Fr. Peter Leonard Ndeda was ordained a priest on Saturday 23rd May at the Basilica of St. Eugene in Rome. In the congregation watching on, were a healthy number of his immediate and extended family.
We caught up with a number of them to ask them what this momentous occasion meant to them.
His sister Louise was accompanied by her husband and four sons. She shared that what surprised her most about the ordination was “…the simplicity in the people I met. Something I didn’t expect. Everyone was so warm! And Rome, the most beautiful city I’ve been to so far! The views, cathedrals, chapels but most especially the gelatos which were everything for our children! Plus the little random treats their uncle [Fr. Peter] kept getting them! I couldn’t ask for a better experience. We thank God for making this happen.” For the young boys had similar reactions. For Leone "[The] tram tracks on the road surprised me! At first I couldn’t understand. I was also very happy seeing uncle Peter becoming a priest... I hope to learn a lot from him in my life." For Lucas, "I liked the house we stayed in and I hope to live there some day. It had very beautiful views. Oh and the lasagna and gelato!" Liam shared he "...was surprised by the long days. 9pm looked like 3pm! [I] found this so interesting! And the heat, phew! Thank God we had gelatos and iced tea to our rescue! I am very grateful to God for the gift of priesthood in our family."
The tallest in the family is John – Fr. Peter’s youngest brother. The second-tallest is dad. We asked him how he and the mother got about passing on their faith to their six children. He shared, “Generally, we [the parents] used to live our Christian Faith, trying to pray daily on our own. So probably they were seeing us doing that… But generally, when they were small, we would teach them some basic prayers especially the morning offering, grace before and after meals and the night offering. And also the Rosary – which was voluntary. My wife and I would pray the Rosary, and whoever liked [to] would join. And slowly by slowly they got interested… and each person would have his or her part [to lead]… one of the five decades... where they could now recite the Hail Mary’s. And it was not a must to finish the ten Hail Mary’s. When one lost concentration, we would take over. The other thing – and I think this is the main one – is we made sure we never missed Mass on Sunday. And we would go with them …come rain or shine. Since we didn’t have a car, I would walk with them 2 - 3km every Sunday to attend the 8am Mass. …We never actually taught Catechism at home. There was no time. …What we used to do is … when a child asks a question on the Faith, we’d take advantage and explain as much as you can since at that point the [child] is interested. …We didn’t know that’s how we were passing on the Faith to them, but now looking back, we can see these things must have helped.”
Tess - a second sister to the new priest - shared that for her, what kept returning to her mind were the words from the ordination ceremony: “'Qui cœpit in te opus bonum, Deus, ipse perfíciat' whose translation is “May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment.” They reminded her “…that priesthood is a calling God began long ago in my brother’s life. Now, through his ordination, that calling is being entrusted fully to God’s grace and purpose. It speaks about faithfulness, growth, and a life dedicated to serving others.”
Marie - a third sister - admits that “the responsorial psalm, 'You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek, ' has always sounded so distant and sacred in a way that felt beyond ordinary life. Now, realizing that [my brother] is "joining into" that line makes those words feel much closer to home which is hard to process.” And these words just added to the entire extraordinary experience of “…being in a place so often mentioned in the Bible…” She felt that it “…is an experience I'm yet to wrap my head around - it's surreal!”
We asked mum whether it was ever one of her silent, whispered prayers that one of her sons would receive the vocation to the priesthood. She shared a small innocuous memory from Fr. Peter’s life that in hindsight shows how God’s providence may have worked things. “Yes I was praying, but not because of myself [or anything I wanted]... When he was little, Peter told me that he would like to be buried in priests’ vestments. I wondered if he knew what he was talking about. But I always felt urged to pray for him And so every day at Mass and in the Rosary I prayed for him for that intention for many years. And so, on the ordination day when I saw him take those vows, [prostrate himself] and all that happened, I connected why I felt so urged to pray for him to become a priest. I thank God for answering his prayer… and I ask God to keep him faithful…”
Fr. Peter's two brothers both commented that seeing their now priest-brother celebrate an actual Mass took them back to the days they were kids back at home, and would "play Mass". John - the youngest brother - confided "[One would drape themselves in] a bedsheet, and then [we would make hosts from bread we ate at breakfast]." Jimmy added "[Fr. Peter] would raise one of [the pieces of bread] while the rest of us knelt in the sitting room." And for the two of them, this time Fr. Peter was play-acting; this time it was real! "...now it is kind of the same feeling, but this is actually it! Very surreal! Almost unbelievable! I dunno… I’ve been holding back many tears in the last couple of days…" added John. Jimmy in his turn, trying to soak all of it in commented "Who could have known that years later, [Fr. Peter] would actually become a priest — and truly raise the Eucharist, the Body of Christ!? And once again, right in front of the family! And now he will now continue to do so in front of many, many families and individuals, sanctifying, governing and teaching! May Our Lady keep [him] in her mantle as [he] walks this new path of service to God."
John had more to share. Everything about his brother becoming a priest has surprised him – very surreal! "I remember during his first Mass [on Pentecost Sunday – the day after ordination] the thought in my head (looking at myself and him) was ‘Wow!’ We shared a room, we [ate] the same food… In fact, there was a time I had refused to do the dishes and he made me wash them outside (since we didn’t have a sink inside the house). And he made me wash those dishes at night, outdoors with a torch light, as I was crying. And he insisted I had to finish washing the dishes. And now we’ve grown up more or less together… and man! …How can two people from the same household be so different!? I mean, that was the whole essence of the homily he [Fr. Peter] gave where he was explaining that for Pentecost, everyone was hearing in their own language, but the only language that matters is the language of love. And in the world, in our families, we have very different people with different languages… Everyone understands things differently, everyone sees things differently and so on and so forth, but at the end of the day, the only language we speak is that of love. My thoughts? How can two people brought up by the same people in the same house be [so] different? I dunno… That’s part of the mystery, I guess. But all in all, very happy! Rome is a beautiful place! Got to come to Rome, attend an ordination, celebrate Pentecost, visit the Vatican… it’s been beautiful!