Joys of the priesthood: Part III
Profound spiritual experience sent him on the path to priesthood
By Eileen Jevis
Staff writer
Fr. Moses Mailafia Arung, OP, arrived in the United States six months ago to serve the Diocese of Syracuse. He recently celebrated his 20th anniversary as a member of the Order of Preachers (Dominican Order). The Dominican Province of St Joseph the Worker covers Nigeria and Ghana as its initial territory. Recently, it has expanded to Zambia as a mission territory. Fr. Arung worked in Nigeria as a school administrator and parochial vicar and was later appointed as the provincial director of schools to supervise all the schools in the Province, both in Nigeria and Ghana, before being appointed as administrator of Dominican College. Fr. Moses was then reassigned to Lagos Archdiocese in southwestern Nigeria before traveling to the U.S. to join the Syracuse Diocese. He now serves as parochial vicar in the diocese’s Southern Tier.
Fr. Moses said he began his discernment to the priesthood in 11th grade. It was not a gradual call, but a sudden call and an experience that he wasn’t ready for, he said. “It came and took a better part of me.”
We asked Fr. Moses about his time in the U.S., his work in Nigeria and Ghana, and the peace and joy he experiences in service to God and his congregation.
Q. Did a specific person or persons influence your decision to become a priest?
A. My call to the priesthood was radically influenced by Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament during the Eucharistic Consecration at Mass and before the Crucifix on the altar. A profound spiritual experience left an indelible and unforgettable mark on my heart. The experience changed my previous ambition of wanting to be a medical doctor. While I was concerned with healing human bodies from physical ailments, little did I know that God was preparing me for a greater work — the spiritual healing of the human soul from a greater malady than bodily malady, namely, sin. This experience changed the entirety of my ambition as a young man.
Q. What are the most joyful and fulfilling moments, as well as the challenges you face in your priestly life?
A. The biggest joy of my priestly life is serving the people sacrificially and with total dedication. My joy is to do the work of the One who called me. I find fulfillment when this work is done with total commitment. On the other hand, one of the biggest challenges that I have encountered in my priestly life includes being misunderstood by the people I tried to serve without reservation. This happens when I insist on good work ethics in order to develop the system rather than being lackadaisical.
I find great fulfillment in my vocation when I strive to be faithful to my priestly vocation and Dominican charism, namely, preaching for the salvation of souls. The conversion of souls to the faith through good homilies and practical examples gives me great joy and fulfillment. In doing this, I fear no trouble or persecution, because whatever happens afterward is considered providential and the Will of God.
At the beginning, my priestly and religious vocation seemed like a burden or a heavy cross to bear, but having submitted my will to Divine Providence, I have come to enjoy unspeakable peace and joy. Persistent struggles to do it on my own make life too mechanical, but relying on the Divine Will of God as I live one day at a time without worries, gives me great peace and fulfillment.
Q. What do you envision in your priestly life and the future of the Church?
A. In my priestly life as the years go by, I envision working in the Diocese of Syracuse, a vibrant and lively Church with a burning passion to kindle the fire of faith in the hearts of God’s people and to renew and expand their desire to love God and neighbor by returning to the Church again. I envision the possibility of retaining and opening more churches rather than closing them. The changes in the Church that I look forward to seeing include: an intentional disposition to re-evangelize the people and our society, and a conscientious attitude towards seeking reasons why we should engage in building more churches and schools.
Q. As practicing Catholics, what is our responsibility for evangelization, to welcome those who have stopped going to Church? How can we inspire, motivate, encourage others to come back?
A. Given our society today, we need to conscientiously promote the work of evangelization by first deepening our knowledge of God and the Church’s teaching through proper Catechesis and the history of the Church. This will help us to give something substantial to those we encounter, since no one can give what he or she does not have. Again, a very important aspect of this evangelization of our society is a practical and gentle approach to life as Jesus Christ would do, by condemning the sin but loving the sinner. Compromising our position as faithful Catholics will present an erroneous perspective of the preaching mission of Christ.
Another important aspect of evangelization includes practical care for the sick and home-bound. It is a great privilege to visit people for the Anointing of the Sick. I pray never to lose the privilege of having a priest come to me and administer the sacrament of anointing before I die. For me, dying with that sacrament today is better than living for another 50 years without the sacrament.
Finally, my message to your readers on the fulfillment of a religious vocation constitutes the assurance of being saved by the merciful God at each moment we rise from our failings and ask for His mercy. This inspires us to safeguard the faith of our Fathers. This faith of our fathers, which was preserved through the blood of the martyrs over the centuries, must never DIE with me. I must hand it over to be preserved for future generations.
