During the next few months of my spiritual awakening after giving my
life to Jesus Christ that night, I became more intent on nurturing my
understanding of the Lord’s Catholic Church, and my relationship with
Him—but this time was different! I learned more on my knees praying than
by sitting down reading. It was like downloading an MP3, but with
high speed connection! All I remember doing was allowing Jesus to upload
His Holy Spirit in me, so that I would know the love of God the Father
in heaven. I wanted more and more. As St. Augustine said, 'Oh! How late I
have loved thee.'
One day during the Christmas winter holidays, I got up unusually early from bed for some reason, with a great
urge to attend a weekly Mass for the first time.
It was a
Tuesday morning. Not wanting to be late, I ran quickly to my parish (St.
Joseph's in Port Moody) which was only a few blocks from where I lived.
When I arrived there at 7am, however, the door was still locked.
I
was confused, and so I decided to wait on the front porch of the
church. While outside, I paced back and forth, asking God where it was
that He was driving me now. After a few minutes, the door slowly opened
and out came a lady who explained she could see my silhouette through
the opaque windows, while she cleaned the pews. I greeted her and
proceeded inside, but she said that the Mass was not until 7:30. I
thought I could wait for thirty minutes, however she clarified to me
that she meant 7:30 p.m. not a.m.!
I was dumbfounded. She smiled
and said that I should see and talk to Fr. Augustine Obiwumma, our
pastor. I hesitated to follow her suggestion, thinking that it was still
too early for the poor priest to be disturbed by my foolishness.
But
a few moments later, I found myself in front of the rectory door,
ringing the bell. To my surprise, Fr. Augustine was already wide awake,
with a big smile on his face as if he had been waiting for me. Wasting
no time, I started sharing how wonderfully God was working in my life
for the next several minutes, non-stop. Father Augustine patiently
listened. When I finally decided to pause in order to catch my breath,
Fr. Augustine innocently interjected and asked, "Have you ever thought
of entering the seminary, and study for the priesthood?"
Silence suddenly swept the scene. Just like a solid statue, I was stunned and felt that the whole world stood still, equally surprised and shocked outright by the question.
Strange as it may seem, from that moment on, a deep sense of peace conquered my restless heart in a way I had never felt before. This was immediately followed by a rush of random thoughts, as if I was quickly putting together all the pieces of my short life into their proper perspective, resulting in a glimpse of a portrait as a priest ... To say the least, I only smiled at the question. I choked and no words could come out my mouth.
I walked away from that encounter floating away, light as a feather in peaceful freedom.
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