Print Issue: January 23, 2003

Father Dayro Rico, Colombian Native, Heard God's Call To Priesthood

Father Dayro Rico, parochial vicar at St. Joseph's Church, Athens, stays fit by working out regularly at the local YMCA. (Photos by Michael Alexander)

By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer

ATLANTA-As he grew up in Colombia, Father Dayro Rico dated several girls and thought of marriage, particularly after he met a young woman in college with whom he developed a serious relationship.

"We thought about it and we talked about married life and children, but it didn't happen," said the newly ordained priest. "When God calls us to something, even if we don't really listen, God continues calling us and some day we listen. Even if we're around the church all the time, sometimes we just go there, but we don't listen really. We need to open our mind and heart to God in order to hear his call."

What he heard was a soft summons to seminary. So after earning his bachelor's degree in philosophy, Father Rico went on to study theology for three years at the Seminario Nacional de Cristo Sacerdote in La Ceja.

He compared his experience to that of the prophet Samuel, who was called three times by God before he both listened and understood and gave his life to God.

And God's calls were costly. In the seminary Father Rico suddenly found his day structured from 5:30 a.m. until dusk. Sharing a room with several other seminarians, he only had one day a week free to leave campus. But he's grateful for the discipline he developed there.

"It was really structured. They helped me to mature in my thinking and to really understand what is formation and what the priesthood means," he said. "I was young then. Maybe when we are young we need somebody to instruct us to choose the right way. It was very structured formation, very hard, very good."

The rector, Father Hector Sala, who is now a bishop, guided him in his discernment and helped him realize "the priest is a mediator between God and man."

Although he left the seminary to reassess his plan, and worked as a bank teller for four years, his sense was that the insistent call from God never stopped ringing.

As Colombia has a hearty supply of priests-his seminary recently had 890 graduates-Father Rico sojourned to the United States, where he began studying English at Emmanuel College in Boston and exploring priesthood possibilities.

Calling dioceses around the country, then Atlanta archdiocesan vocations director Msgr. David Talley answered his call with "we need you." He entered Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans to become a priest for the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Father Rico, 38, noted the difficulty of leaving behind all of his family in Colombia, torn apart by civil war, but he prays for them and thanks God for their safety. While it's a difficult time to become a priest in the United States, he looks upon the revelations of sexual abuse and mishandling of it as a cleansing experience for the church.

"I feel pain in my stomach when I hear something about those priests, but every time I give thanks because I recognize God is watching over us and it is the only way the church will be cleaned."

The Colombian priest urges Catholics feeling discouraged by current events to "be strong in their faith and lift up the church" through example.

As he works to strengthen his faith and English skills, he also enjoys strengthening his body lifting weights, running and hiking. "It helps us clean our minds and to keep our body clean too. It helps me to keep healthy."

At his assigned parish of St. Joseph's in Athens, he looks forward to working with the young and immersing himself in the Hispanic and Anglo communities of the parish.

"I'm happy to achieve this. I have been working on it for a while. I'm so happy and pleased to God that he has called me to be a priest. I think it is going to be a nice life and I'm really enjoying it," he said. "It's the beginning, a new life, and we need to pray that (God) continues to call me to be faithful to his church and his people, to build up the kingdom of God."