The ordination of two young men to the priesthood this May at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland was a celebration of both the universality of the Catholic Church and a beautiful gift shared between two dioceses.

   Father Ezekiel Banla Yisi and Father Evans Bongwun-nyuy Yongyee were ordained for the Diocese of Kumbo in Cameroon, their home country, but through a decade-long partnership between that diocese and the Diocese of Portland, they have been studying in the United States and will begin their priestly ministry in Maine.

  “I’m looking forward to serving the people in the parish. That has always been my dream,” says Father Yisi. “I am very happy, yet very frightened by the mysteries I have received, but I am glad and grateful to God for choosing me to be a channel of His graces to His Church, to His people, that He has called me from nowhere and given me all that I need to journey all this way.”

  “It’s an amazing gift to be ordained a priest, not out of any merit of mine but of God’s choice of me, unworthy as I am,” says Father Yongyee. “I am looking forward to serving the people of Maine and being available to them in the very best way possible that I can be as their priest. I’m also praying that God will give me the grace to be able to achieve that.” 
 

  The two men were ordained by Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo in the presence of Bishop James Ruggieri of Portland. In his homily, Bishop Nkuo spoke of the faith, friendship, and mutual support that have bridged the 5,500 miles that separate the two dioceses.
 

    “There are moments in the Church when doctrine becomes flesh. Today is one of those moments. We profess in the creed: ‘I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church,’ but today, that ‘catholic,’ that universality, is no longer an idea. It has a face. It has a story. It has names: Evans and Ezekiel, born in the faith of Cameroon, formed through the generosity of Portland, Maine, and now offered back to the Church, not as possessions of one diocese but as gifts to the whole body of Christ,” Bishop Nkuo said. “That is how the Church breathes: one Church sends, another Church receives, and in the exchange, both are enriched.”
 

  “It is a gift that is given, and it is received by the Diocese of Portland, Maine, and the Diocese of Kumbo. It is not a particular gift to any of the dioceses. We are a gift to the whole Church and I am excited,” says Father Yongyee. “I am so grateful for everybody who turned out to celebrate this gift and to welcome this gift with me.”
 

  While many family members were unable to travel to the United States for the Mass, hundreds filled the cathedral for the ordination. Among them were members of the Cameroonian community from Baltimore, Maryland, where the men attended seminary. They included the Cameroon Community Choir who sang during the Mass. Also in attendance were a busload of parishioners from St. Mary of the Visitation Parish in Houlton and St. Agnes Parish in Island Falls, where the young men had summer assignments. 
 

   “It just reminds us of the fact that even though we didn’t have our immediate families here, we still have family. It’s so beautiful to see that people can sacrifice like that for you, and it encourages you,” says Father Yongyee.
 

     During the Rite of Ordination, the elect promised to carry out the ministry of the word worthily and wisely, to celebrate the mysteries of Christ reverently and faithfully, and to pray without ceasing for the people of God. Placing their hands within those of Bishop Nkuo, they then promised obedience to him and his successors.
 

  In a sign of humility and reverence, the two men then lay prostrate for the singing of the Litany of Saints. Upon rising, they approached Bishop Nkuo, who laid hands on each of them in silence. 
 

“Knowing that this gesture of laying hands is traditionally understood as making the priest, I was moved and I trembled. And when he addressed me as Father Ezekiel, I could not hold it. I could not believe what I just heard,” Father Yisi says.
 

The dozens of priests present then each laid hands on the ordinands, after which Bishop Nkuo prayed the Prayer of Ordination, asking God to grant “to these your servants the dignity of the priesthood.”
 

  Now priests, Father Yisi and Father Yongyee were vested with stoles and chasubles, symbols of the priesthood, and the bishop anointed their hands with oil, praying, “May the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, guard and preserve you, that you may sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifice to God.”
 

  “The anointing of my hands, it just kept me wondering who is this Evans that God wants his hands to be used for ministry,” says Father Yongyee. “It really made me emotional.”
 

