Rev. Fr Angel Espuela, a Spanish SMA, was ordained a priest in his parish of Virgin Madre, Laganés, on the outskirts of Madrid, on Saturday, January 28, 2017. He is the first of the twenty or so new SMA priests, going to be ordained this year in different countries. Angel, 56, was already a member of the SMA as a brother, for about fifteen years. One of our reports met the ordained and this is what he had to say.

SmaInternational: Angel, you have just been ordained a priest in Madrid and in three weeks you return to Bouka, in the north of Benin. What was your journey?

Angel: When I arrived in Africa in January 2000, as an SMA Brother, I was already 40 years old. Three years before I had met the SMA and after a missiology course in Madrid, I started two years of training in Péréré (Benin). Then I went back to Spain for a three-year course that included a stay in Strasbourg to improve my French. I finally returned to Benin, in Kalale, in the Bariba land, as SMA Brother. I was a brother devoted to the mission, but over time, I realized that I could have provided a better service to the communities as a priest. I had always felt this vocation in me, but because of my age and the studies I should have done, I was advised to realize my missionary vocation as a brother.

SmaInternational : But as a missionary brother, you were already doing a very precious job …

Angel: To visit villages and communities, to accompany them in the catechumenate, to organize the formation of catechists, to visit and to dialogue with each other: in all that grew in me a concern to help people in their spiritual journey. I realized that at the same time as my ideal of service as a brother, my former dream of priesthood developed in me. Indeed there were many things that I could not do as a brother.

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SmaInternational: Were you afraid?

Angel: Yes, it may have been a question of fear. I did not see myself prepared. In addition to the studies, there was a need for greater spiritual and human formation. Would I have had the strength and courage to attain the priesthood? Or was it better to be a permanent deacon? I prayed: My God, you see this vocation that you put in my heart; Help me to overcome these fears, welcome that vocation and fight for it. So, when asked if I had a priestly vocation, I replied: Yes, I want to be a priest.

SmaInternational : What is changing now in your life?

Angel: I will not personally change much, what changes is the service I can give. I remember when people came to ask me if someone was going to hear confessions or celebrate the Eucharist in a village. Now I can offer a full service to the community. It is a call to the gift of myself, to give myself up for this church. I remember the first baptisms I made as a deacon: I was excited because I felt I was contributing to the life of the church in another way. The Church counts on me for her ministry: it changes the heart, the way of seeing things, the responsibility. I understand this as a service to the community, to the church; not as a personal accomplishment, but as a mission entrusted to me.

SmaInternational : How did your friends and the people of Bouka react?

Angel: Father Jesus, SMA called me from Bouka: Angel, on Saturday, after ordination, we will call you on the phone with all the Christians to greet and congratulate you. Bishop Adjou, Bishop of N’Dali and the priests of the Diocese sent me a letter full of affection. I was moved that the Christian community of Africa keeps me in mind and feels united to my priesthood to encourage and congratulate me. It is for them that my priesthood has a meaning. What I want now is to thank my SMA brothers, the laity, my family, for having accompanied me on this journey. I felt their affection, their tenderness, their faith and that prayer in which many show their closeness and friendship. Lord, you call me and you take me. I trust that your support will never fail me.

Antonio Porcelatto, SMA