Joseph Odongo followed example of a holy priest

Five men will be ordained to the transtional diaconate May 22 at St. Louis Cathedral by Archbishop Gregory Aymond. Joseph Odongo will be ordained for the Archdiocese of Tororo in Uganda.
Joseph Odongo

Age: 29 

Home parish: St. Wilbrod in the Archdiocese of Tororo (Uganda)

Diaconate internship or returns home?

By Christine Bordelon

Clarion Herald

Joseph Odongo, who will be ordained a transitional deacon on May 22, said he was enamored by the priesthood from stories his maternal grandmother told him about how priests help people go to heaven, speak directly to God and were holy people who help others in many ways. 

“I was like, ‘Wow, I think I want to help people and help people go to heaven,” Odongo said. “My grandmother introduced us to prayer when we were kids.  … We knew how to recite our prayers and follow Mass when we were young. This helped me. I saw joy in this. What pushed me to the priesthood was to serve the people of God and to pray for the people.”

The seed was firmly planted for his priestly vocation in sixth grade when, as an altar server, he witnessed the reverent way his parish parochial vicar baptized children at a mission church. The priest noticed his intent stare and asked Odongo about his interest in the seminary. (In Uganda, high school seminary starts in seventh grade.) 

“He would often come by to check on me,” Odongo said about that priest who, a year later, brought him to the St. Pius X Seminary in Nagongera for an interview. 

“I passed the interview, and that’s how everything began,” Odongo said.

Odongo finished his two high school years at Mbale Comprehensive High School before attending the seminary from 2008-11 and getting pastoral exposure serving at St. Stephen Church at Good Shepherd Parish?.

Since studying in the Archdiocese of New Orleans on scholarship, Odongo has noticed smaller-sized parishes in comparison to Uganda, where parishes are spread far apart and one priest could serve from 20 to 40 mission churches.

Odongo also recalled the kind treatment of his St. Wilbrod pastor, who invited him to the rectory for tea after seeing him waiting by the outside gate in the rain to serve Mass. He had snuck out of his home because his mother urged him to attend a closer mission church that Sunday due to the weather and the fact that the main church was a two-hour walk.

“I served at Mass, and he carried me home on his motorbike after,” Odongo said. “He was a pious priest. The way he would celebrate Mass and conduct himself really moved me.”

As a transitional deacon, Odongo said he will soak up as much as he can. He is looking forward to “meeting the people of God, learning the culture and praying with them, and I’m looking forward to the many ministries that will be available for me to do to gain the experience of how pastoral ministry is carried out here, which will help me carry out my ministry in Uganda. 

“(When I go back home), it will be a great joy helping people receive the Eucharist on a regular basis instead of every two to three months.”

  He will be vested at his ordination by Deacon Clement Majansi, a high school seminary classmate from Tororo.