The Catholic bishop added: “To be a deacon means being a man who, throughout his life, in the light of God’s Word and with the help of others, seeks to find the meaning of his life and above all the path that God shows him, discovers his vocation with the help of others and gives the best of himself and his life so that others can live a fulfilling life.”
“When you become a priest and go to seminary, you realize that to be truly human in God’s sense is to practice charity, and the strongest charity is to say, I am who I am because God gave me life, he gave me talents, and now what is the best way to say thank you to God?” Bishop Rampura Ka said.
The local bishop of Bissau added: “The best way to show gratitude is to offer to God ourselves what he has given us.”
In his homily, the leader of the Catholic Church urged the elected deacons and elected priests to “practice charity and devote yourselves to God. Everything will fade away, but charity will triumph like a jewel.”
A Catholic bishop said, “Without God, man cannot be man. If he is man, he may as well not exist. But that is not the case with you.”
“The upcoming diaconal and priestly ordinations are gifts offered to our Church for the glory of God and for the sanctification of our brothers and sisters at an opportune time,” Bishop Rampura Ka said.
The Pope urged the elected deacons and elected priests to “be simple, following the example of Jesus, who, although divine, came into the world as a simple man.”
“The Gospels show us the example of Jesus’ humanity. Although he was in a state of being with God, he appeared among men as a simple man and, moreover, he gave up everything to follow God and serve men,” Bishop Lampura Ka said, citing Philippians 2:6ff.
He added: “Jesus served to the end, even though he lost his honor by dying on the cross like a criminal. That is why God resurrected him and placed him in the highest position there could be as the ruler of the universe and history.”