ORDINATIONS A NJIRU NAIROBI: JACOB, JEAN-MARIE, JEROME, VALENTIN ET RICHARD

 The Lord, whom the Father has sent into the world, has established on march 19^th, 2015, five ministers among his faithful of Nairobi to unite them together in one body. Two of them, Deacon Jacob WELIKHA BARASA and Deacon Jean-Marie MUTULIRANO have been ordained priest and Jerome MASUMBUKO, Valentin NKWER and Richard LUSENGE have been ordained Deacons. These priests are, from now on, able, by the sacred power of orders, to offer sacrifice and to forgive sins. No doubt of it, since they are connected with the Episcopal order, they share the authority by which Christ builds up, sanctifies and rules his Body. All their acts will be made in the person of Christ the Head of the whole body, the Church. Belonging to the same community Katua, the ordination of the two Deacons to priesthood looked really like the birth of twins in the family. Not only their community but the whole outstation of Katua was so glad for giving birth to two priests at once. Since Jacob was ordained Deacon, he has been in charge of Postulants and Aspirants. As he has exercised these responsibilities very well, he will continue the same. Father Jean-Marie MUTULIRANO is and remains treasurer of his community Katua. Saying that, we are meaning that both of the two priests will continue living together until they receive their new appointment.

The deacons will be serving in three areas according to the Roman Catholic Church. First of all, they are the ordinary ministers of the proclamation of the Gospel. They will secondly be serving in liturgical ministry, by putting into practice all what a deacon is called to do in his ministry. They will be also involved in serving the poor and marginalized by working with parishioners to help them become more involved in the ministry of charity. The three Deacons, outlined above, will be respectively keeping their responsibilities as treasures for Djiru Parish (Kenya), Digodigo Parish (Tanzania) and Kijenge Parish (Tanzania) until they get each one a new appointment.

The mass started at 10 am. It was presided over by the bishop David KAMAU, auxiliary Bishop of Nairobi. In his homely, the Bishop invited the ordinand to be the joy and the blessing for the Church. He requested them to keep the Word of God in their love and to stay always with Jesus Christ in prayer.

When the mass ended, everybody was welcome to share a fraternal lunch in the parish compound. Fruitful ministry to these new ministers!

Br. KATEMBO TSONGO Dieudonne a.a

EVOLUTION DE LA SANTE DU P. CLAUDIO DU BRESIL

Bonjour, chers frères!

Nous nous portons bien ici au Brésil. Le père Claúdio évolue bien, quoi que cela soit lent. Il est déjà délivré de l'hôpital. Je suis présentement dans sa communauté pour donner, tant soit peu, un petit coup de main. Il n'est pas encore capable de se redresser lui même.Il reste soit au lit soit dans la chaise roulante.

Tous ses membres étaient paralysés. Pour le moment ceux du côté gauche ont plus ou moins repris leur fonctionnement. Le problème réside aux membres du côté droit dont l'évolution est lente. Union de prières. P. Roger Wasukundi,aa.

Sister HELEN'S DEATH IN TANZANIA

On March 9th, 2015 while the Religious of the Assumption were preparing to celebrate the birth in heaven of Saint Marie-Eugenie their fonder, death knocked down Sister Helen, R.A., missionary in Tanzania. On March 10, 2015 evening, the Assumptionists from Emmanuel House joined the Religious of the Assumption in their community in Kawangware for Mass. The mass was blended with mixed feelings since it was the heavenly birthday of St. Marie-Eugénie. It was presided over by Father Paluku Meso Jean-Marie a.a., who reminded, first of all, that we always celebrate a mass as an occasion of joy as we exercise our common ministry and priesthood. Secondly, he said, “we are especially celebrating the memorial of Saint Marie-Eugenie’s birthday in heaven” (March 10, 1898). “We are sad as we are mourning our beloved sister Helen who has passed away.” As people who have lived with her, during this mass, we thank the Lord for her life which has been a grace for us. We are all on pilgrimage here on earth. This world is not our permanent home. It is a temporary place for us to live. Believer or non-believer, we are all passing away. Death is our common way of ending our life in this world, and of entering our eternal home.

Today the death of our Sister Helen helps us once again to put things into perspective. Death does not have an age. It can occur any time in our life. The length of life does not make its value. It does not matter whether a person has lived a long or a short time. What makes the value of life is its quality. Sometimes short lives are the most valuable and honorable in the eyes of God. All depends on how a person sought to please God in his life. Sister Helen is certainly one of those who sought to please God. She vowed to follow Christ in the Congregation of the Religious of the Assumption where she committed all her life. Faithful disciple of Saint Marie Eugenie, she kindly accepted soon after her first vow to work as missionary in Africa where she has been since 1956. Sister Helen has endured not only the challenges of the mission but also the suffering of her illness. With faith and hope she never turned against her God.  Being among the founders of Kenyan mission, she was so much involved in welcoming the Augustinians of the Assumption in the eastern part of Africa. May her soul rest in peace. After mass, we all went to the dining room not only for sharing a fraternal supper but also for hearing a lot about Sister Helen. Many testimonies about her brought us to conclude that sister Helen is really welcome in the kingdom of God.

Br. KATEMBO TSONGO Dieudonne, a.a.