The Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie, CSSp, Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, has called on newly ordained young Priests in the Archdiocese to be actively involved in the Church’s mission and to embrace demanding tasks of priesthood.
In his message during the ordination ceremony for 12 young men at the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Odorkor Tipper, Archbishop Kwofie reflected on the motivations behind young men choosing the priesthood.
He noted, “ What makes a young man choose to go to the seminary to become a Priest? The answer is, he has the vocation to the priesthood. But what makes him stay, despite all odds, in the seminary to become a Priest? The answer is again simple: it is the Lord’s doing. But how does the Lord do it?”
According to Archbishop Kwofie, when young aspirants perceive a lack of purpose in the priestly vocation, they do not commit to becoming Priests.
“When a newly ordained Priest wakes up, says Mass and has very little to do except to watch TV the whole day, it makes the priesthood boring and unattractive. When they perceive that the work ahead of them is easily accomplished, they enter the seminary today and tomorrow they rush out one by one”, he said.
Archbishop Kwofie highlighted the importance of meaningful work in attracting young people to the priesthood noting that, “Young men of today are attracted to the priesthood because they see the work waiting for them is hard, vast, and demanding.”
While speaking, the Archbishop encouraged the new Priests to embrace demanding tasks that serve marginalised communities in order to attract aspirants of the vocation.
He added, “Today’s young people want a task that is demanding. They want to see priests with their cassocks tainted by different colors through hard work. Today’s young men want to be of help to peoples who are ignored by our society and to peoples whose marriages are on the rocks. They want to bring education to the less privileged and the down-trodden.”
He also urged the newly ordained Priests to take after Christ, citing His mission where he proclaimed the good news and provided hope to the marginalised.
“This is the work of the priest. Jesus went from Nazareth to Jerusalem preaching this good news to the poor. Today’s youth are eager to see priests who are busy attending to the sick and the dying, and above all praying for them”, he stated.
Archbishop Kwofie emphasised that the active works of priests in the church serve as a motivation to aspirants stating, “What keeps them in the seminary is to see that the work awaiting them is urgent, indeed more than urgent”.
The ordination included seven Diocesan Priests, two Salesians of Don Bosco, two Franciscans, and one Jesuit.
By: Veronica Sena Amenya//Newswatchgh.com