 Bishop Nkuo then presented the newly ordained priests with a chalice and paten, counseling them to “understand what you will do, imitate what you will celebrate, and conform your life to the mystery of the Lord’s cross.”
 

  Each then received a congratulatory, fraternal kiss of peace from Bishop Nkuo and the priests in attendance.
 

   “Dear sons, stand not with pride but with astonishment. Kneel not with fear but with trust. Speak not with your own voice but with the quiet confidence of one who knows: ‘I was known before I was needed.’ And if you were known before you existed, then you can be faithful after you are ordained because before your mothers knew your names, God had already spoken your mission,” Bishop Nkuo told the ordinands in his homily. “You did not come this far to become something; you came this far to become who you already are in God’s mind.”
 

 Father Ezekiel Banla Yisi

   Father Yisi’s journey to the priesthood began under the guidance of his grandmother, with whom he spent much of his childhood.
 

  “She was a very devout Catholic Christian. She was like my first faith formation teacher, teaching me the Bible, telling me about the Bible figures, teaching me those stories, telling me about creation,” he says.
 

  A turning point for Father Yisi came around the age of 10 when he watched the movie The Passion of the Christ.
 

   “I saw the goodness in the person of Jesus Christ and how he was badly treated. That made me cry watching the movie. I cried and I came back home and told my grandmother that I wanted to become another Jesus,” he recalls. “My grandmother said I cannot become another Jesus. That did not make sense to me.”
 

   He watched the movie repeatedly and became so familiar with it that he would narrate it. He says he would take a cloth and put it on his head like Jesus and even asked his mother and grandmother not to cut his hair.
 

  While he attended Mass regularly, he says one day he was particularly touched by hearing the priest talk about Jesus.
 

   “At that time, the image of the priest in church came out powerfully,” he says. “I said, ‘OK, if I cannot become another Jesus as Granny is saying, then I think this is what I want to become.’”
 

   From that point on, he says whenever he was asked about a future career, he would point to the priesthood, and after high school, he applied to go to seminary.
  

  “God works in mysterious ways. When I look at my life, I see how He has been working at every step, guiding me,” he says.
 

   Father Yisi began his studies at St. John Paul II Major Seminary in Bachuo Ntai-Mamfe, Cameroon. He says he never expected to minister outside the country and was caught off guard when he was told that he would be going to the United States to finish his studies and then to serve.
 

   “I started thinking left and right. It was a speechless moment,” he says.
 

   Initially denied a visa, he didn’t arrive in this country until the night before the start of classes at St. Mary’s Seminary & University, which made for a challenging beginning.
 

    “With the time change, I feel like I was sleeping during class, and at night, I could not sleep,” he says. “It was a lot that first semester.”
  

  But he says with the guidance and assurances of the formation team, spiritual directors, and other mentors, he was eventually able to settle in.
 

   Father Yisi says his seminary experiences helped him enhance his prayer life.
 

    “That is when I learned about guided meditation, Lectio Divina,” Father Yisi says. “It’s so mysterious because you meditate on a text, and I remember I sat for two hours in a single spot, and it felt like 30 minutes. I was so deep into prayer, into meditation, that I was less conscious of my physical environment. That was the beginning of my spiritual life in a very different dimension.”
 

   During a summer assignment in Houlton and Island Falls, he had the opportunity to lead a program on prayer for parishioners.
 

   “It impacted my life so much because I was just so deep into it that it just made my life in the parish more substantial, and the people, their engagement, their inquisitiveness, it was so encouraging,” he says. “Some of them are so prayerful, and it’s just so beautiful to see. It’s encouraging. Joining them in prayer, asking them to pray for me, getting to hear their stories, it is just so wonderful and soul uplifting.”
 

   Father Yisi says he is now grateful to have had the chance to study and serve here. 

    “It has opened my mind. I think I am better equipped to serve the people of God because there are some things that I would never understand or learn if I spent my whole years in Cameroon,” he says. “It’s a wonderful opportunity that I greatly appreciate.”
 

