Fr. Gabriel Shares His ‘Voice of Love’

By Katie McFadden

In 2021, Father Gabriel Okeke was assigned to St. Francis de Sales Church in Belle Harbor, where he has been assisting and leading weekday summer Masses since. And with him, he brought his God-given gift of his voice, often singing during Masses. Now he’s bringing his “Voice of Love” into homes, with an album he released just last month. And donations for the album go towards spreading that gift to others, as Fr. Gabriel continues to support and grow a music academy for youth in his homeland of Igboland in Nigeria.

Father Gabriel, native name Dozie Okeke, knew from a very young age that he would dedicate his life to God. He explained that Christianity grew in Igboland in the 1860s, due to Irish missionaries. Today, Igboland remains entirely Christian, predominantly Catholic, while Christians are being persecuted in north Nigeria, where Islam is the predominant religion.

For Fr. Gabriel, Catholicism was in his roots. “I grew up Catholic. I was given the name Gabriel when I was baptized at three months,” he said. At just 4 years old, he became an altar server. “We expose children to Catholicism early. Being in the church, I started desiring to be like the priests at the time. Our priest, Father Ezeobata, was such a good man. He would sing the whole Mass from beginning to end with a wonderful voice, and I knew seeing him, I would one day become a priest,” he said.

At just 10 years old, Fr. Gabriel entered the minor seminary. “It spans six years, from when you are 10 to when you are 16,” Fr. Gabriel said. At 17, he entered the senior seminary, and by the time he was 27, in 2010, Fr. Gabriel was ordained as a priest.

Also at a young age, Fr. Gabriel found his singing voice, something in his blood. “My mom is the choir mistress for the village. She teaches songs and conducts the Mass on Sundays. So, when I was like 2 or 3, she would take me to the back where the choir stays. All of us in my family sing,” Fr. Gabriel said. “From childhood, I was very gifted in music.  We had a group of children come together from every block to pray the rosary in the evening, and we would do competitions, something established by the Irish missionaries. At 6 years old, I went for a competition, and they were searching for who would conduct the choir. I won the first prize as best conductor at 6,” he said. He also soon started singing at Masses. “They discovered that I had a wonderful voice and made me choir master at 11,” he said. And by age 15, Fr. Gabriel was composing his own music, writing his own songs. As he entered the senior seminary, Fr. Gabriel started working on his own album and by age 21, he had released his first. “I felt like I had arrived,” he said.

Fr. Gabriel had been teaching choirs, leading his archdiocese’s music department, and wrote some songs. During this time, he created a music academy for youth in Igboland called Kids-Angelica. But he didn’t find real inspiration to continue sharing his own gift until he came across a Bible passage in Matthew 25:15-21 about sharing talent with others. “I got inspiration from prayer. God was telling me to share my talent,” he said. At age 32, he released his second album.

It was around this time that Fr. Gabriel had begun studying theology and music in Rome in 2015, to obtain a PhD. And during the summers, Fr. Gabriel went where he was needed. Students are asked to write to a diocese they want to go to, so after visiting the U.S. in 2016, he wrote the Brooklyn Diocese, which welcomed Fr. Gabriel with open arms. In 2017, he was assigned to St. Mathias in Ridgewood for three years. After a priest died at the Basilica of Regina Pacis, he was assigned to St. Augustine during Covid, and served at Regina Pacis in the summer. And then in 2021, Fr. Gabriel was assigned to St. Francis de Sales.

As he began his studies, Fr. Gabriel had to pass the torch of his music academy and it became known as AVOMA (Archbishop Valerian Okeke Music Academy). But in between albums, during the pandemic, Fr. Gabriel took his talents online. “I conducted two powerful online choir competitions that brought together 300 choirs in Africa, each with about 100 singers. We had a competition that generated millions of views on social media. My Facebook page skyrocketed to now over 300,000 followers,” he said.

And as Fr. Gabriel faced trials while studying for his PhD, he found the voice of God helping him along through prayer. “I was trying to defend my PhD last year, I was studying a lot, working so hard, then praying so hard, and sometimes in prayer, out of difficulty, these songs started to form in my mind. I started to write them down and record them on my phone. Gradually I had made seven songs that came from praying in front of the Blessed Sacraments,” he said. Those songs turned into a full-length album, called “Voice of Love,” which Fr. Gabriel released in July. “I wrote the songs and sent the recordings to my producer in Nigeria to make the beats. I had an opportunity to go home for the holidays in October and in two weeks, we recorded all of the songs.” Fr. Gabriel was even able to collaborate with a few of his academy students, who also appear on the album.

At SFDS, Fr. Gabriel found a community of support for his music. “The people are so loving. From the first day they saw me sing at Mass, they liked it. If I don’t sing, they tell me to sing, and they are so kind and generous. Father Jim told everyone that if they like my music, to donate, and they came into Mass and donated. I was so very touched,” he said. That’s why “Voice of Love” includes a message of appreciation for SFDS on the back of the album cover. “The parishioners donated a lot. That’s why we were able to produce this album,” Fr. Gabriel said.

Now, sales or donations for his album, will in turn, go right toward his youth music academy back home. “If anyone wants to donate, that would be wonderful because we will get to build our academy to greater heights,” he said. On Sunday, Fr. Gabriel sold his albums to parishioners with a requested donation of $20. But he says if anyone missed their chance to grab a copy, they are welcome to ask him after Mass. For more information, contact the SFDS Office at 718-634-6464.

At the end of September, Fr. Gabriel will return to Rome and expects to return home to Igboland on a more permanent basis after the holiday season. But he hopes to continue to return to the Brooklyn Diocese during the summer, and no matter what, he’ll keep the music going. “I will continue with my music,” he said.

Comparing people to “trees planted by God,” Fr. Gabriel encourages everyone to follow Him, and to continue to share their own fruits, or talents and messages of love. “Let’s not lose sight of God. He is the one who planted us as trees and expects us to bear fruit in praise of his name. Wherever we find ourselves, let us bear fruits of love.”

To continue following Fr. Gabriel and his music, see: www.facebook.com/GabrielDozieOkeke1