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New Lay Associates of Kenya’s Oldest Missionary Order Urged to “be available for service”

Fr. Dominic Gathurithu and Fr. George Omondi with the newly commissioned Lay Associates of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost Fathers/Spiritans/CSSp.) in Kenya. Credit: ACI Africa

The newly commissioned Lay Associates of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost Fathers/Spiritans/CSSp.) in Kenya, the country’s oldest Missionary Order, have been called upon to participate in the “apostolic life” of the 320-year-old Congregation, availing themselves “for the service of the Gospel”.

Established to prioritize first evangelization contexts, marginalized individuals and groups, and “places where the Church has difficulty in finding workers,” the Spiritans pioneered Catholic evangelization in Kenya, the first missionaries arriving in the coastal town of Mombasa in 1889.

In his homily Sunday, May 28 during the commissioning of the 39 new Lay Spiritan Associates, the Provincial Superior of the Spiritans in Kenya and South Sudan, Fr. Dominic Gathurithu, said, “Your vocation as lay Spiritan Associates is to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to those who have not heard and be available for the service of the Gospel.”

Fr. Dominic Gathurithu, Provincial Superior of the Spiritans in Kenya and South Sudan. Credit: ACI Africa

“We welcome you to share with us our Apostolic life, but also our spirituality of being generous and sharing what we have with the needy,” Fr. Gathurithu said during the Eucharistic celebration at St. Austin’s Msongari, the Parish of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi that the Holy Ghost Fathers established in August 1899.  

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The apostolate of spreading the Gospel is a mission for all the followers of Jesus Christ, he further said, adding, “All of you gathered in this church, you are available for the service of the gospel because you have come to listen to the word of God.”

Credit: ACI Africa

Listening to the word of God, Fr. Gathurithu went on to tell the congregation, “will help you to help others to know Christ.” 

He said that he was commissioning the new Lay Spiritan Associates on the Solemnity of Pentecost so that they, like the Apostles, can “go out and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to all people, and to the ends of the earth.”

Fr. Dominic Gathurithu, Provincial Superior of the Spiritans in Kenya and South Sudan. Credit: ACI Africa

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The Kenyan-born Spiritan Priest urged those he was commissioning to overcome fear since they had “received the Holy Spirit, which is the love of God.”

“The gifts you have received from the Holy Spirit are meant for the common good,” Fr. Gathurithu said, and encouraged the 39 new Lay Spiritan Associates to be attentive to the needs of the needy.

Credit: ACI Africa

Making reference to the background of Lay Spiritan Associates in the light of the Spiritan rule of life, the Provincial Superior of the Spiritans in Kenya and South Sudan said, “In some places, those who are working with us wish to be associated with us. We welcome them with joy, inviting them to share our spirituality and our apostolic life.”

The 39 new Lay Spiritan Associates commissioned on Pentecost Sunday at St. Austin’s Msongari Parish hail from five Kenyan Catholic Parishes under the Spiritans.

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Credit: ACI Africa

Some of those who had been previously commissioned renewed their commitment as Lay Spiritan Associates during the May 28 Eucharistic celebration.

In an interview with ACI Africa on the sidelines of the commissioning, the Chaplain of the Lay Spiritan Associates in Kenya congratulated the new members “for the efforts and courage they have taken to become Lay Spiritans.”

Preparing the new Lay Spiritan Associates “was not easy” considering they came from different Parishes, Fr. George Omondi said, adding that in order to reach out to them, he had to move from “one Parish to the another”.

Fr. George Omondi, Chaplain of the Lay Spiritan Associates in Kenya. Credit: ACI Africa

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During his encounters with the Lay Spiritan candidates in their respective Parishes, Fr. Omondi who serves as the Parish Priest of St. Austin’s Msongari Parish said he oriented them in the “history, spirituality and mission” of the Spiritans.

The encounters also included reflections on the “mission they can participate in considering that they are people who are in families and they already have other engagements,” he told ACI Africa on the sidelines of the May 28 event.

