Article 4 - Second Series - January 9th, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

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Article 4 - Second Series - January 9th, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

Editor’s Note:
Fr. Ben Daghir wrote this article in a newspaper a few days after his 30th birthday last September. You will notice the name “Luke Daghir” in the article and that is because Fr. Ben Daghir is an identical twin. Luke is currently studying to be a Roman Catholic priest for the Diocese of Erie.

Article:
Luke Daghir and I turned 30 years old in late September. Unlike recent years, this upcoming birthday of “30 years” has caused me to step back and reflect.

As a result, I have come to realize just how much this past decade unfolded in such a way that I had not anticipated (even if others had seen the priesthood in me long before I could). When I was nineteen years old, I thought that the Lord had allowed me to see the trajectory of my life with the clarity of broad daylight. I remember thinking after high school, “I’m going to get married in a few years, be a dad, have a house in Elk County, be a teacher and a coach, hunt and kayak, etc. This is definitely my life, I know it.” Little did I know that the Lord wanted to hand me lanterns instead of the broad daylight to guide me one step at a time.

Pope Francis has often referred to God’s guidance as more like a lantern than the sun. The pope teaches that God often gives us just enough light to see the next step as opposed to seeing the entire road ahead of us. Of course, we want to see the entire journey and it’s frustrating when we don’t have all the facts detailing every turn in the adventure. Pope Francis explains that this is for a simple reason: if we were to see the entire road ahead, we would shrink back in fear, worry, and disbelief. God knows this and, therefore, often hands us a lantern for each step of the journey.

Interestingly, when we are given just enough light for the next step, we often put one foot in front of the other with anticipation and curiosity. Pope Francis also adds that a lantern can do one thing in particular that the sun cannot. Unlike the sun, a lantern can enter into the darkest corners of the world (crevasses, ravines, and caves) which are never touched by sunlight. God, of course, knows this and often directs our paths to reach others in the midst of darkness, to overcome fears, and to grow in faith.

I remember one lantern that I received: I was in the Saint Vincent College library until close but didn't realize it. I had been reading for hours but had never looked at the clock. Even better, I wasn’t reading for an assignment. I was lost in a book written by Pope John Paul II. I found his voice to be more interesting, more engaging than anyone I had heard before.

Shortly thereafter, I remember another lantern: I had been student teaching at a juvenile delinquent facility in Latrobe, PA for my education certification. The assignment was challenging and life-changing. The amount of brokenness and confusion in many of those students was like a magnet - it began to pull out something that I didn’t know was within me. I would often spend an hour at night in the Saint Vincent College Chapel reflecting on the school day or envisioning the following day’s lessons. Sometimes, I would brainstorm a homily but I quickly set down that lantern. It was always too bright and I wasn’t ready for what path it could lead me.

I remember yet another lantern which seemed to shine more brightly than broad daylight. In fact, it startled me. The reason for this, at least I think, was because of how obvious it had been. Sometimes we see more clearly with a lantern than we do in the broad daylight. I was twenty-two years old at the time, just a few days away from graduation, extremely happy and at ease as a single man. I had not met the love of my life at college even though I had envisioned at nineteen years old that it would happen before college graduation. I asked myself, “Well, why am I happy and at peace despite this dream not becoming a reality?” On one of the last nights of my college career, I walked into the student chapel and asked the master teacher, “Lord, would I actually be happy as a Catholic priest?” I entered seminary a year later at the age of twenty-three.

As I had mentioned, my twenties were not quite how I had envisioned and dreamed them to be. Instead of brainstorming a creative time and place to propose to the love of my life, I had my head down in seminary libraries studying Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and others. Instead of living in Elk County, I was living in Erie, Omaha, Guatemala, Baltimore, DuBois and a few other places. Instead of seeing Mr. Daghir on a classroom door, I currently see Fr. Daghir on five parishes’ bulletins. Instead of encouraging and forgiving a child of my own, I now encourage and forgive parishioners in the confessional. Instead of coaching a little league team and giving a speech in the dugout, I now spiritually coach from the pulpit. These are just a few examples of how life has unfolded in ways I didn’t expect.

If the Lord would have shown the entire decade to me when I was nineteen, I would have stepped back in fear, worry, and disbelief (consider the Grand Jury Report and Covid-19 for starters). Instead, the Lord handed me a lantern to guide me one step at a time. My anticipation, excitement, and curiosity only grew with each lantern, each step in this adventure. 

In the Gospel of John we read, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” We can sometimes be tempted into thinking that a little light is not enough, but this is false. At twenty years old, I asked for the broad daylight to see everything mapped out in front of me. Now, my thirty year old self is asking for much less: just a lantern for now, just a little light. Life is much more exciting, adventurous, and open to possibilities with a lantern in one’s hand. We can enter deeper into the darkness, reach people in difficult circumstances, and grow in the great virtue of faith.

What lantern is God handing you? Are you open to the adventure - even if you can only see the next step?
 

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Fr. Ben Daghir is a priest for the Diocese of Erie. He is a graduate of Elk County Catholic High School in Saint Marys, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, and St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He considers writing one of his favorite hobbies.