordained, the priest is a marked man. He is impressed with the indelible character of the priesthood. He is a priest forever, even when he plays tennis or goes swimming.’ He told Odyuo to remember that it is to be his ‘life-work’ to lift up Jesus Christ before men, so that He may draw them unto Him.
He said that to be a good priest is the hardest work and the most glorious work on earth. It takes love—abundant love and the most patient love—and it takes hard work. And perhaps above all else it takes prayer—loving prayer. The priest in short is God’s priest. He is God’s humble servant. He must belong to God, body and soul. The true priest lives no longer for himself, but solely to the end that he may hold up the Crucified before men.