Credit: ACI Africa

He added, “The new Lay Spiritans are expected to participate in our ministry according to their situations in life and their abilities. For example, when we have occasions, celebrations, they participate. We also involve them in our fundraising activities.”

“I pray that they remain committed to this new way of life,” Fr. Omondi said about the 39 newly commissioned Lay Spiritan Associates in Kenya. 

He appealed to the Laity to “come forth and join us so that we don't only grow as ordained ministers by vows but also that the part of the Laity as Spiritan family should grow.”

Also speaking to ACI Africa, the Chairman of the Lay Spiritan Associates in Kenya expressed his joy at the commissioning of new members.

Raphael Mutisya Kitavi, Chairman of the Lay Spiritan Associates in Kenya. Credit: ACI Africa

“We used to be 166 and now we will be more than 200,” Raphael Mutisya Kitavi said, and added, “From what we have been doing in our Parishes I think we will do more because we have more members who have been trained well.”

Some of the newly commissioned Lay Spiritan Associates shared their sentiments with ACI Africa. 

“We have been sent out to go and evangelize,” Reuben Macharia Ngamiya said, and implored, “May the Holy Spirit give us guidance so that we may do God’s work well.”

Reuben Macharia Ngamiya. Credit: ACI Africa

Mr. Macharia who serves as a Catechist at St. Mary’s Mukuru Parish of Nairobi Archdiocese further said, “I have to bring the good news to my family, my friends and those whom I work with.”

He recognized the context of his service as a slum Parish promising to strive to grow the Lay Spiritan Associates group, and to “help those who are in need.”

Josephat Namu Jero, another newly commissioned Lay Spiritan Associate, said, “We have to work in the light and allow the Spirit of God to blow us to wherever it wants us to live a good life, to be happy serving God with joy.”

Josephat Namu Jero. Credit: ACI Africa

As a Lay Spiritan Associate, Mr. Namu told ACI Africa that he would strive to live the Christian calling, specifically striving to “be a good family, to build a good church and to build a good society”.

He also pledged to “help other people to experience the life of Christ and the love of God.”

Prof. Rachel Gesami, who renewed his commitment as a Lay Spiritan Associate during the May 28 event urged the new members “to continue the evangelization mission by being a right Christian in their respective communities, their homes, families and workplace.”

Prof. Rachel Gesami. Credit: ACI Africa

The inaugural group of Lay Spiritan Associates that comprised 140-lay faithful drawn from various Spiritan-run Parishes in Kenya was commissioned on 29 February 2020 at St. John the Evangelist Holy Ghost Parish of Nairobi Archdiocese.

In 1703, Claude Poullart des Places, a native of France who gave up the practice of law to study for the Priesthood founded a community for those who desired to become Priests; he dedicated the community to the Holy Spirit, calling it the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. 

Some 150 years later, Francis Libermann, a converted Jew, established another religious family also in France, bearing the name, the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Earlier this month, a delegation of Spiritans had an audience with Pope Francis to mark 175 years since the des Places-founded Congregation of the Holy Spirit merged with the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary that Venerable Libermann had founded, to become, in 1848, the Congregation of the Holy Spirit under the protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Credit: ACI Africa

“You are present in sixty countries on five continents, with some 2,600 religious and the involvement of many lay people," Pope Francis, who lauded the rich history of the Spiritans said in his May 8 address.

Considering the rich history of the Spiritans in the last 175 years, the Holy Father said, "we see that Providence has rewarded their generous and courageous docility to the Spirit.”

ACI Africa was founded in 2019. We provide free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Catholic Church in Africa, giving particular emphasis to the words of the Holy Father and happenings of the Holy See, to any person with access to the internet. ACI Africa is proud to offer free access to its news items to Catholic dioceses, parishes, and websites, in order to increase awareness of the activities of the universal Church and to foster a sense of Catholic thought and culture in the life of every Catholic.