It was delightful to come back home and to Nairobi after 2 years in the Overseas Training Program (OTP) in Bolivia. There we learned Spanish and then lived and worked among our Maryknoll missioners stationed in the city of Cochabamba.  This took place amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Upon our departure at the end of the program the airports in Bolivia were shut down just two days after we returned to Kenya. Many thanks for the teams that have been working round the clock to come up with vaccines against this deadly virus!

Our encounter with the men residing at the Maryknoll House has been terrific and fantabulous!  This House welcomes men from East Africa expressing interest in joining Maryknoll. It also houses seminarians like us who have joined Maryknoll through witness to the good work done by Maryknoll missioners in East Africa. We feel attracted towards that same mission charism of serving people in need throughout the world and following in their footsteps.

Here at the House there are four groups in different formational stages. First, the two of us who recently completed our OTP in Bolivia and are now awaiting to receive our student visas in order to proceed with the next stage of formation. We will be soon going to Chicago for theology studies at the Catholic Theological Union (CTU).

The second group has three men and their situation is slightly complicated. They ought to have gone for their spirituality year (novitiate) in the U.S. last year but unfortunately the pandemic has made it most difficult to complete their visa process. While awaiting visas these men have completed one year of theology studies at Hekima University College (the Jesuit University Seminary in Nairobi) and to date their visa status remains on hold. As an alternative they may be sent for OTP in Cochabamba, Bolivia before their taking the spirituality year in Chicago.  Currently they are learning Spanish in a language center in Nairobi.

The third, is a group of seminarians who recently completed their pre-requisite philosophy studies at Tangaza University here in Nairobi and are now currently enrolled for Theology studies at Hekima College as they too await their visa process to be completed enabling them to come to Chicago.

The last group is earning the pre-requisite philosophy studies at Tangaza University in preparation to come to the U.S.

Our House is well organized. We have outdoor sports activities that include football (soccer in the U.S.) and volley ball after classes as well as indoor games like Ludo and Monopoly in the evenings. Before the pandemic hit, men in the house would volunteer in different pastoral mission activities.  The outbreak of the pandemic in the house posed an enormous blow to the house curtailing many of these activities. A number of seminarians and priests in the House were infected and then quarantined. Among the seminarians only three were not infected. The silence was the order of the day as men kept quiet in their rooms with music tuned low. Mass and Liturgy of the Hours were suspended for a period of one month. We resorted to online access for Mass, classes and conference calls for chats and small talk. Nevertheless, during this time we felt so strongly the essence of the community. The negatives served the positives.  The three uninfected seminarians brought food and drinks to our rooms for more than three weeks. They woke up at early dawn to prepare coffee for those who are coffee addicts. Then they brought us breakfast, lunch and dinner. The pandemic has taught us the spirit of service to humanity; that life needs urgency and love, an outpouring of service that rejuvenates hearts that have already lost hope. The experience has brought us hope and peace as we witnessed the Christ in the example of these servants, our brothers. The pandemic has taught us to always be ready to serve in the midst of danger. Where fear and ego can lead to the loss of life, the service of missionaries can be a source of salvation.

With a slight easing of the pandemic, we have now returned to normal tasks. We discharge our duties with greater cooperation. Every member is assigned a place to keep tidy. The camaraderie among us has been impressive.  We also cultivate a vegetable garden planting kale, corn and other local vegetables. These outdoor activities are so important. Those who cherish farming would spend their good time feeling the feel of the soil and giving care to our mother earth. On this property we also raise poultry. This was initiated by the seminarians to produce local chicken breeds for house consumption. It is a great venture indeed!

This change in the seasons is a high point for the year in the New York area where our headquarters is located.  The rich gold and crimson red colors of the leaves combined with cool breezes gives us a fresh and invigorated appreciation for life.  We hope you are blessed with these same feelings and appreciation for God’s gifts of creation during this time of the year.  We have been in contact with you while you contemplate the missionary vocation as priest or Brother.  May that motivation of service to God’s people through faith and hope in the message of Jesus provide your soul with those same feelings of zest for life!

