By Nchumbonga George Lekelefac, Doctorate Candidate, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany
All roads led to St Matthew, The Evangelist Catholic Church at 9915 Hollister St, Houston, TX 77040 last Saturday, January 15, 2022 to join Reverend Father Martial Flodort Oyato celebrate the 10th anniversary of his priestly ordination to the catholic priesthood. The I-45 S highway from Dallas, Texas to Houston, Texas was jam packed with all car models which made their way to the aforementioned address. The traffic was indescribable. Even the traffic on the air was noticed as countless planes tore the skies to Houston from different parts of the United States to join Reverend Father Martial Oya for the celebration.
As I made my way into the parish that Saturday, January 15, 2022 at about 16:30, I was utterly flabbergasted with awe at the countless number of cars that I saw packed all around the Church. The parking was full to saturation. Reflecting on my countless visits to Fr. Martial Oya, this was the very first time I was seeing a countless or extremely great number of cars in that parish packing. Better articulated, there was a network connecting a myriad of cars that could not even find a packing space to park their cars. However, many did park on the beautiful Laune behind the church. The Mass began at 17:00 in the church which was jam packed and packed full of different people ranging from Cameroonians who could be differentiated by their beautifully colored Cameroon West Province cultural blue-attire and other Cameroonian cultural attires like the famous North West colorful attire which I wore. A church full of African Catholics, not only from Cameroon, but also countless Americans, Mexicans, Latin Americans and other nationalities. One could spontaneously say that Father Martial is a man who attracts the crowd not to himself, but to Jesus. How could we explain the uncountable number of people who were present? Someone said that the greatest achievement of a priest is not by the amount of money he has in his account but the number of people he attracts to himself for Jesus. With regards to the liturgy, the joyous liturgy featured components of African type like such as a procession to present the lectionary, as well as jubilant singing and ululation, an expression of joy, celebration.
The immense astonishment: The presence of the Bishop Jerome Feudjio as Main Celebrant
The entire congregation stood up for the entrance song and all eyes were fixed on the altar serves and priests who processed solemnly into the church. Behold, almost everyone was thrilled to see the presence of a successor of the apostles “Ecce Episcopus (Behold the Bishop)” as main celebrant in the persona of Bishop Jerome Feudjio, first Cameroonian-born bishop in the USA. His presence made the ceremony exceptional. He was vested in full regalia of a bishop: Mitre and crozier. Bishop Feudjio too had boarded the plane from the Virgin Islands to Houston, not only to join his brother Cameroonian in the person of Fr. Martial Oya from Tonga at the celebration, but to honor him in a very special way. It is to be noted that few weeks ago, Bishop Feudjio just returned from Cameroon after celebrating five thanksgiving masses in Dschang, Fonakeukeu, Yaoundé, Douala and Mbanga. Despite his tight schedule and the tiredness from the trip to Cameroon, Bishop Feudjio resisted the temptation of being absent by making his way to Houston to keep to his words:
Bishop Feudjio’s special mission as Bishops to all Africans in the USA
Bishop Feudjio is a very distinctive bishop because he is not only the diocesan bishop of St Thomas Diocese in the Virgin Islands, but above all, he is the bishop of all Africans in general and Cameroonians in particular in the United States of America. In fact, he is the very first African native Bishop in the USA. This makes his episcopal mission unique and extremely challenging. During his first thanksgiving mass at Saint Camillus Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, on September 5, 2021, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, Bishop Feudjio announced that he was appointed as the Representative of all African Catholics in the USA and promised to be the spokesman and bishop of Africans in the USA. This news was accompanied by a ferocious energy which was expressed with ululations and a thunderous round of applause. About four months later, on January 14, 2022, it was my utmost joy to see Bishop Feudjio at the celebration of the 10th anniversary of an African Priest from Cameroon, which confirmed to me the fact that is keeping to his words and promise by fulfilling his mission as the Bishop for Africans in the USA by joining to celebrate the 10th priestly anniversary mass of one of his brother priests from Cameroon: Fr. Martial Oya despite his extremely busy schedule. His presence at the celebration was extraordinary. In fact, Fr Martial noted: “I want to thank all of you for joining me in this celebration: To Bishop Jerome Feudjio the Bishop of St Thomas US Virgin Islands for honoring me with your presence at this celebration.” There was a thunderous round of applause and ululations from the assembly that almost blocked my ear drums.
The Homily by Fr Norbert Maduzia
Father Norbert Maduzia, who schooled and groomed Fr Martial during his diaconate years in 2011 at St Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church at 7810 Cypresswood Dr, Spring, Texas delivered an utterly powerful and outstandingly touching homily in which he summarized above other things an interesting characteristic of Fr Martial: a man of joy who radiates it with a smile to everyone around him, a man of the people.
