Personal Vocation story

By Prenovice Thomas Bwagaaro

Port Moresby, PNG, 1 July 2017 -- My vocation story began with a question: “What is it like to preside at the Mass?” some 18 years ago. That I believe was the invitation of the Lord to follow Him more closely. I was the altar server that day and I can remember clearly that moment that question came into my mind. Looking back now I believe that it was joining the Knights of the Altar ministry that has helped in my vocation journey because it helped me to attend Mass as often as I could, a practice that I would keep throughout my high school days.

In 1999 the same year the question popped into my mind, a Salesian Priest, now Bishop of the Diocese of Gizo in the Solomon Islands, came to our home. He told us about Don Bosco and what his sons are now doing in Solomon Islands. That encounter that evening was for me an inspiration and it made me even more curious to find an answer to my question.

Ten years would pass before I would read about the life of Don Bosco, the first saint whose son entered our home. In 2009, I completed my secondary education, and since I had no offers from tertiary institutions, I stayed for a year at home. This period was a blessing in disguise. I became more active in the parish and started reading more about the Catholic Church, the saints and other books relating to the church.

It was reading about the life of Don Bosco that rekindled the desire to follow the call to the priestly vocation. I remember that after reading the life of Don Bosco I felt that he loves me and that I am just not content to know about him but to become one of his sons like those in the book that I was reading.

In 2011, a year later after reading the life of Don Bosco I was accepted at Don Bosco Rural Training Centre Tetere in Solomon Islands, a phenomenon I attribute to a fervent decade of Rosary I offered to our Lady to lead me. At Tetere, I inevitably came into contact with the Salesians there and their good example, the goodnight talks, their openness to the young, and the countless gestures of Christian love that they showed us made me feel the love of God and of Don Bosco in a concrete way. This inspired me to be like them.

In 2013, I was sent to the Savio Haus Aspirantate in Papua New Guinea to continue as an aspirant. The four years of discernment in the Aspirantate was not easy but with the help of the different formation guides and the full support of my family I was able to freely make the choice to continue on to the pre novitiate in pursuit of my vocation. I am grateful to all the Salesians who have helped me in my journey. As I continue on I will always remain grateful to God, His Mother, the Salesians of Don Bosco and my family and like Bishop Cagliero, I too would like to say that “monk or no monk, I’ll stay with Don Bosco”.

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