One of our senior and now deceased missioners, Fr. Dick Clifford, once wrote: “Mission is a human touch, in whatever form, place, person or circumstance it may reach out to express itself.  It is often simple, sometimes sad, occasionally humorous but always enlightening.  When one has felt this touch and has learned to respond to its tender embrace, in love and understanding, then one has begun to experience a true sense of mission, in all its beauty and charm and incomparable value.”

Service in response to love, St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”  I talk with people who admire the missionary vocation but feel they’re not worthy to undertake it.  I respond to them saying that we missioners are just ordinary human beings like them trying to contribute to God’s Mission in this world in whatever small way we can.  It reminds me of another St. Mother Teresa quote: “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

As always we look forward to hearing from you at (vocation@maryknoll.org): Fr. Rodrigo Ulloa-Chavarry, Fr. Mike Snyder, Fr. Joe Donovan and Mr. Greg Darr.

While we always enjoy in person vocation events, the pandemic has also stimulated us to utilize social platforms to engage with young men interested in a missionary vocation.  One of these has been Saturday evening Come & See events.  They last just two hours and during this time we cover various subjects, introduce participants to Maryknoll priests, Brothers and candidates in training and hear some of their stories.

This October during Columbus Day Weekend (October 8 – 10) we will sponsor a virtual retreat at our Initial Formation Residence in Chicago.  Participants will be able to engage in discussions with our candidates.  For information in joining us contact our vocation director, Fr. Rodrigo Ulloa, at vocation@maryknoll.org

We need heralds of the Gospel

Who are experts in humanity,

Who know the depths of the human heart,

Who can share the joys, the hopes,

the agonies, the distress of people today,

but who are, at the same time,

Contemplatives who have fallen in love with God.

Welcome to the Summer 2021 Vocations Newsletter!  I hope that the living is indeed easy for you during this time of the year, especially after a long year of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.  You have been in contact with Maryknoll and so are contemplating a missionary vocation as priest or Brother.  You come to us from the motive of faith and hope in the life-giving message of Jesus.

I once heard the word vocation defined as the place God calls us to where our deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.  I hope you recognize how much you and so many others like you are needed today.  The Gospel message of God’s love, mercy and compassion for all people is so important.  It needs to be preached not only in words but in the living out of our daily lives.  You are a messenger wherever you go and in whatever you do.  But, you still need to take steps in the direction that will fulfill the deep gladness you wish in life.  To move beyond your own personal concerns by seeking to meet the needs of others as a missionary priest or Brother may be the vocation that God has chosen for you – the path that brings joy, gladness, and contentment to your life.

As always we look forward to hearing from you at (vocation@maryknoll.org): Fr. Rodrigo Ulloa-Chavarry, Fr. Mike Snyder, Fr. Joe Donovan and Mr. Greg Darr.

The Permanent Oath is the lifetime commitment members make to Maryknoll at the time of ordination as priests or completion of training as Brothers.  During the initial formation years we make yearly Temporary Oaths.  This Oath is a public sign of our commitment to the mission work of Christ as entrusted to Maryknoll.  It is a commitment to each other that binds us together in a mutual response to God’s Mission.  By this oath we commit ourselves to Jesus Christ, to the Catholic Church and to its duty to be messengers of God’s love, compassion and mercy throughout the world. Our seminarians and Brother candidates begin taking a temporary oath just prior to their participation in the Overseas Training Program (a 2 year internship program).  It is renewed each year afterward until ordination as priests and lifetime commitment as Brothers when each makes his Permanent Oath as a lifetime member of Maryknoll.  We have eighteen candidates in our program and this year nine have taken their temporary oath with one, Br. Candidate Jonathan Jose, taking it for the first time.  Congratulations to all!