Priestly ordination of Mkhari Antony Abednego

People started gathering under the tents prepared for the celebration. Little by little the chairs are occupied and the people are ready to start the function that will bring to fulfilment Antony’s long journey to priesthood.  Meanwhile the choir sings songs of praise and thanksgiving for the gift of a missionary priest.

Acornhoek is a parish founded by the Comboni Missionaries in October 1954. Monsignor  Giuseppe Sandri, a Comboni missionary, and the bishop of Witbank, had worked in the same diocese and today he is here to lay his hands on Antony. He knows the local language very well and the people know him since he arrived as a young priest in South Africa and was assigned to this very Comboni mission.

The family of the priest to be and people from the different outstations of the parish were present.

A total of 30 priests from the diocese and the Comboni confreres are there to accompany the candidate. Sisters from the parish and from other parishes are also there to witness that day. There is no hurry to end the celebration. The day is already booked for this purpose.

In his lively homily the bishop stressed the need for the priest of “being rooted in Christ through prayer and fidelity to the word of God that he has to read, to meditate and to pray, not just read!”He also insisted on his specific vocation as a Comboni missionary: “Comboni is the one to inspire your mission and your dedication to the African people. Being an African you fulfil the plan of Comboni who wanted Africa to be saved by Africans”.

After the Eucharistic celebration the feast went on with a simple and abundant lunch offered to all the participants, in a good African way. After lunch some African dances took place and the people joined in singing and dancing.

The following day, the 5^th of June, Sunday, the thanksgiving Mass took place in Hluvukani, the village where Antony comes from. The same joy and participation are present. It is a kind of continuation of the previous feast day.

Fr. Antony Mkhari is already appointed to work in Zambia where he did his missionary service. The people of the parish are aware that Antony is going in their name to preach the word of God and to share his life with the people of Zambia. They feel that through Antony they become more missionaries themselves and they show support and joy in sharing the same mission.