The Diocese of Dumaguete will soon have three new priests and four new deacons this month, which Bishop Julito Cortes has described as a huge grace from God for the diocese.
Bishop Cortes will be the ordaining prelate for both the candidates to the priesthood and the deaconate in a mass on Feb. 14 at 9 am at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria here.
To be ordained as priests are the three deacons: Rev. Arturo Conrad Lagarde, Rev. Gonzalo Omison II, and Rev. Mart Salac.
Also to be ordained as deacons are seminarians Isidro Vinzon, Leonardo Tuscano, Kevin Rayoso, and Jhon Mark Bomediano.
Bishop Cortes expressed gratitude to God for the upcoming ordination of the three new priests and four new deacons of the Diocese of Dumaguete.
“Let us pray for them that they will faithfully serve the Lord and the people of God in the diocese,” said the Dumaguete prelate.
The ordination, which falls on Valentine’s Day, is significant because, according to Bishop Cortes, it is “love day” and this is “our (sign of) love for the Church, love for God and an offering for life”.
During his watch as Bishop of Dumaguete in the last three years, Cortes said the diocese lost five priests who died of various reasons, and it was painful because they were not really “elderly”.
“However, it is God who is in control and our God is a God for both the living and the dead so let us just believe that everything is in His hands,” Bishop Cortes said.
In His wisdom and generosity, God also gave the diocese three more news priests and four more deacons within the same three years, he pointed out.
And in about a year’s time, the four deacons to be ordained will also soon become priests, Cortes added.
In addition, three priests who are members of religious congregations have been accepted to be incardinated in the Diocese of Dumaguete and they are following a five-year probationary period after which they shall be fully accepted, according to the bishop.
These are years of observation for them and an assessment of their life and ministry.
Meanwhile, the Dumaguete prelate reiterated his appeal to young men to consider the priestly vocation.
Many of them, Cortes said, usually tend to find a job or profession that would help alleviate the status of their families and that, in itself, is good.
“However, in our experience, we believe that God cannot be outdone in His generosity. If the Lord calls you, may you be generous to respond to the call of God”, appealed Cortes.
“When God calls, He calls with a promise of a full life and when God gives, He gives generously to us”, he added. (PNA/JFP)
