In Pace Christi

Fr José de Jesús Aranda Nava was born on 11 August 1952, at Salvatierra, Guanajuato (Mexico). He was known among the Mexicans as “el Tío” (the Uncle) since, while he was still in the seminary, a nephew of his entered who called him “Uncle” and so everyone at the seminary began to call him “The Uncle”, something he approved of.

He took his first vows of religion on 23 April 1977. He studied theology in Rome from 1977 to 1981, and made his perpetual profession on 10 October 1980. He was ordained priest on 19 September 1981.

He was a polite person, sociable, too – and made many friends everywhere – he was an optimist and outgoing.

As a man of faith, he loved Jesus Christ and St Daniel Comboni and so was happy to be called Jesu; on the day of his profession, he took the name of Daniel. He had a great devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. He firmly believed in his missionary vocation and was happy to be a Comboni missionary.

As a missionary, he had a passion for the mission and South Sudan which he served and accompanied in the most difficult times of the war.

He lived his missionary life in two provinces: Mexico and South Sudan. For the greater part of his life, he was a formator and also worked pastorally and in mission promotion. Many Comboni missionaries from South Sudan remember him with gratitude as their formator during the postulancy.

His dream always was to be a missionary in the land and among the people loved by Daniel Comboni. This dream was realised when, in 1984, he was sent to South Sudan.

He served the people of that country during the war of independence and also during the war that has just ended. He spent the final years of his life in a refugee camp in Uganda together with the entire parish community displaced by the war.

On St Daniel Comboni day, he wrote in Facebook: “Feast of St Daniel Comboni: 10 October 2020. The holiness of Comboni is lived in communion with suffering humanity. St Daniel lived his holiness in solidarity with those who were suffering and mistreated. In the course of our history, the sons and daughters of St Daniel Comboni have sought to follow the way of holiness, sharing the daily life of their suffering brothers and sisters. We have great figures who exemplify making common cause with the people: Fr. Giuseppe Ambrosoli, Fr. Ezechiele Ramin and many others. Today, we are also called to share in holiness the life of the many people who are faced with the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic with all its consequences. Let us be in communion with the migrants and refugees, with the people in zones of conflict and war. Let us bear in our hearts the burden of the sufferings of the Church and the sad situations of nature and creation. Pray for peace and brotherhood among our people of South Sudan”.

He died on 4 November 2020, at Lacor Hospital in Gulu (Uganda), where he was admitted as a coronavirus patient.
(Fernando Mal GatKuoth).