Prepared by Brenda Kobusingye, Uganda
Members Present
Joe (Kenya), Alloys (Kenya), Luna (USA), Collins (Kenya), Juma (Uganda), Ashiknaz (Pakistan), Staicy (Kenya), Gerald (Kenya), Irene (Kenya), Jenipher (Uganda), Aloysius (Uganda), Abel (Kenya), Cecilia (Kenya), Asian (Pakistan), Faith (Kenya), Valentine (Kenya), Steven (Kenya), Mary (Kenya), and Brenda (Uganda).
Watch the video of the meeting:
The gathering started with a word of prayer from Brenda. Afterwards, Alloys was invited to welcome the new members to our gathering and introduce the Guest Facilitator.
Stephanie Luna, Maryknoll young adults.
Stephanie Luna, whose preferred name is Luna, is a native of California. Her childhood was primarily spent in the Los Angeles area. She is a first-generation graduate from California state university with a degree in art and communications. As a mission educator and promoter for The San Francisco Bay area, Luna hopes to create a safe place for young adults to build community and help individuals discover their authentic selves. In her free time, Luna enjoys spending time in the garden. Her urban farmer hero is ………, and she hopes to be a gangster gardener.
Luna started by inviting the Young Seekers to a moment of silence and prayer. she expressly told us about her story and how it was tough for her to find a safe space to be with other people who wanted to be part of something bigger and who tried to make a difference in the world. When she went to college, she decided that she needed to find a community, but adjusting was hard. Luna felt a little lost and alone until a campus fair where she was exposed to many clubs and organizations and was given different information. One club caught her attention which was the Catholic club and Campus ministry. She started attending the Bible study groups through the invitations she got to participate in mass and eat with the Bible study group members. Mass was a life changer for her; she started getting drawn to faith and became an active Catholic community member in college.
Luna talked about celebrating advent as a way of honoring Christ and a moment of hope and joy. She, therefore, went ahead to join the Franciscan Community Volunteers with the Franciscan Sisters in Minnesota, where she learned more about poverty and creating space for God in our lives, for it brings a sense of joy. Luna joined her first retreat with marital in Oakland without a clue of what it was at that time but later found her community and fell in love with the mission spirit. Therefore, they developed young adult empowerment communities for Young Adults.
In 2018, they developed young adult listening sessions for young people where they would raise questions about their faith and how the Catholic church is helping them to strengthen their faith and understand who God is. Young People were asked how the Catholic church could support them; the first reason was to help them find purpose in life. Secondly, to understand moral issues and church teaching; the third reason is volunteering and learning how to make a difference in the world. These, therefore, gave young people leadership discernment moment.
Luna analyzed that young adult needs a welcoming, open, loving, inclusive and accepting Church. After the listening sessions in 2018, they went into discernment. Young adults thought about what Maryknoll could offer to young adults looking for a welcoming church and let them into starting Maryknoll Young Adults ministry. They ended up having five adult communities of about 5-15 young adults in each community. The communities are in Washington Seattle, northern California, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Southern California, Chicago, and New York.
Q and A Session
From Asian, Pakistan;
How can a young adult make his place in church?
Creating space for young people to share their ideas gives them the confidence to express themselves best.
A question from Ashiknaz in Pakistan
How many years will it take to make space for young people in church?
The church had become a part of our lives and our culture. Luna gave an example of how she didn’t feel welcomed until she went to college and got involved in the church and now thinks the biggest motivation is having a sense of belonging and purpose.
A question from Cecilia in Kenya
What is your biggest motivation in going to Church?
She said the biggest motivation is having a sense of belonging to something that is more like the church. And she said bringing all these groups together
A question from Brenda in Uganda
How should the church bring out the best version of young adults?
Through discernment and inviting the Holy Spirit.
Alloys later informed us that after 56 years of ministry in Africa, Father Joe Healey was leaving to return to the United States. It was the last gathering Joe was connecting from Kenya, Africa. He mentioned how they met with Joe while still at Kenyatta University and how Joe has mentored so many young people. Every person was given a few minutes to say something about Joe and Luna’s presentation. It was a very emotional moment when everybody got to say something about their relationship with Joe.
Alloys invited Juma from Uganda to say farewell to Father Joe Healey and also give a word of thanks to our guest facilitator Luna for her beautiful message and sharing with us. And he also called upon Stacey to do the same.
Online messages on Facebook and Zoom room;
Tumuhaise Jennipher from Uganda appreciated the work done by Luna and the Maryknoll young adult’s team. She asked Luna if we should someday have a joint online gathering with her team, and Luna said she would work on that.
Juma Derek, Uganda, appreciated Luna for her encouragement, empowerment and challenging young people to stand firm and fight for their space within the Church. He also went ahead and made another post appreciating Fr. Joe Healey for loving, caring, and being the spine and hero of our gathering. And he also wished him a safe journey back to the USA.
Collins Ongoma, Kenya, appreciated Luna for sharing the excellent work that the Maryknoll young adults are doing in the USA. He was also challenged and encouraged to improve the way we conduct our activities. He also said farewell to Joe, whom he referred to him as “Mwanajumuiya”. He wished him God’s blessings in his new online ministry.
Gerald extended his thanks to the Guest Facilitator (Luna), and he hopes for more connections with the Maryknoll Young Adults. He went ahead and also said farewell to Fr. Joseph G Healey. He said it’s because of Fr. Joe that he knows the meaning of SCCs. He appreciated him for serving, nurturing, educating, motivating and challenging us.
Aloysius Mugishagwe extended his thanks to Luna. And he said he could not wait to meet with the Maryknoll young adults at our next gathering. He also appreciated Fr. Joe for his time with us. Next Gathering will be on December 22, 2022 and Mary Wahome will be the facilitator.
