We Are Family.

On Sunday evening, history was made. If you had been a fly on the wall, it wouldn’t have seemed like much. But, in the hearts of those of us present, a song of hope and promise was sung. For the first time, Father Kolbe Missionary priests celebrated Mass in our chapel in West Covina, California. For the first time, Father Kolbe Missionary men and women and Father Kolbe Volunteers united in the heart of our home, the chapel. The family was together.

Four young priests, three newly ordained, celebrated Mass. Father Eduardo is from a large, Brazilian favela.  Father Alex is from a small town that cultivates sugar cane. Father Ryan is from Dana Point, California, a small suburb of Orange County. Father Maximiliano is from a small (larger than Fr. Alex’s), traditional town also in Brazil.

Not quite everyone....
(Left to Right: Fr. Maximiliano, Fr. Ryan,
Fr. Alex, and Fr. Eduardo)

Joining our prayers with theirs, on this historic evening, was the local Fr. Kolbe Missionary and Volunteer family. We are widows, separated, married couples, consecrated women, clerics, laity, and single. We work nights to support the family, are retired, live on two-incomes, give of our excess, and struggle to make ends meet. We have no children and ten children, old and young. We are immigrants from Colombia, Italy, Sri Lanka, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, Philippines, as well as fourth and fifth generation citizens. Still, there is no mistaking the family resemblance. 

There was a higher level of palpable joy (than usual!) on Sunday night as the children and the grandparents alike realized that our big family was all together. The challenge to never be afraid of God’s call, given by Father Ryan, piqued the interest of a 19-year-old. At the same time, a teenage boy felt free to talk about his many troubles to the young priest who witnessed first-hand the heavy-hand of violence. The young girls were excited to learn a Brazilian song, perhaps equally as thrilled to play a game of “futbol” with the missionary men and women.

As one Fr. Kolbe Volunteer stated, 

“We have nothing – and everything – in common. They have the same mission, the same dream, as I do. They love the same things I love. They love the Immaculata like I do, or the way that I want to!”

Another person noted, 

“Some of us don’t even speak the same language… but we understand each other. We understand, because we know what we want out of life and how to get it. We want heaven, to glorify God, and the Immaculata is our way.”

We are a family: The Father Kolbe Missionaries and Volunteers of the Immaculata.

To get to know us better, please visit: www.kolbemission.org/en/home