Invited by Vatican Radio and the Pilgrimage program, missionary Fr. José Ulises speaks to us, among other things, about the welcome of the faithful at the Sanctuary of Aparecida.
The welcoming attitude of Redemptorist missionary José Ulysses da Silva hides the identity of a determined man. The eldest son of a Housekeeper and a maid, Father Ulysses was born on November 16, 1943, in Cachoeira Paulista, São Paulo.
With six younger siblings at home, he had to start working early. He was a shoeshine boy, he handed out lunch boxes to workers, he did odd jobs and, being the good son that he always was, he helped his mother with the money he earned.
But religious life soon entered his life. He was an altar boy at the church he attended and at the age of 11 he already knew that he would be a seminarian. “When I went with my parents on a pilgrimage to Aparecida do Norte, in the state of São Paulo, I spoke to some nuns and they asked me the classic question: ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ And I, not knowing that I would not grow that much, replied that I wanted to be a seminarian,” says the spirited missionary.
As a person who has all good in his heart, Father Ulysses wanted to conquer the world and go on a mission, hence his choice of the Redemptorist Congregation. “The life of a missionary is full of surprises,” he reveals.
With the simplicity characteristic of a priest, he says: “I have held practically all the posts in my missionary congregation, but it is good that we accept the task, then we pass it on and one becomes a missionary to the people again.” Something else: “What I like most is sitting in the confessional listening to tragic, edifying and sometimes even comical stories. It is fantastic to have this closeness to the people, it fills my life and satisfies me.”
(Here you can listen to the conversation between Vatican Radio and Father Ulyses in Portuguese)
