I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to be invited to ordain to the deaconate Alphonse Yema Onomanga here in Sacred Heart Chapel in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. The reasons are multiple.
First of all he is a member of the Priests of the Sacred Heart, and my entire priesthood and episcopacy has been consecrated to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Moreover, as I told him at mass and lunch at my house recently, we are African brothers, for in 1970, I was given the African name "Kasule," and became a member of the Ngeye clan of the Boganda tribe in Uganda. the African brother who took me into the clan is Monsignor Joseph Ssebayigga, and our grandfather's brother, St. James Ssebayigga Buzalabuliawo is one of the African martyrs raised to the altar by Pope Paul VI.
Alphonse was born on November 13,1970, the son of Paul Richard Wonganombe and Charlotte Pala. He has many brothers and sisters. He attended primary and secondary school in Kisangani, in the northeastern part of Congo, along the Congo river. His father insisted that he study business at the university in Kisangani, though he wanted to go to the seminary after finishing secondary school. but after his second year at the university, when his father learned that he still wanted to go to the seminary, he agreed. Alphonse was then 20 years old.
He spent a year in preparatory seminary, and then two years in Cameroon, the first year of which he was a postulant and the second a novice. He was professed on the 12th of August, 1994. He studied philosophy for three years, obtaining a licentiate in philosophy. Then after a pastoral year in the bush, with a Polish Sacred Heart father (who had come to Sacred Heart in Hales Corners to learn English), he went to Ngoya in Cameroon for four years of theology, which he completed just this year. He has now been sent to Hales Corners to learn English - and we all have to admit that he is doing very well in a very short time!
He will be ordained to the priesthood in Congo in Kinshasa, which is the capital city of La Republique Democratique du Congo - formerly known as Zaire. There are about 60 million people living there.
After ordination, he will go back into the bush to work in a parish among the Pigmy people. they are primitive, but there is a great deal of prejudice against them, and he looks forward very much to working among them.
In the year 2000, at an international conference on racism in South Africa, two Pygmies represented their tribe, and they said that the racism they experience is not from whites, but from fellow blacks, who think they are cannibals, but they are not.
The parish, he is going to is St. Mary's of Basoko, after his ordination. There will then be three priests there: one Polish, one Spanish, and one African, namely, then father Yema.
Consequently, this ordination today is a vivid reminder to all of us of the universality of the church, of the universality of the redemption by Jesus Christ, and of the catholicity that we are all so proud to profess. Frater Alphonse was very pleasantly surprised at pictures that he saw here at Hales Corners, for no one else, no other world leaders, or seemingly, religious leaders outside the Catholic church, seemed to recognize the problems caused in Congo by invasions by other African nations. Alphonse told me the only understanding is in the church. I quote: "The church doesn't let people forget what is really going on. this is a great source of encouragement." He is also very impressed by the spirit that has been shown to him, a total stranger, here at Sacred Heart in Hales Corner
The archdiocese of Kisangani was founded by the Sacred Heart Fathers in 1897. prior to that, there were no Christians in Congo. The very first mass was celebrated by Father Grison, scj., on December 25,1897. Now 40%, or 25 of the 60 million people in the Congo are catholic.
The scripture readings we just heard are quite inspirational to me. He chose the reading from the book of numbers, because he said: "Just as the tribe of Levi assisted Moses (and Aaron), the deacon is an assistant at the side of the bishop and the priest. and this involves the need to remain faithful." Alphonse chose his second reading with the story of Phillip, because he said and I quote: "Phillip, one of the seven deacons who were called, exercises his ministry by proclaiming the, word of god (preaching) and the administration of the sacraments (baptism). this reading calls me to consider its missionary aspect. the gospel has no frontiers. after having come to the pagans and Jews it crosses over into Ethiopia. This means much to me insofar as I am an African, a member of a land that has received many missionaries. The challenge to sanctity shown by the Ethiopian eunuch, I believe, symbolizes the need of the people of God to be helped by the sacraments and the proclamation of the good news." So the missionary work that the Sacred Heart Fathers started in the late 1800's will be carried on in the early 2000's, by soon-to-be Father Alphonse Yema.
The reason that Alphonse chose the gospel passage from John about the grain of wheat falling onto the ground and dying is this: "This reading is a kind of invitation for me. Jesus invites us to imitate him, that is to be servants who commit their entire lives. My own Congolese people, who are suffering a great deal today because of the war, need voluntarism. I have a desire to respond to this invitation from Jesus by exercising my ministry among the poor villagers who are oppressed. I believe that this gospel invites me also in the sense of sacrifice and detachment."
Alphonse, I have to tell you and all the seminarians in this chapel, that I have great hopes for the future of the church because of the dedication, commitment and sincerity of you and the other seminarians. We are going through a real tough time in the church in the United States, but I am convinced that the new springtime that John Paul II spoke about is not far off. I don't mind at all getting ready to "shuffle off this mortal soil" because of the enthusiastic, dedicated and holy men coming up to take our places. And as I told you when you were at my house for mass and lunch: "Be a holy priest! we need holy priests today."
Before I will ordain you, in spite of the fact that you have taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as a religious, the church requires that I ascertain from you once again, in the presence of God and the church, your resolution, as a sign of your interior dedication to Christ, to remain celibate for the sake of the kingdom and in lifelong service to God and mankind. You are also undertaking today the obligation to pray the divine office every day for the, rest of your life, because you are today being ordained an official pray-er! I am sure that there are many, many people who pray more fervently and more frequently than we do, but I am equally sure that there are many, many people for whom the only prayers that are being offered are those of you and me. Our blessed Mother at Fatima told the children to pray for sinners, because many souls are being lost, simply because no one is praying for them. And so you have both the opportunity and the obligation to pray every day for the world.
And as a deacon, you will be most intimately associated with the priest in the offering of mass. No one is as close as you are to the Eucharist. the greatest sign of love is the giving of life. the love of a husband and wife reaches its culmination in the giving of life. Each one of us is a living symbol of the love of our parents for each other. The total giving of oneself to another is a recognized act of love.
But there is a love greater still. It is indeed the giving of life, not just to another, but for another. Jesus himself said: "There is no greater love than this, to lay down one's life for a friend." This a deacon and a priest does. Hence, your commitment to celibacy and your commitment to prayer is a wonderful sign of your love for Jesus and of your love for those for whom he came to die. and isn't that what the Sacred Heart is all about?
#478 of the New Catechism of the Catholic Church says: "The Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation, is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that love with which the Divine Redeemer continually loves the Eternal Father and all human beings without exception."
Alphonse, you are about to be ordained to a great sacrament of love and service, the deaconate, and it is a prelude to your ordination to the priesthood. as you yourself said: "Jesus invites us to imitate him, i..e., to be servants who commit their entire lives." Today, you are formalizing that commitment. I congratulate you, I bless you, I pray for you, and it will be my great privilege to ordain you. and that I will do right now.
Most Reverend Roger l. Kaffer auxiliary bishop of Joliet (retired)