Saturday, May 30, 1998

New vicar adjusting to different culture

By LORETTA FULTON / Abilene Reporter-News

About the only thing the new parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Catholic Church is finding familiar in his new surroundings is the weather.

Other than that, Abilene, Texas, is about as different from Nigeria as one could imagine. From the dress to the customs to the food, it's all new to the Rev. Obioma Desmond Obi, who has been assigned to the Abilene parish in the San Angelo Diocese.

"Barbecue is not a part of our culture," Obi said. "The food is quite different from what I have back home."

But that's not a complaint. The good-humored native of Umunumo in Imo State, Nigeria, is extremely happy to be in his new environs.

A 1997 graduate of Kings College at the University of London, Obi traveled to California on school holidays and grew fond of the United States. While visiting, he applied to the San Angelo Diocese, although it was totally unfamiliar to him.

"I didn't know about this place at all," he said. "Lucky for me my bishop approved it."

His new bishop, the Most Rev. Michael D. Pfeifer, also feels lucky. His newest priest brings spiritual gifts and experiences that only a person from a Third World country could have.

"They have a strong message about the gospel and how to live it," Pfeifer said.

The bishop himself spent 16 years as a missionary in Mexico and was sent to Zambia to open a new branch of the community he was a member of.

"That really enlightened me," Pfeifer said. "I think priests from other parts of the world do enrich our lives."

The free-flowing style of worship Pfeifer experienced in Zambia was most impressive to him, and it is something Obi hopes to incorporate into the traditional services at Sacred Heart and at the Catholic church in Clyde that he will also serve.

"Our liturgy is punctuated with music, dancing, and jubilation," Obi said.

Already, Obi has introduced a favorite song that he incorporates into every Mass he celebrates. "Do Something New In My Life, Oh Lord" is already familiar at both churches.

"Gradually, I'll put it in my language, and they'll pick it up," he said.

More music may also be incorporated into Obi's services. In his home country, singing hymns while preaching is customary. The logic is simple.

"You put it into music, and they go home with it," he said.

One custom Obi is not likely to try here is changing the length of the service to fit what he's used to. Back home, services normally lasted two to three hours. If the service lasted only one hour, no one would come, he said.

The services in Nigeria are filled with music and dancing, and the time passes quickly. People expect to get into the spirit of things, and they want that experience to last.

"They come to be lively," Obi said. "Here everyone is so time conscious."

Even though Obi is pleased with his new home, he misses his large family back home. He comes from a family of three girls and five boys. His father, two sisters, and one brother are deceased.

His only surviving sister is the mother of eight children and an older brother has seven children.

Obi received his primary education in his hometown of Umunumo and his secondary education in the Immaculate Conception Seminary Umuahia, Abia State. He later was accepted into seminary, completed his studies and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1984 in Nigeria. He earned his doctorate in religious studies from Kings College last year.

Obi frequently thinks of his large family back home, but he does not question where the Holy Spirit calls him.

"Since I preach the gospel which I am called to, I have to let go," he said.