HONG KONG (SE): Guadalupe missionary Miguel Ángel Ramírez Flores was ordained a priest in his hometown of Jalisco, Mexico, on September 4. He received formation and was ordained a transitional deacon in Hong Kong in October 2020 [Sunday Examiner, 25 October 2020]. Following his ordination, he was assigned to teach at the Missionaries of Guadalupe Minor Seminary in Tiaquepaque, Jalisco.
The ordination ceremony was officiated by Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo Muñoz Ochoa of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, and concelebrated by superior general of Guadalupe Missionaries, Father Eugenio Zacarías Romo Romo, and rector of the seminary, Father Ricardo Gómez Fregoso, among other missionary priests.
Reverend Flores received the blessing from his family members before being presented as a candidate by Father Romo to the bishop.
In his homily, Bishop Ochoa reminded Reverend Flores to always remember what the Lord has done in him throughout his formation, how God was moulding him to become his priest, and what he will continue to do in him during his priestly life.
In addition, the bishop emphasised that as a missionary priest, he has the mission of announcing the gospel, particularly in places where the people are non-believers or hostile to the Catholic faith. “May the Lord nourish you, take care of you and do not forget your fragility, remembering that, despite this, God calls us, because it is he who has chosen us first; always ask the Lord for your conversion,” Bishop Ochoa said.
Subsequently, Reverend Flores expressed his desire to be ordained a priest for the Missionaries of Guadalupe and prostrated before the altar as a gesture of abandonment, while the assembly joined in prayer and singing the litany of the saints.
In a symbol of prayer and transmitting the sacramental power of the Holy Spirit, Bishop Ochoa imposed his hands on the candidate, uttered the prayers of consecration and ordained Reverend Flores a priest.
Vested with a stole and chasuble, Father Flores was then presented to the assembly. Bishop Ochoa anointed his hands and handed over the the paten and the chalice, as symbols of faculty to perform the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The newly-ordained priest was then given the embrace of peace.
Father Flores said he did not know when he could come to serve in Hong Kong again, but he hopes for another chance to work here after teaching in the seminary for a time. ‘I miss the people, the services as well as the food in Hong Kong,’ he said.
Around 400 people, mostly his family members and relatives, attended the ordination ceremony, while friends in Hong Kong joined online.
In an interview with the Kung Kao Po after his ordination, Father Flores said his 17-year formation seemed too long for others, but as he deeply loves his vocation, he thinks time passed too quickly.
He said he could not express his mixed feelings except to quote a verse from St. Paul: “For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle” [1 Corinthians 15:9].
Father Flores said he did not know when he could come to serve in Hong Kong again, but he hopes for another chance to work here after teaching in the seminary for a time. “I miss the people, the services as well as the food in Hong Kong,” he said.
He thanked all people who journeyed with him and prayed for religious vocations.
Father Flores joined the minor seminary in 2004. He studied philosophy before coming to Hong Kong in 2013. He learned Cantonese and studied theology at the Holy Spirit Seminary in 2017. He received pastoral training at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Tsing Yi, Holy Redeemer Church, Tuen Mun and St. Joseph’s Church, Kowloon Bay.
Father Flores was ordained a transistonal deacon by John Cardinal Tong Hon, the apostolic administrator of Hong Kong, at St. Joseph’s Church in Kowloon Bay on 9 October 2020. He continued to serve there as a deacon until returning to Mexico in June this year to prepare for his priestly ordination.
Father Flores told the Kung Kao Po that the seed of his priestly vocation was planted by the Parish of San José Artesano in Tlaquepaque, where he grew up, served as an altar boy, Sunday school catechist and youth group leader. On September 5 the newly ordained celebrated his first Mass in the Parish of San José.
