Nigeria, my country of origin, is well known for her religious beliefs and devotion. Majority of the indigenes are Christians. There are numerous churches and denominations but the Catholic Church stands out in her doctrines and spiritual formation.
I was born in a Catholic home where both parents are devout Catholics. My dad, though from a polygamous family, was brought into the Catholic Church by what I call God’s divine grace and intervention because both of his parents were pagans.
He was baptized and took the name Francis and even became an altar server.
My mom, on the other hand, was grounded in the Catholic Church. My grandma, Paulina, and grandpa, Patrick, were also ardent Catholics.
This genealogy gave me a good start at learning about my Catholic faith. I attended Sacred Heart Elementary School in Nigeria where I also went to catechism classes in the evenings to prepare for my first Communion in second grade and confirmation in sixth grade. Similar to most families in Nigeria, practicing your religious faith is really what molds you into whom you become. So it is taken seriously.
Through practicing your faith you learn about your creator, his commandments, what is good and what is evil. These elements of my early religious life shaped me into becoming who I am today. The foundation was so firmly rooted that when I left for boarding school (high school), college and Youth Corps Service (which is mandatory for all college graduates), I never wavered in the practice of my Catholic faith.
There were, of course, peer pressure, temptations and allurements of the world but when I fall, I kneel at the feet of my creator, who lifts me up and guides me back on the right path.
Your name speaks volume in the Nigerian culture. So every family tries to ensure their children are brought up the right way.
I like adventure and when I learned that in America you can work and go to school, my interest to become independent heightened. I have always told my friends that I’m going to the United States to further my education after college before I even got my visa. Getting an American visa is not easy. A lot of people were denied.
However, when I applied for my visa, it was issued within minutes. I immediately knew that God Almighty has already ordained this turn in my life. As scared as I was leaving my very close family, I knew that the best thing I could do was to trust in the Lord! My faith was my guide and guard.
The Lord kept sending me the angel Gabriel who at every moment of weakness would say to me, “Do not be afraid Tonia, nothing is impossible for God,” and like Mary I believed. While I was waiting for school to start in the fall of 1987, I went to St. Mary Catholic Church in Orange, New Jersey, not too far from my cousin’s where I was staying at the moment, picked up their bulletin. Lo and behold there was an ad for a volunteer in the accounting department of St. Mary’s. I went and was hired. The director, the staff, all took such special interest in ensuring that I lacked nothing. If that is not God’s special blessing I cannot think of anything else. The Lord is the lamp on my feet and the light on my path. There’s no staying away from my faith because it is what made me who I am today.
We read in the Scriptures and writings of the doctors of the church that the Catholic Church is universal. Coming to America I was amazed that the Catholic Church is truly universal. My experience here in the United States is not at all different from the encounters I’ve had back in Nigeria. The only difference is the culture. Catholic Church is the same everywhere.
As I grew in my understanding of the Scriptures, the Eucharist and even my vocation as a wife and mother, through the Blessed Mother’s fiat and docility all I want to do is be a true disciple of Christ. Like EWTN will say “Live Catholic.”
Okpalobi is a native of Nigeria and currently a parishioner at St. George Church in Baton Rouge, where she has served as a member of the Liturgy Commission. She is married with five children.