 Father Evans Bongwun-nyuy Yongyee

   Father Yongyee says he, too, is grateful to have had the opportunity to attend St. Mary’s Seminary & University.
 

  “They have been wonderful years and years of growth to discover who I am, to discover my talents, and to work to get better every moment,” he says.
 

    Like Father Yisi, Father Yongyee never expected to study and serve in the United States. He grew up in the village of Roontong and remembers playing the drums in church when he was just age 6 or 7. He says he became an altar server the day after making his first Communion and kept going from there. He credits the school manager, who was a priest, for first inspiring him to pursue that vocation.
 

    “He used to visit us and would play with us and share candies. So, one day he asked us, ‘What do you want to be?’ I said that I wanted to be like him: to also give candies to people and to wear what he was wearing, because he was always wearing his clerical garment,” Father Yongyee says.
 

    He says it was at seminary that he came to understand that there was more to the priesthood than candy and clothes.
 

    “It is being able to celebrate the sacraments for people, being soaked in the word of God so that I can preach to them and do it well,” he says. “Throughout my formation and years as a seminarian and study, I have hoped to be able to get to that point where I can celebrate the sacraments with reverence. That has always been my cry every time. I think with the help of God that is possible.”
 

  Father Yongyee says once he determined the priesthood was his path, he was all in.
 

  “Anytime I was in difficulties or felt that maybe I’m not getting it right, I would pray and ask God to show me if this is really where He wants me to be. Every time I asked Him, God did it. He did it through prayer,” Father Yongyee says.
 

   Father Yongyee says one such affirmation came during a summer assignment when he accompanied Father Kevin Martin on a hospital visit in Houlton. He recalls visiting a patient who was lying in bed in pain; yet, after Father Martin introduced him as a seminarian, the man turned toward him and gave him this advice: “Go forth boldly!”
 

    “That meant a lot to me. I was, like, I don’t even know him. I had never met him, but those words were very convincing because it was just two weeks to diaconal ordination. I had a lot going on in my mind, but those words were, like, ‘Yes. You can do it. Go for it. Believe it,’” he says. “I call it my first miracle towards ordination.”
 

   Father Yongyee says he is grateful for all the support he has received since coming to the diocese.
  

  “I want to say a word of thank you to each and everyone in the Diocese of Portland, Maine, for their prayers, their financial support, and their presence to us. It has been wonderful,” he says. 
 

  He says being in the United States has given him a broader perspective and given him an awareness that we should all “be open to other peoples and realities and embrace everyone.” 
 

 As a priest, Father Yongyee says he is most looking forward to celebrating Mass and to offering the sacrament of reconciliation.
 

   “Every day my prayer is that, as I embrace the priesthood, especially once I get into the confessional, that He should help me to not stand in His way because it is Him people are coming to encounter, not me,” he says. “I’m just an instrument in His hands for Him to use and to bring His mercy to His people.”
 

 Father Yongyee says practicing St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Daily Examen helps him remain grounded in prayer. He says he was introduced to Ignatian spirituality while at seminary and has grown to cherish it.
 

  “Sometimes, we don’t see the role of silence in prayer, but I’ve come to appreciate that very much because in silence, a lot comes into play. Just listening to your heartbeat and listening to God speak to you in silent adoration makes a difference,” he says.
   

 As a priest, Father Yongyee says he hopes to bring the gift of presence to people.
 

   “I like serving. I like working. I like putting myself out for people,” he says.
 

  Father Yisi says he wants to bring a spirit of joy.
 

   “People say that I just have a very good smile and just have a good heart,” he says. “They say my joy is contagious.”
 

   Father Yisi is now serving as parochial vicar of St. Agnes Parish in Island Falls, St. Mary of the Visitation Parish in Houlton, and St. Benedict Parish in Benedicta, while Father Yongyee is a parochial vicar of St. John Paul II Parish in Scarborough.