Iosefo Nakavulevu

I discovered my vocation at a very early age, and as I grew older the idea of becoming a priest melted away like ice in the heat of the sun. It was a combination of both drifting away from the call and not wanting to hear the call. Although I engaged myself in my own interests and strived towards my personal goal, the idea was always at the back of my mind leaving me in a sense of guilt. The call was there but it was not clear.

Fiji is my home country and I am an indigenous Fijian. My father is a Catholic while my mother was a Methodist who later converted after she was married my father. In fact my mother and I were confirmed on the same day. I am the eldest in family of six boys and three girls.

When I attended Marist Brothers High School, I joined a prayer group known as the Champagnat group. During prayer sessions we would be given brief histories of the life of Saint Marcelin Champagnat who was still a Blessed at that time. It was there that the idea of becoming a Marist struck me. After studying for a year at a tertiary institution, I returned home and stayed there for a year. The Easter of year 2000 directed me back towards my vocation. I had joined the Central Eastern Youth Group that year for the annual crosswalk to the west. It was then that I decided to respond to the call.

After staying in a parish run by the Society of Mary as part for my come and see program, I applied to join the seminary the next year. I spent the first two years of my formation studying at the Pacific Regional Seminary before I applied for novitiate at Taveuni an island off the coast of one of the two main islands in Fiji. The year in the Novitiate was both a memorable and an exciting experience as I discerned more deeply about my vocation and at the same time explored the pros and cons of Marist Life. I was lucky to have Father Paul Donoghue as my novice master. He is New Zealander, whose simple and humble way of living inspired many who have encountered him on their life journey. I counted myself lucky to be called to my first profession to the Society of Mary together with four others in the same year. And I must say that Dylan Hatobu sm (PNG), Aisake Silatolu sm (Tonga), Paolo Malatu sm (Vanuatu), Donato Kivi sm (Fiji), and Felix Chivilin (PNG), meant that the experience of the Novitiate could not have been better.

Now I have been appointed to complete my studies in New Zealand. It is quite an eye opening and challenging experience to be here. Living the Marist life is a gift whereby I learned and discovered more myself. I am not perfect, neither are you, it is only when we confront our worst that we have the chance to become our best.