This priest-runner, ordained a year ago, is on a good path

He is: Father Anthony Muraya. Finished his studies, earning an licentiate in sacred theology at Mundelein just before ordination in May, 2012. Associate pastor at St. Paul of the Cross in Park Ridge.

Early years: “My home country is Kenya, in the capital city of Nairobi. My father was a military man. Mother was a teacher. When he resigned, father bought a piece of land in the up-country, about 200 miles from Nairobi. With my five brothers and three sisters we re-located. Father became a farmer growing and exporting apples. It’s been the economic backbone of my family almost until his death in 2004. My mother retired and still runs the farm but just sells the apples locally.

“When I was 12, my maternal grandmother lost her only son and I came back to Nairobi to live with her. My mother’s side are Catholic but my father’s side was Lutheran. In Africa, when you get married you adopt your husband’s religion. So I was brought up Lutheran.

“My grandmother gave me the option of staying Lutheran, but as a little boy the Catholic Church had so many social amenities; I easily teamed up with Catholic boys. I went to public schools but they are sponsored by Catholics or Protestants. The sponsoring church can come in and teach religion once in a while. The government feels kids who are formed religiously will also make better citizens.

“My grandmother is a very good Catholic and encouraged me. She had been a matron in a Catholic school, training girls in morals, values and the faith. Her house was a place where people came. At age 86, people are still coming for guidance. Once a month she would host a dinner for priest friends. That was the kind of environment I was brought up in. I don’t think she ever thought I’d become a priest, but she wanted me to have a good life, whatever God wanted me to be.

“When I was in high school she’d encourage me to go to church on holy days and help out with Sunday school or help the priest who went out to visit the villages. It developed an interest in me to become a priest.”

The call: “In my last year of high school I told grandmother I wanted to become a priest. My father and mother both objected to it, and she did too, to begin with. She didn’t think I was mature enough and thought you had to be born Catholic to be a priest. My dad wanted me to be a lawyer and mother wanted me to be a doctor.

“If I could convince my grandmother I knew she would do the rest with my parents. I went to a teachers’ college for two of the required three years. But I told my grandmother, ‘You have to allow me to go to the seminary.’ By that time she agreed. Our pastor helped me enter the Augustinian college seminary. I was with them almost seven years.”

He did his philosophy and began theological studies, but at a certain point he felt the communitarian lifestyle was not his way. In third year theology he made his decision. “I applied to join the diocesan seminary in Kenya’s coastal region. The bishop there had once been our pastor, but he only knew my grandmother. He turned down my application. Generally in Africa, when you leave a religious order it’s difficult to get into a diocesan seminary.

“I was so disappointed. Later I learned if I’d passed my application through my grandmother, he would have accepted it! That’s what he told her when I finally came to the U.S. So I left the order and looked for a job, hoping one of the diocesan seminaries would take me in. I went back to the university to work on a master’s degree in business administration and worked as a social worker in one of the biggest slums in Africa, on the outskirts of Nairobi. I was employed by US Aid, an American non-governmental organization (NGO).”

One day he met a Maryknoll priest who had been in Kenya 40 years. “In one conversation he asked if I’d ever imagined myself being a priest. I told him I had been a seminarian for seven years. He thought I’d be a good priest. We became friends. I learned he was from Maryland and had actually helped 15 or 20 Kenyan priests come to the U.S. At the time I wasn’t interested in leaving my country. I just considered it small talk. But eventually I became interested and thought if there is an opportunity to become a priest anywhere, this is what I always wanted. I found myself telling him, ‘If you find a place for me, I’d be more than willing to go.’

“At a certain point the Maryknoller said, ‘I have some friends in Chicago. Why not try Chicago?’ We sent an application with all my documents in February and I was accepted in June. In August, 2008 I was here. The Lord doesn’t hesitate when it’s his will. Upon arrival I still needed some formation and had to learn the culture. Kenyans already speak English. I went to Loyola University for a year and then I was asked to go to Mundelein. Since I was done with most of my theology they suggested I take my STL. After three years I was ordained and also graduated with an STL.”

Feeling at home: “I was assigned to St. Paul of the Cross Parish. There are four priests living here. It’s a very active and welcoming parish. I like it. My first year has gone by very quickly. I have Kenyan friends here that I’ve come to know, and have made American friends. In fact, when I came to Chicago, the first people I met were of Polish descent. I met them at Loyola and this mother, son and grandma have remained my “family.” I ‘have a room’ in their house in Berwyn.”

Prayer life? “I’m a morning person -- up by 5 a.m. We have two Masses every day. I like to pray with the people at Mass, besides presiding. Before Mass I say my Office. There’s a rosary group after the 8:30 a.m. Mass and I often pray with them. We also have a perpetual adoration chapel, 24/7. I can move over there to read or pray. I combine my evening and night prayers around 10 p.m. when everything is done. I usually say Mass privately on my day off and remember my friends, family and personal intentions. That’s my pattern of prayer life.”

Getting used to the arch: “Nairobi is very Western. You would be shocked. It wasn’t a big transition, and I eat what I want. If I have a taste for African food, or Asian or American food, I know where to go. I can find my way around. Chicago is highly blessed. I love Chicago, and I’d call it my ‘home’ if you’d just take the winters away. “On my day off I visit friends, or stay here and read. I just finished Henri D’Lubac’s ‘The Splendor of the Church.’ Or I’ll cook something African that I like. I run every day. In fact I did the Chicago Marathon in 2009. I play soccer and volleyball. And call my grandmother in Kenya every day. When I first came here it was expensive but now it’s not.”

Favorite saint: “St. Augustine. I find him very real. The way he’s written his autobiography shows a modern lifestyle with an ending that is concrete, and eventually he found happiness where it’s supposed to be found.”

Favorite Scripture: “St. Paul is my best guide. I love St. Paul.”