By Evelyn Jock
July 22 2022
ON 6 July 2022, parishioners of St Mary’s Cathedral organised a potluck thanksgiving fellowship to bid farewell to Fr Stephen Esguerra, assistant priest, who would be leaving for his new assignment at St Martin’s Church, Telupid.
Fr Stephen has served in the Cathedral parish since his priestly ordination on 28 October 2019.
The fellowship also formally welcomed Fr Thomas Makajil and Fr Raymond Lee Seng Huat to St Mary’s Cathedral as assistant priests.
Fr Thomas has formerly served St Mary’s Cathedral, while Fr Raymond was ordained a priest for the Sandakan Diocese on 16 May 2022.
The 2-in-1 potluck fellowship was a first for St Mary’s Cathedral after more than two years of non-celebration and non-gathering of big crowd because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
As the fellowship was celebrated during a school weekday, the crowd was not expected to be big. However, it was indeed a blessing to see the 350-400 crowd gathering by 7:30 pm in the evening. BEC families, communities and various church groups came with potluck to celebrate this event.
It was an event that witnessed the joy of walking together as a Synodal family. Parishioners of various ethnic groups in the churches in St Mary’s Cathedral, Sandakan, St Mark’s Church and St Peter’s Chapel, Sg. Manila, came together and celebrated as a big family of God.
In his farewell speech, Fr Stephen thanked the parishioners for their friendship, support, love, and prayers during his priesthood ministry in Sandakan.
He shared that he has learnt a lot, and has experienced many wonderful moments with all. He appreciated the generosity of the parishioners in serving one another with Christ’s love. He trusts that everyone will be faithful in their respective callings and will continue to journey together as a Synodal church to build the kingdom of God.
The parish thanked Fr Stephen for serving in the Cathedral parish for the last two years nine months, and wished him well as he begins his ministry at St Martin’s Church, Telupid effective July 2022.
Fr Stephen has touched many lives through his outreach, personal interactions and enriching the spiritual lives of some of the parishioners, the elderly and the youth.
Assuring him of their prayer for him, they prayed that he would be a priest after the heart of Jesus, wherever he is called to serve.
The parishioners also expressed their warm welcome to Fr Thomas and Fr Raymond, asking God to give them strength and guidance in their ministry at the Cathedral parish.
