The article was first reported by The Catholic Free Press

January 10, 2019

By Tanya Connor

“Only older Catholics like to go to Mass, adoration and confession. The faith is dying. It should be more fun.”
Friends say such things to Dale Brown, a student at Nichols College in Dudley. But he has a different perspective after attending a conference.
The Jan. 3-7 conference in Indianapolis – SEEK2019: Encounter Something More” – was sponsored by the Denver-based Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS).

More than 17,000 people from around the world registered for the gathering that included talks, entertainment, adoration and Masses celebrated by bishops and priests, a press release said. There were tracks for college students, campus ministers and “lifelong mission.”

Interviewer – Would you share a bit about your background: family, childhood, early education etc.?

Fr. Benard – I was born in 1977 into a very strong Catholic family in Kenya and was the third of six boys. There were four other boys who died at a very young age. Immediately after my First Holy Communion, I became an altar boy and during this time I was influenced by the sisters who were residing and working in the parish. From a young age, I had been interested in the priesthood. I was also fortunate enough to attend a Catholic high school.

- Where/how did your Assumptionist roots begin? Did anyone in particular have a significant impact on your life?

- Initially, it was my family, parish and the Franciscan Sisters of St. Anna who influenced my faith and encouraged a devotion to Mary and the Rosary. They wholeheartedly supported my interest in priesthood.  At 19 years of age, I obtained a booklet on all congregations and attended an ‘Come and See’ weekend in Nairobi where I met Fr. Richard Brunelle, A.A.  Twelve of us attended but only two of us were invited to begin the discernment process. Up until that time I did not know the difference between diocesan priesthood and those belonging to religious congregations.

The week before Christmas, the Assumption family of religious, Lay Assumptionists, sisters from several communities, invited guests and the staff of OER gathered once again to celebrate the blessings of this season together, thanks to the hospitality of Fr. Dinh and the local OER community. It was an afternoon of sharing stories, friendship, Christmas carols, and delicious foods both savory and sweet. It truly was a time to celebrate God with us and among us and one another!

The Assumptionist Community of Tlilapan celebrated with joy the XX D'Alzoniano Youth Encounter in the Chapel of St. Joseph Jalapilla from November 23 to 25, 2018. Around 200 young people from Orizaba, Córdoba and Mexico City participated with enthusiasm and joy in their first camp with Jesus . It is because according to them, it was a wonderful experience that they will never forget. This is the main Assumptionist youth activity in Mexico that takes place every year to celebrate one more anniversary of the passage to the full life of our founder, Fr. Emmanuel D'Alzon.

We met with the intention of deepening the life and work of our founder, his time and his challenges, his spirituality and his thoughts. But also, in this meeting, we shared the experiences lived in this life of being Christians from the intuitions of our founder.

A video by Joe Pagano