FR. BOB AT 50

Sonnie Ekwowusi pays tribute to Robert Yoest, a Catholic committed to his priestly duties

In two and half weeks Nigeria will be marking her 58th independence anniversary. This undoubtedly affords us the opportunity of pausing and reminiscing on our nationhood. It is also a time to remember the great contributions of our heroes past and present. And I think it is also apposite on the occasion of our independence anniversary to applaud the pioneering work of the Christian missionaries and clerics who voluntarily left the comfort of their respective countries either before or after our independence to come to Nigeria to render countless selfless humanitarianism services to the poor, hungry, sick, abandoned, captives, socially-uprooted and elderly. Although many of these missionaries and clerics have either died or left Nigeria, some are still living in our midst today.

The great work of these missionaries and clerics still shines forth in the various parts of the country. Their work is still the superstructures upon which abiding values and human flourishing are anchored. For example, who will not remember the sacrifices and uncommon dedication of Rev. Father Denis J. Slattery who came to Yoruba land in 1939? Apart from being the founder of all-conquering football school St. Finbarr’s College, Akoka, Lagos, Father Slattery was the doyen of Nigerian sports. He was the first chairman of the Nigerian Football Association, (NFA). He was an efficient Nigerian referee. He was a renowned educationist. Who will fail to remember Rev. Townsend who started the first newspaper in Nigeria called Iwe Irohin in Yoruba language in 1859? Who will not remember Bishop Patrick Joseph Kelly, the first Catholic Bishop of Benin City who established some frontline secondary schools in Nigeria including the prestigious and most excellent Immaculate Conception College, (I.C.C) Benin City? Who will fail to remember Bishop Joseph Shanahan, the courageous Irish man who traversed Nigerian villages on foot, by bicycle and by canoe educating the natives and establishing a network of schools which later formed the foundation of secondary school education in Nigeria?

I think it is proper and fitting as well to remember one clergyman who has touched the lives of many Nigerians. His name is Rev. Fr. Dr. Robert L.Yoest (fondly called Fr. Bob). Fr. Bob is an American. He is a Catholic priest. He is a priest of Opus Dei (Work of God), a personal Prelature of the Catholic Church founded by St. Josemaria Escriva on October 2, 1928. Fr. Bob came to Nigeria in July 1975. Recently Fr. Bob turned 50 as a Catholic priest. Although he is now 83 years old he places a high premium on the 50 years which he had spent as a priest in the service of God and his fellow men and women. Why? Because he is madly in love with his priestly vocation. Amid the multitude of Nigerians immersed in their own ignorance and anxiously questioning the purpose of life and the meaning of human existence, Fr. Bob had spent the last 43 years traversing Enugu, Ibadan, Lagos and Iroto village (a remote village in Ogun State) proclaiming to all the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Fr. Bob’s tireless commitment to his priestly duty demonstrates the self-giving and fidelity of uncountable number of Catholic priests across the world. From the perspective of apostolic zeal, Jesus Christ’s doctrine on priestly celibacy “for the sake of the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:12) finds a direct echo in St. Paul’s teaching that “the unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:32). This concern of St. Paul to serve God with unwavering heart finds similar expression in the life and the priestly ministry of Fr. Bob and many Catholic priests in different parts of the world. A priest (sacerdos in Latin) means ‘a giver of things’. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, a priest is a mediator between God and the people inasmuch as he bestows divine things on the people. Speaking to a huge gathering of priests in Philadelphia on October 4, 1979, St. John Paul 11 said, “A man becomes a priest of the New Testament through special calling from God...it should not surprise the world that God’s calling through the Church should continue offering us a celibate ministry of love and service according to our Lord Jesus Christ’s example. This calling from God touches the very depths of our being. And after centuries of experience the Church knows how appropriate it is that priests should respond in this specific way in their lives, to demonstrate the totality of the Yes they have said to our Lord”

But priesthood has to be understood and considered in the light of the fact that God himself became a priest in his Sacred Humanity. Jesus Christ is perfect man and perfect God. Thus Jesus shared the joys and sorrows of the people around him. Jesus never stayed aloof from the people and events around Him. For example, Jesus catered for both the spiritual and material needs of the people who flocked around Him. He condemned injustices. He fed the hungry. Seeing the widow of Naim who had lost her only son, He felt sorry for her and consequently restored her son to life. Jesus wept for Lazarus his friend who had fallen ill and died. Similarly, as priests whose priesthood is modelled after the order of Melchizedek and Jesus Christ the High Priest, the Catholic priests try to reproduce the life of Jesus Christ in their respective priestly ministries. For example, Fr. Bob always wears his white cassock ready to offer priestly services to anyone who needs them. Apart from celebrating daily Masses, Fr Bob is mainly preoccupied hearing Confessions, administering the Sacraments and giving spiritual directions to those in need of them or has requested for them.

APART FROM CELEBRATING DAILY MASSES, FR. BOB IS PREOCCUPIED HEARING CONFESSIONS, ADMINISTERING THE SACRAMENTS AND GIVING SPIRITUAL DIRECTIONS TO THOSE IN NEED OF THEM OR HAS REQUESTED FOR THEM