Fr Martial Oya’s message of thanks after mass
Before the final blessing, Fr Martial Oya thanked all those who had come to join him to celebrate his 10th priestly anniversary. He began his thanksgiving message by citing in French: I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single grain; but if it dies it produces a great harvest. (John 12:24). He noted that it has been 3653 days of priesthood, exactly 10 years. He said that God has always reassured him not to be afraid for his grace is sufficient for him. God takes ordinary and does extraordinary things. He reiterated that God is love, and that God loves him and that God expects us to love one another as he has loved us. He noted that he was celebrating the joy to be a priest. He then switched to Spanish to the admiration of many who heard him speak in fluent Spanish. Bishop Jerome Feudjio further thanked Cardinal Di Nardo for having accepted and ordained one of his spiritual sons in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. He also thanked Fr Norbert for having schooled Fr Martial during his diaconate years at St Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church at 7810 Cypresswood Dr, Spring, Texas.
The reception after mass at the parish auditorium
After mass, the celebration continued at the parish auditorium with a reception. The auditorium was packed full. The occasion continued with a lot of dancing with an opening of the floor which was done by Fr Martial Oya accompanied by countless people. Someone whispered to me in Pidgin English when he saw Fr: Martial dancing so well: “Fada them too fit dance?” I responded immediately with a question using the Socratic method: “Yes noh, fada them no bi human being them too?” In fact, Bishop Feudjio could also be spotted dancing following the rhythm of the African music. Fr Maurice Akwa was no exception. He joined in the dancing with his immaculate cassock and black slash which distinguished his dressing among other priests. Later, everyone was invited to the table to share the absolutely scrumptious African dishes which had been prepared. While people were eating, there was a session in which countless testimonies of the exceptional life that Fr Martial Oyawere shared by his close collaborators. These testimonies were articulated in various languages: French, English and Spanish to the admiration of the Master of Ceremonies who said that the occasion has tremendously challenged him to learn Spanish. It was a multilingual celebration. There was the cutting of the 10th priestly anniversary cake which was directed by Fr Maurice Akwa, who described Father Martial in fluent English hand French as the man of the people and the man who can pull the crowd with his presencia (presence). He noted that he thought he knew many people but can now clearly say that Fr Martial knows many more. Interestingly, Fr Maurice Akwa will be celebrating his 25th priestly anniversary on November 15, 2022. He is the second elderly Cameroonian priest resident in the United States. The first is Father Michael Niba of the Archdiocese of Bamenda.
Conclusion
In my congratulatory message for Fr. Martial Oya, I noted that Fr. Martial Oya is an ideal replica and epitome of the type of priest that Pope Francis wants for the church of today. Fr Martial Oya has witnessed to the Gospel in a joyful and credible way for the past 10 years as a priest. The life and priestly ministry of Fr. Martial Oya for the past ten years encapsulates what Pope Francis has been urging priests to emulate as aforementioned. Fr. Martial’s priestly slogan: “My grace is Sufficient for you…” (2 Cor. 12:9) in which God was reminding Paul that the strength behind Paul’s ministry was not Paul’s experiences or abilities, nor was it the absence of difficulty. Paul could then boast in God’s strength, recognizing that, even when we are weak, God is strong. He provides the strength for us to withstand whatever challenges are before us. This is what has kept Fr Martial Oya an energetic, ebullient, joyful, happy, dynamic and erudite priest for the past 10 years. Furthermore, Fr Martial Oya is a pastor with the smell of sheep, as insisted by Pope Francis. He is with the people, mingling with them, cleaning, etc. For them, Fr Martial is a pastor, with them; Fr Martial Oya is a Christian. His simplicity is admirable. He has been known as the priest of “quinceaños or quince años or simply quince,” which is the celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday, marking her passage from girlhood to womanhood in Latin America. He has celebrated countless quinceaños. His Spanish, English and French skills has made him to communicates so people of different nationalities. He is an erudite polyglot. In addition, he is a gifted speaker who does not need a microphone because his voice is tremendous. He holds the assembly spellbound whenever he preaches because he believes what he reads, he teaches what he believes, and practices what he teaches. He has made Cameroon very proud with his presence and mission in the USA and we can clearly see why Bishop Feudjio honored him with his presence.
The CEO of the SUN Newspaper, Mr Norbert Wasso and my humble person congratulates Fr Martial on his 10th priestly anniversary celebration for being a great missionary ambassador from Tonga, Cameroon to the USA and also congratulate Bishop Feudjio for keeping to his words and promises to be the bishop and representative of all Africans in the USA.