The Dioceses of Portland and Kumbo join in celebrating the ordination of two priests.
It was a day of rejoicing for two dioceses on Saturday, May 23, as two priests were ordained at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.
Father Ezekiel B. Yisi and Father Evans B. Yongyee, both originally from Cameroon, were ordained by Bishop George Nkuo, Bishop of Kumbo, in the presence of Bishop James Ruggieri.
“It’s an amazing gift to be ordained a priest today, not of any merit of mine but because God’s chose me, unworthy as I am,” said Father Yongyee.
“I am very happy, yet very frightened by the mysteries I have received. But I am glad and grateful to God for choosing me to be a channel of his graces to his Church and to his people, that he has called me from nowhere and given me all that I need to journey all this way, and at this point that I will be able to say words that will descend into elements, mere elements, of bread and wine and they will become his real body and blood.”
Father Yisi and Father Yongyee were ordained priests for the Diocese of Kumbo. However, their ordination Mass was celebrated at the cathedral in Portland because, through a long-running partnership with the Diocese of Portland, they completed their seminary studies at St. Mary Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland, and will first serve in Maine before returning to their homeland.
In his homily, Bishop Nkuo praised the close ties between the two dioceses.
“There are moments in the Church when doctrine becomes flesh. Today is one of those moments. We profess in the creed: ‘I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church,’ but today, that ‘catholic,’ that universality is no longer an idea. It has a face. It has a story. It has names: Evans and Ezekiel, born in the faith of Cameroon, formed through the generosity of Portland, Maine, and now offered back to the Church, not as possessions of one diocese, but as gifts to the whole body of Christ,” Bishop Nkuo said.
Bishop Nkuo said that the ordination Mass was not simply about two men becoming priests. He said it shows that the Church still believes in sharing what is precious.
“Kumbo did not hold back her sons, and Maine did not hesitate to receive and form them. And Christ did not cease to call them. That is how the Church breathes: One Church sends; another Church receives, and in the exchange, both are enriched,” Bishop Nkuo said.
Hundreds of people attended the ordination Mass held at the cathedral including some who traveled from Cameroon to be there, others who came from the Cameroonian community in Baltimore, and still others who took a bus from Houlton in northern Maine or drove from the Camden area, two communities where Father Yisi and Father Yongyee served in past summers.
“To those priests and parishioners who opened their churches, their homes, and their hearts, you have done more than offer hospitality. You have participated in the very life of Church. You have shown that communion is not an abstract doctrine but a lived reality, and today, that generosity returns to you because that same Church that you welcomed, now gives you two sons: sons called in Kumbo, sons refined through your witness, sons who will now stand at your altars, preach to your people, anoint your sick, bury your dead, and break open for you the Bread of Life.”
“I'm so grateful for everybody who turned out to celebrate this gift and to welcome this gift with me. Like the bishop said, it is a gift that is given, and it is received by the Diocese of Portland, Maine, and the Diocese of Kumbo. It is not a particular gift to any of the dioceses. We are a gift to the whole church and I am excited,” said Deacon Yongyee.
During the Rite of Ordination, Deacon Yisi and Deacon Yongyee resolved that, as priests, they would carry out the ministry of the word worthily and wisely, celebrate the mysteries of Christ reverently and faithfully, pray without ceasing for the people of God entrusted to their care, and unite themselves more closely each day to Christ.
They each then approached Bishop Nkuo and, placing their hands within his, promised obedience to him and his successors.
In a sign of humility and reverence, the two men then lay prostrate while the Litany of Saints, a prayer asking for God’s mercy and for the intercession of the saints and angels, was sung.
The ordinands then each approached Bishop Nkuo who laid his hands on each of them in silence. Father Yisi said, for him, that was the most poignant moment of the ordination.
“Knowing that this gesture of laying hands is traditionally understood as making the priest, I was moved and I trembled, And when he addressed me as Father Ezekiel, I could not hold it. I could not believe what I just heard,” Father Yisi said. “I am grateful to God. It is all his doing."
After Bishop Nkuo laid hands on each of the ordinands, all the priests present did the same. Bishop Nkuo then prayed the Prayer of Ordination, praying that God, the Almighty Father, would “grant to these your servants the dignity of the priesthood. Renew deep within them the spirit of holiness. May they hold the office second in order, received from you, O God, and by the example of their manner of life, may they inspire right conduct. May they be trustworthy co-workers with our order so that by their preaching and through the grace of the Holy Spirit, the words of the Gospel may bear fruit in human hearts and reach even to the ends of the earth.”
Now priests, Father Yisi and Father Yongee were vested with stoles and chasubles, symbols of the priesthood. Father Yisi was vested by Father Javis Laban and Father Yongyee by Father Kenneth Lukong.
After they were vested, they each knelt before the bishop again, who anointed their hands with oil, praying, “The Lord, Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, guard and preserve you, that you may sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifice to God.”
“The anointing of my hands, it just kept me wondering who is this Evans that God wants his hands to be used for ministry," said Father Yongyee. "It really made me emotional.”
After their hands were anointed, each was presented with a chalice and paten in recognition of the Masses they will now be able to celebrate. As he presented the chalices and patens, Bishop Nkuo counseled them to “understand what you will do, imitate what you will celebrate, and conform your life to the mystery of the Lord’s cross.”
Each then received a fraternal kiss of peace from the bishop and then all the priests present. They then joined in the celebration of the Liturgy of the Eucharist for the first time as priests.
At the end of the Mass, the two newly ordained priests blessed Bishop Nkuo, Bishop Ruggieri, and Bishop Emeritus Robert Deeley, their first blessings as priests. Parishioners then lined up receive first blessings from each of them.
Father Yisi will celebrate his first Mass, a Mass of Thanksgiving, on Sunday, May 24, at 11 a.m. at St. Peter Church in Portland, and Father Yongyee will celebrate his Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday, May 24, at 1 p.m. at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church in Scarborough.
