Most Reverend Joseph Obanyi Sagwe, Bishop Diocese of Kakamega, Kenya
The Kenya Catholic Community in America is excited to announce that plans for its 5th Annual Cultural Celebrations are at an advanced stage.
This year’s celebrations will be held on Saturday, August 13th 2016 at St. Patrick Assumption /All Saints Catholic Church, 492 Bramhall Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07304. Festivities will start at 10.00 am. The Swahili Mass which will be the highlight of the day, will start at 12.00 noon.
The Mission of the Kenyan Catholic Community in America as an organization is simple: to promote and support Small Christian Communities “Jumuiya Ndogo Ndogo” in the diaspora (USA); to strengthen our faith and families by nurturing spiritual wellbeing, peaceful and just communities by supporting and/or coordinating activities that serve Kenyan Catholics in the United States to live their faith in solidarity with their brothers and sisters of all backgrounds.
One of the many issues that face the African Catholic immigrant once they arrive in the USA, and anywhere else in the world, is a sense of belonging in the Catholic Church. Most often, this leads very faithful Catholics to stop attending mass and leave their family and social safety net behind or change their Catholic Faith to other denominations. For many years, the issue of how to help alleviate this problem has been brought up, time and time again, until 2011 when the KCCA was formed to address them.
For the last four years, the KCCA has been organizing annual Swahili Masses which are cultural events that have the Holy Mass as their focal point. The Eucharistic experience during these events is wonderful, very inspirational and motivational for those who attend, since the events are geared towards arousing homeland sentiments. This year we are very optimistic that it is going to be an even better event as we have been getting positive responses from the Kenyan brethren in the diaspora.
Last year we were honored by His Eminence John Cardinal Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi, who presided at the event held at Saint Elizabeth Anne Seton Catholic Church, in Bear, Delaware U.S.A. He spiritually touched many who attended, inspired and motivated multitudes, raising hopes for many.
To continue our goal of building bridges between the diaspora and the motherland, we are again honored this year by the Most Reverend Joseph Obanyi Sagwe, Bishop of the Diocese of Kakamega, who has accepted our invitation to come and be the main celebrant at the mass on August 13th 2016. The Bishop will also celebrate Mass in St. Paul Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday, August 6th 2016. On Sunday, August 7th 2016, he will meet the Kenyan Catholics Community in Dallas Texas and celebrate Mass there before proceeding to New Jersey for the 5th Annual KCCA Swahili Mass to be held on Saturday August 13th 2016.
We urge those who are able to attend to come as we will be “Walking Together Through The Door Of Divine Mercy”.
George N Marucha
Chairman: Kenyan Catholic Community in America
Source-kcca2012.org
Kenyan Catholics Gather in New Jersey for Swahili Mass
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