By William Charles Mindus
LIMBAHAU, PAPAR — 16 July 2022 was a historic day for the Limbahau parish of St Joseph Church as a massive turnout of parishioners from Papar and other districts in Sabah and even as far as from Sarawak to celebrate the priestly ordination of Deacon Terans Thadeus after a hiatus of 33 years.
The ordination took place at 10.00 am at Holy Rosary Church and was presided by Archbishop John Wong together with parish priest Fr Thomas Yip and assistant priest Fr Rayner Bisius, and assisted by Deacons Peter Chung and Lasius Gantis.
The monumental celebration also gathered around 50 priests from the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu and several visiting priests from Kuching and Kuala Lumpur. Also present were the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (FSIC) led by Mother Frances Mani.
The event began with a procession of the congregation to the church from Fr Augustine Amandus Hall, accompanied by the traditional togunggak and gongs beating and sumazau traditional dancers.
After the Rites of Ordination, Fr Terans concelebrated his first Holy Eucharist with the Archbishop and fellow priests.
He bestowed his first blessing on the prelate, priests, deacons, and his family members.
In his speech, the prelate thanked God for the gift of Fr Terans Thadeus to the Archdiocese through the fruits of his parents and family’s perseverance and encouragement.
He highlighted that despite the mid-way three-year interruption of Fr Terans’ priestly formation when he had to respond to the needs of his family, the seed of vocation in Terans was kept alive by the grace of God.
He also thanked those who have accompanied Fr Terans in his journey, especially his family, relatives and friends, and those who have helped to form him to become a priest.
Archbishop Wong also highlighted the recent meeting of Pope Francis with bishops and priests in Sicily Italy on Jun 6, where the Pope requested bishops and priests to become “moral and spiritual mentor” to parishioners as they come to church looking for peace and certainty. If those who are assigned to convey the truth did not undertake their task, the parishioners will become more confused.
He added, in the ordination Mass, we have heard the roles and responsibilities of the new priest ordained for the Church. “We need to pray for Fr Terans and all our priests and bishops that they can be both moral and spiritual mentors, and that we will learn to imitate Jesus the Good Shepherd as we serve the people of God,” underlined the Archbishop.
With the priestly ordination in the midst of the synodal consultation process, the prelate cherished the hope that Fr Terans and together with all the priests in the archdiocese will play their role in building a synodal church.
To Fr Terans, Archbishop Wong welcomed him to the presbyterate of the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu.
Referring to the day’s Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the prelate urged Fr Terans “After listening to what Jesus told His beloved disciple to make a place for Mary in his home, I hope that you will also make a place for Mary in your heart!”
Meanwhile, Parish Pastoral Council chairman Sylvester Joseph thanked God for the historic priesthood ordination of Fr Terans Thadeus. The last priestly ordination that was held in the parish was the ordination of Fr Ambrose Atang on 21 November 1989, almost 33 years ago.
He underscored that the constant prayers of the faith community for Terans’ priesthood formation journey had borne fruit in the ordination that the parish has just witnessed.
He invited parishioners to pray for Fr Terans’ priestly ministry no matter where he may serve, and at the same time to continuously pray for more parish youth to be receptive to the priesthood vocation.
In his turn, Fr Terans thanked God that though in 2010 he said a small ‘yes’, but 12 years later he answered his priesthood vocation call with a resounding ‘YES’.
He has chosen for his theme “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is Love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.” (1John 4:16).
He attributed the blessing of God’s Love on him to the support of all, “I thank everyone, especially my parents and my siblings, in allowing me to answer God’s calling and for your support.”
Born on 10 Jan 1988, Terans is the eldest of seven children born to Thadeus John Dunggi and Margaretha Roger Singgon of Kampung Kabang Papar. His father hails from Kampung Libang Tambunan, while his mother from Kampung Punson Kinarut.
He was educated at SRJK (Chinese) St Joseph Papar (1995-2000), SMK St Joseph Papar (2001-2005), SMK Majakir (lower 6 in 2006), UiTM (MARA University of Technology) taking the Diploma in Applied Science (2007-2009). In 2009 he worked briefly as a part-time general clerk.
He entered Aspirancy in 2010, followed by Initiation Year in 2011 at Kota Kinabalu, Philosophy (2012-2013) and Theology (2014-2015) at St Peter’s College Major Seminary Kuching.
All went normally until he has to make a decision to take leave from formation in 2016 after his father became paralysed from a stroke. With all his younger siblings still schooling and his family in dire need of his support financially, he managed to secure work as a Quality, Environment, Safety and Health Officer with a road construction firm Gammerlite Sdn Bhd (2016-2018). With decent earning, the family was able to move on.
During this period, he was still active in various church activities and even had the chance to fall in love with a close friend. But through it all, he continued to feel the sense of emptiness within his heart.
He had applied for an initial two-year’s leave from formation but subsequently decided to extend another year until he sensed that the calling from God became too hard to resist. Thus, he believed that God did not abandon him throughout this period of intense activities.
He then wrote an application letter to the Archbishop, requesting to re-enter the seminary and continue his Theological formation in 2019, which he did until completion in early May 2021.
What makes him answer with a resounding ‘Yes’? During the three years’ leave after his father had fallen ill, his father said to him one day “If not because of me, you could have already been a priest long time ago!” God surely had proven His greatest Love since that statement came from the person who initially put up a strong resistance when Terans first decided to enter CDC as an aspirant.
Terans did his pastoral immersions in St Joseph Cathedral Kuching (Legion of Mary Children Liturgy, RCIA (2012), Hospital Sentosa Home of Peace Cheshire Home Kuching (2013), St Leo Serasot Bau Kuching (Youth Ministry, 2014), Cure and Care Rehabilitation Centre Kuching (2015), St Michael Penampang (2019), Our Lady Queen of Peace, Sri Aman (2021) and St John Tuaran (2015) (2021 until present).
At the lunch reception held at Fr Augustine Amandus Hall, Archbishop Wong announced that Fr Terans would continue to remain and serve as assistant priest at St John Tuaran where he has been assigned after his diaconal ordination on Dec 4.
The lunch fellowship, which concluded at 4.00 pm, also featured slides shows and stage presentations from various parish communities.
