June 29, 2022, was a special day for us in Wanno Gaspar, especially at our Noviciate house. Even with the cool weather that wrapped the island of Sumba, we felt it warm due to a particular celebration.
On Saints Peter and Paul’s Solemnity, the Province of Indonesia received an additional ten new members. They are Novices batch 2021/2022 who have just finished their Novitiate term. Today these young people take their First Vows.
Immediately after celebrating the vows, these ten newly professed will soon go to Yogyakarta, Java, to continue their education in philosophy and theology at the Wedha Bakti Pontifical Theology Faculty of Sanata Dharma University.
This joy and warmth were increasing in us because, at the same time, 22 young people who have just finished their postulancy year are entering the Novitiate year 2022/2023. They are the 33rd generation to undergo at novitiate here in Wanno Gaspar.
Provincial of Indonesian Redemptorists, Fr. Yoakim R. Ndelo, C.Ss.R., led the celebration. He was accompanied by Magister, Fr. Marianus Dapa Talu, C.Ss.R. and Fr. David Bayo, C.Ss.R., the director of Postulancy.
In his sermon, Father Provincial addressed,” The keyword of today is “Set them Free”. Being a redemptorist means being a free person because God Himself has liberated us as he did to Saints Peter and Paul. Only then do we become happy and joyful in proclaiming the good news to the most abandoned”.
This celebration was attended by the confreres around Sumba, the families of the newly professed redemptorist alumni, friends and acquaintances of the Redemptorists. This event is an occasion of joy for our congregation. God always gives abundance.
Copiosa Apud Eum Redemptio. This phrase is meaningful and moving for us. The readiness of Indonesia’s Redemptorist Province to share personnel in various places always brings an abundance of vocation. And God Himself proved it in our Province.
Let us pray for our young people to persevere in God’s call and become true Redemptorists in all preparations for their mission.
Willy Ng Pala, C.Ss.R.
