Ugandan seminarian grateful for local training

by Peter Finney Jr.

Daniel Micah

Age: 28
Hometown: Sipi-Kapchorwa, Uganda, Archdiocese of Tororo
Parish internship: St. Dominic, New Orleans

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

Daniel Micah was just 12 years old when he entered the minor seminary of the Archdiocese of Tororo in Uganda, and he admits that when he began his studies, he was not certain he had a vocation to the priesthood.

Now, 16 years later, Micah will be ordained on Dec. 14 as a transitional deacon – the final step before ordination to the priesthood – by New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond at St. Louis Cathedral.

Next July, Micah is scheduled to be ordained to the priesthood in Tororo for service in his home diocese.

“It’s been a long journey,” said Micah, who came to Notre Dame Seminary for his theological studies in 2021, one year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The journey to ordination was extended a bit longer because the Vatican recently implemented a new “Program of Priestly Formation,” which essentially changed the timetable for diaconate ordination.

Instead of being ordained as a deacon about a year before ordination to the priesthood, Micah and his fellow classmates had to complete their theological studies first, essentially delaying diaconate ordination by six months.

Will serve at St. Dominic

After Micah is ordained as a transitional deacon, he will spend approximately six months serving in ministry at St. Dominic Parish in New Orleans.

“It’s been great because it’s helped me think even more about my vocation and how to be flexible on the journey,” Micah said. “I’ve been very much blessed with the opportunity to come here. I was very much grateful for the Archdiocese of New Orleans and Notre Dame Seminary for this opportunity to travel and learn a new culture. I take it as a blessing. I’ve met a lot of good people here, people who have been like family to me.”

Flexibility has been the watchword for Micah over the last four years. When his archbishop decided to send him to Notre Dame Seminary in 2021 to complete his theological studies, the pandemic delayed his travel plans, and then southeast Louisiana was hit by Hurricane Ida.

For several weeks, Micah took his classes online.

“When I first got here, the guys had gone away because of the hurricane, and I was the only one in class, and they were the ones online,” Micah said.

Micah is the sixth of seven children of Chebet Ben Charlie, a small business owner in Sipi-Kapchorwa, Uganda, and Yeko Chebet Josephine. He has not seen his family since he left his country three years ago.

“I’m hoping they will be able to watch the livestream (of the ordination),” Micah said. “It will be around 6 p.m. for them.”

Micah said three things led him to think about a vocation to the priesthood: prayer, the example of priests and his encounters with vulnerable people. He had thought growing up that he would study to be an attorney who would assist the poor. He was buoyed by reading the achievements of social activists such as lawyer Henry Sylvester Williams, Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela and Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere.

“However, God seemed to have an even greater call for me,” Micah said. “On several occasions – at least three – I made attempts to leave for law school, but for some reason, it seemed impossible. I felt like I was picking a fight with God because he kept directing me back to the seminary.”

Father’s spiritual example

Micah recalls his father waking up in the middle of the night to pray on his knees.

“It was after I joined seminary that I understood God was using him not just as a father but also as a spiritual guide for us,” Micah said. “I realized that his prayers were sustaining us through tough times, and so I began doing the same every night and sometimes during the day.”

The family also hosted priests and religious regularly for dinner, and when Micah’s mother became ill for two years, the priests even cooked and cared for her while his father was at work.

“I thought I could become a priest and do the same for others,” Micah said.

His parents were not married at the time, but as his mother’s condition worsened, several priests broached the idea of the sacrament of matrimony. His parents were married quietly – with only five people in attendance.

“Such small attendance in a wedding ceremony is unheard of in a typical African community,” Micah said. “The good news about this is that after the sacrament of holy matrimony, my mother miraculously began to recover and still lives to this day. Since then, my parents have been very inspirational to many couples in our parish. My mother returned to school after her recovery and now serves as a nurse.”

Micah said when he encountered street children, he would use the pocket money he had saved to buy them food.

At Notre Dame, Micah said he has been touched by the spiritual direction he has received not only from his classmates but also from Maryknoll Father David Kelly and Father Jeffrey Montz.

He also has been befriended by several local families.

Micah said he is looking forward to breaking open the Scriptures and preaching at Mass.

“I feel that Notre Dame Seminary has prepared me for that,” he said. “I look forward to the ministry of preaching.”

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