Bishop Scott Bullock
Homily from the Funeral Mass for Fr. Michael Chukwudubem Oli
Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City
April 7, 2026

While our entire diocesan family grieves the death of our brother, Fr. Michael, as bishop of the Diocese of Rapid City, I want to acknowledge those who have a particular relationship with him in a particular way at this time:

• his family members in Nigeria;
• his Bishop Paulinus Ezeokafor and his brother priests of the Diocese of Awka in Nigeria;
• his brother priests in the Diocese of Rapid City;
• members of the parishes he served here in western South Dakota: St. Therese in Rapid City and the parishes of St. Joseph, Faith; St. Joseph, Mud Butte; and St. Anthony, Red Owl, where he pastored for two years. 

I want to assure you of my continued prayers for you during this time of loss and grief. In particular during the Masses during Holy Week this last week and will continue to do so in the days to come.

The phrase “all-in” originates primarily from the 19th-century American gambling world — not an unknown reality in the history of South Dakota. Where it meant staking everything on a single move. I’m all-in on this bet. Later, in our 20th and 21st century, it became a widely used metaphor, as we all know, for complete commitment, risk, and personal investment.

It is in this more general sense of complete commitment, risk, and personal investment that I invite you to reflect on this occasion of the Funeral Mass of Fr. Michael Oli. How could he have imagined that his life, which began in Agulu in the Anambra State of southeastern Nigeria, would be led by his deep faith in our Lord Jesus Christ to western South Dakota. Or that his life’s journey would end in the small town of Faith, South Dakota? Impossible to conceive but these are the ways of the Lord. 

This only happened because Fr. Michael was all-in for his vocation as a priest and his mission to spread the saving message of the Lord. He desired, however imperfectly realized, to give all, to be all-in, in his complete commitment, risk, the investment of all he had in service of the Lord. Together with his other brother priests who have come from the continent of Africa to this mission territory of South Dakota, they witness to lives that are all-in in service of Jesus Christ. I invite you to consider the magnitude of Fr. Michael’s all-in and to offer prayer of gratitude to his rather brief yet impactful time here!

In this life of service, Fr. Michael has modeled for us the call that is evident in the Scriptures we have just heard, particularly the sermon of St. Peter, preserved in the Acts of the Apostles, where the saint declares that the Lord had commissioned the apostles “to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead … that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.” 

And also in the Gospel, where the Lord commissioned his disciples, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” 

In the case of Fr. Michael, the nations included this one, our United States, where he came to witness to Jesus Christ and teach us to place our trust entirely in him. 

However, we gather today not so much because Fr. Michael was, in some degree, all-in in his commitment to the great commission of Jesus to proclaim the Gospel to the nations, but more vitally because our Lord Jesus in a real sense is all-in for the life and salvation of every human person. This complete commitment, risk, and personal investment of our Lord has been on display vividly during this last week as we watched our Lord Jesus’ complete gift of himself on the Cross that we might be delivered from death and restored to life. That truth and message is worthy of our then being all-in, witnessing to this hope in all that we say and do. The good news, on this funeral day, is not so much that Fr. Michael was all-in for the Lord, but rather that the Lord is all-in for Fr. Michael, all the way to the Cross of the eternal life of Fr. Michael and for all of us!

The preacher in a funeral is not to give a eulogy our ritual tells us. The word means saying the good word. We’re not to give a eulogy of the deceased, but instead to speak the good word of Jesus’ saving life and message. Today’s good word is this: the Lord, for whom Fr. Michael was all-in as a missionary in our midst, is all-in for Fr. Michael, ready, as the prophet Daniel testifies, to grant eternity to all those who have the insight to place their trust in the Lord. The prophet relates, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; … but those with insight shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.”  

This, my brothers and sisters, is our sure and certain hope for our brother Fr. Michael. This is the sure and certain hope for all who have placed their trust in the Lord!

This last August, on the 16th anniversary of his ordination, Fr. Michael reflected with gratitude: “Who am I, Lord, that you shower me with such love, especially on this momentous day marking 16 years of my ordination to the priesthood? Despite my imperfections, you continue to believe in my potential for positive change and personal growth.”

From a higher perspective and a surprising, startling, eternal point of view today, may we make Fr. Michael’s assertion of faith. Our prayer: Lord Jesus, change Fr. Michael from his earthly limits to “shine like the stars forever” and provide for his growth into the fullness of eternal life by your mercies and according to your sure and certain promises. So let us pray, may your son and priest, our brother and pastor, know full realization of your promises of eternal life for which he has been all-in in as your priest, servant and son.