HERE YOU GO: (From left) Fr Connors and Fr Vergeer serving communion.
NICE TO MEET YOU: (From left) Fr Vergeer and Fr Connors greeting guests during the dinner.
JUST FOR YOU: Fr Vergeer feeding Fr Connor a piece of cake.
CHEERS: Guests responding to a toast.
SIBU: About 2,000 people turned up for the Golden Ordination Jubilee of Reverend Father Thomas Connors and 55th Ordination Jubilee cum 80th birthday celebration of Reverend Father Ferdinand Vergeer at Kingwood Hotel on Wednesday.
Catholic Bishop of Sibu, Rt Rev Joseph Hii, Bishop Emeritus Rt Rev Dominic Su, priests and Temenggong Sir Adrian Ringgau were among those present.
In his speech, Father Connors said he used to dream to fly away to an all-time-summer land like Sarawak.
“Sarawak is a very lovely land, and life here couldn’t be any better by any stretch of imagination,” he said.
“I am forever grateful to God for my vocation. God has placed me among the friendliest people in the planet.
“If I were to start all over again, I would not choose a different vocation because there is no more wonderful calling than this,” he said. He also urged parents to pray for their sons to enter the priesthood.
For Father Vergeer, life had never been boring since he was called to serve in Serian in 1959.
“It had been quite exciting. There were happy times, oh yes, some sad times too, but it had never been boring,” he said.
Travelling by longboat to the longhouses to spread the Gospel and to help the people had been a challenging yet rewarding experience, he related.
The 80-year-old priest said he hoped to stay for another year or two before calling it a day.
Calling on young people to consider the priesthood, he said, “We need more people who are not afraid to do tough jobs.”
Sir Adrian, who also spoke on stage, described the two priests as very dedicated and diligent servants of God.
Prior to the dinner, a thanksgiving mass was conducted by Hii at the Sacred Heart Cathedral.
In his homily, he told the devotees to count themselves blessed that they had Father Vergeer and Father Connors who have come from afar to share their faith in God with them.