Penang Diocese Welcomes New Priest

The Diocese of Penang received her newest priest, Rev Fr Konstend Gnanapragasam at the Sacerdotal Ordination Mass held at the Minor Basilica of St Anne, Bukit Mertajam on the Solemnity of St Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Mass, which was celebrated by Rt Rev Sebastian Francis, Bishop of Penang together with Rt Rev Julian Leow, Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur and Rt Rev Anthony Selvanayagam, Bishop Emeritus of Penang as well as with priests and deacons in attendance also commemorated the 8^th anniversary of the papal inauguration of Pope Francis, 266^th successor of St Peter.

In his homily, Bishop Sebastian asked the congregation to consider the nature of the rank in the Church to which Deacon Konstend was to be raised in becoming a priest. He added that while it is true that God has made his entire holy people a royal priesthood, nevertheless Christ himself chose certain disciples to carry out publicly in his name and on behalf of mankind, a priestly office in the Church.

“It is very healthy to look at the ordination to the priesthood in the context of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, which comes with three identities: Bishop, Priest and Deacon”, said Bishop Sebastian.

“According to Catholic doctrine and scripture, the Bishop is the successor of the apostles. He also represents the Priest in the fullness of the priesthood. But let the Bishop remember that before he was ordained a Bishop, he was first ordained a Priest and before that a Deacon, representing Christ the Servant. There is nothing transitory about representing Christ the Servant. It is an identity that Bishops and Priests receive when they were first ordained a Deacon and it must remain with them until the very end.”

Touching on the commemoration of the 8^th anniversary of Pope Francis’ installation as Pope, Bishop Sebastian added that one of the responsibilities of a basilica is to celebrate with great dignity and love, the feasts that are dedicated especially to St Peter, where the primacy of the Pope, the Petrine ministry is specially celebrated.

Pope Francis, who was installed Pope on the Solemnity of St Joseph has often spoken about his great love for St Joseph, whom he describes as a “strong and silent man”. There is not a single word spoken by St Joseph that is recorded in the Gospels. St Joseph is the silent husband, the silent father, worker, disciple and the silent patron of the universal Church.

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Bishop Sebastian went on to share about one thing from the day’s Gospel that struck him, “The Gospel said St Joseph had made up his mind using his reason and understanding of the law, to divorce Mary. That’s what the intelligent mind told him to do and it seemed the right thing to do. Then he went to bed and in his sleep God revealed to him through a dream that his decision to divorce Mary, no matter how strong his mind, is the wrong decision. He was told to do the opposite, to accept Mary, take responsibility for her and for the child in her womb.”

“So, it struck me,” said Bishop Sebastian “that we sometimes make a big deal of what the mind is telling us and we are very protective of that. But if we depend only on the mind – in the context of discernment, obedience, sacrifice, the priesthood, of being a successor of the apostles, or of being Christ the Servant – we are very poor. We have to rely on much more than the mind. Don’t absolutise everything that the mind may tell you, however intelligent we may be. Joseph followed not what his mind had decided but what was revealed to him by God through a dream.”

The Rite of Ordination

Fr Konstend speaks…