Laboure Society
“I long to serve God’s people through the Sacraments, especially through the Eucharist and Reconciliation.”
Meet the rest of my class
My name is Ezra Mwaura. I am called to serve Christ and His Church as a priest with the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph. This is my story.
I was born in Kinangop, Kenya to a devout Catholic family and into a tight-knit community. In Kenya, the saying “it takes a village to raise a child” is lived out literally. Though I was a rambunctious and mischievous child, those years were filled with joy.
When I was seven years old, my family and I received our Green Cards and immigrated to Kansas City, Missouri. We were hosted by lapsed Catholic relatives and began to attend a local non-denominational church, where my parents enjoyed worshipping in their mother tongue alongside fellow Kenyans. I joined the worship band and loved the enthusiastic atmosphere. I was devastated when my parents decided to return to the Catholic Church during my junior year of high school, as I felt I was being taken from my friends.
Upon joining the youth group at our new parish, though, I discovered a community of Catholics with vibrant, joyful, real relationships with Jesus. The turning point for me was the year following my Confirmation, when I attended a Steubenville youth conference and encountered the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist on a deep, personal level for the first time.
After the Steubenville conference, my new Catholic friends and I formed a Benedictine Brothers group, focused on spiritual support and discernment. This group laid the foundation for me to begin understanding the importance of spiritual brotherhood. I was accepted to Cornell University at age 16, and there I found an alluring world of distractions and secular pleasures.
Despite my efforts to fill the emptiness within myself, I was left feeling broken and alone. Eventually, my soul broke under the weight of my sins. I went back to Confession, began attending daily Mass, and deepened my prayer life. I prayed that God would do whatever He willed with my life. When He responded with a call to the priesthood, I resisted. I thought, “Lord, anything but that!”
Yet God’s calling didn’t go away, and though I pursued a career and even considered marriage, I felt restless and lost. My heart was torn between worldly success and a deeper call from God.
When I finally decided to commit fully to answering God’s call, I knew that I wanted to serve as a diocesan priest in the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph, as that was where I first encountered authentic, vibrant Catholicism.
I long to serve God’s people through the Sacraments, especially through the Eucharist and Reconciliation. I want to be an Alter Christus, Another Christ, to show people the mercy, love, and joy that God has so abundantly poured into my life.
This is my journey: one of falling away and being brought back, of hearing His voice and learning to say yes. I entrust the next steps of my journey to His providence, confident that He who has begun this good work in me will bring it to completion.
Please pray for me and for my fellow Labouré classmates on our vocation journeys. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have at: ezra@rescuevocations.org.
Download a PDF of my story
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