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In
Search of the Spirit
A
monthly letter from the Glenmary Vocation Office
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July 2006
Two New Pioneers for Glenmary!
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| Father Dan Dorsey, president of Glenmary, signs Austine Duru's First Oath as Austine and Dennis Mahokha look on. Novitiate director Father Dave Glockner and Father Tom Kirkendoll, who witnessed both Oaths, are pictured behind Father Dan. |
Two men’s journey in search of the Spirit has led them to temporary membership in Glenmary Home Missioners. On June 30, 2006, Austine Duru and Dennis Makokha publicly professed their First Oath to Glenmary during a Mass at Our Lady of the Fields Chapel at our national headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.
By this Oath, Austine and Dennis commit themselves to be Glenmary Home Missioners for one year—and they are the first students from Nigeria (Austine) and Kenya (Dennis) to do so. Adding to the historic nature of this day is the fact that it has been over 10 years since two men took First Oath together. (View photos of the First Oath ceremony.)
So I have decided this month to allow some words of Austine and Dennis to guide you, my faithful reader, in your search for the Holy Spirit.
The night before Oath, I asked Austine and Dennis what advice they would give to those who follow them in the discernment process.
From Dennis, this reminder: “That you need to remember it is mission before community (in Glenmary). You need to love the spirit of rural America. Most of all, you need to know it is not just a one-day thing.”
Both Dennis and Austine mentioned the importance of prayer and persistence. In their formation process they have made new friends and watched some of them leave. Both Austine and Dennis say that, at times, they have questioned why they stay. Both acknowledge that it is not easy to be in formation. Yet the inner call of God makes it possible.
Austine summed up the call to Glenmary in this way: “If you love adventure, are willing to dare, want to be a pioneer and are not afraid to get your hands dirty, then Glenmary is the place for you!” I deeply agree with his summation, and both Austine and Dennis, having left they families and homelands, exhibit this pioneer spirit by embracing the mission of Glenmary.
Many immigrants come to our land to find employment, to make a better living for themselves, or to try to support family back home. Yet both Dennis and Austine have left their homelands to embrace a religious life of poverty, chastity, obedience and prayer in order to make other people’s lives better. Not the people of their native lands—which have many poor—but the poor, economically and spiritually, in these United States of America.
They have sacrificed many opportunities for themselves in order to provide opportunities for spiritual and material development to the people of rural America. They are pioneers entering upon a new adventure. They dare to be with new people in new situations as they roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty tackling the multiple tasks that home mission ministry requires.
Austine hopes, “that this one step (of taking Oath) may encourage others to do the same.” Dennis challenges those of the United States to follow in his footsteps, “Charity begins at home. Serve your country and be willing to work for others here. There is a huge need to nurture the faith here (in the U.S.A.). The harvest is rich, but laborers are few.”
Thus, as each person searches for where the Holy Spirit is guiding them, maybe the words and actions of Dennis and Austine can be helpful. They are truly excited to be among the Glenmary brotherhood. They wait for many to follow from Nigeria, Kenya, Mexico and all those living in the United States. If you have the qualities that these men highlight maybe Glenmary will be home for you as well.
May God bless each of you in your summer endeavors and your individual searches. May you find the clarity that Dennis and Austine have found that has allowed them to profess their Oath as temporary members of the Glenmary Home Missioners. We in the vocation department are here to help.
