St Gilbert
Family,
Printable Version
I would like to take this
opportunity to thank everyone for the support I have received during my
transition here in St. Gilbert. Fr. Gene has been very supportive and we are
blessed to have him as our pastor. The staff and school teachers have been a
blessing to me. I’m very grateful to our parishioners. You have always asked
me how I am, indicating how you care and being very supportive to me. I’m
writing this article to you all so that you know I’m blessed and very happy
to be your associate pastor.
The children in school have given
me a smile every week. I love teaching our faith to children and the
children have loved me back and given me more than I could ever ask. I thank
the parents who work hard every day to make sure their kids grow in faith of
loving God and neighbor. Lots of parents have expressed to me how they
appreciate what I do with the kids and I want you to know I do appreciate
all your support.
For those who have opened their
houses to me, and it’s many of you I’m very grateful. St. Gilbert is filled
with generous and God loving people. This has given me a chance to meet you
in person and share stories of my life with you as I listen to yours. Some
we have become good and close friends. As warm weather comes, those who play
golf we shall have chance to hang out together and play some golf.
Thursday and Friday I’m always off and hence available for such events.
I feel your love as I shake hands
with you every Sunday after masses and the complements you give after my
homilies and services. I have experienced strong support and love as I
visit different groups like Women's Club; Knights of Columbus just to
mention a few. Thanks for wonderful cards, letters as well emails.
My family is doing very well in
Kenya. Thanks for your prayers. Life in Kenya is back to normal
after several weeks of ethnic violence. I plan to visit my family in
the near future. For those people who are interested to know about my
family and childhood life please read the article in the website about “Dance
is the story of my life”.
It has been a blessing working with
the young adults and I look forward to having a strong young adult ministry
as well as teen ministry in our parish. The young adults will be
meeting every first Monday of the month at 7.00 pm starting next month at
the youth center here at St. Gilbert. I do encourage everyone who is
ages 20s and 30s, single and married to join us for this event. We
open the scripture together and then pray for our individual needs and
spiritual nourishment as young people. I hope we can plan other events
during warm weather. Please come and join us.
Jesus says “I am the way the truth
and the life”. It’s a blessing to know we do not have to wander around
looking for direction because Christ is our way. We do not have to
wander around looking for truth because Jesus is the truth. We do not
have wander around looking for meaning for our lives because Christ is our
life.
I love you all.
Peace,
Fr. Sam
People of Saint Gilbert,
Greetings and love,
I'm very
grateful to Fr. Gene, the staff and the people of St. Gilbert for the warm
welcome I have received. Thanks a lot. Let me share with you something about
me. (Also, read "Dance
is the story of my life.")
I was born
in Kenya (East Africa) Aug. 22nd 1974. I'm the fourth born in a
family of fifteen. I was brought up in the country side (farm) and worked in the
farm as a young boy. Most of my young life I was a shepherd taking care of
sheep, goats and cows and I loved it a lot. It's during my high school years I
left home and went to the city (boarding school). I moved to USA July 1997 and
went to Mundelein Seminary. I was there for four years. On 24th of
May 2003 I was ordained a priest for the archdiocese of Chicago. I have served
at St. Joseph in Homewood, Saint Benedict the African West and Saint Lawrence
O'Toole in Matteson.
In Kenya,
English is the official language; everybody is expected to speak English since
kindergarten. Kiswahili is the national language; it's the uniting local
language of my people. There are more than 35 tribes in Kenya, which imply 35
tribal languages. In the world Kenya is known for its long distance runners,
coffee and animals (Safari). However, what is lost in all these is the rich
culture and traditions of people of Kenya. I hope my presence here will give
you opportunity to learn more about Kenyan people.
I'm very
grateful to God for calling me to be a priest. For me this is an honor not a
privilege and I'm always humbled by it. I love being a priest. I hope my
passion and love for this calling will bring blessings to you and your family.
Learning has been my way of life since I became a priest. I hope to learn your
culture, ways of worship, traditions and values. I hope you will have an open
mind to learn mine as well. We come from different continents and have lots to
learn from each other. More important, I hope we shall grow closer to God
together. We are children of almighty God. We believe that in God's family
there is no nationality, tribe or race but one family bonded by love. “By the
way they love each other you will know they are my disciple” I'’m blessed and
excited to be here and I will serve you with all my heart and love.
I have passion for
sports, I love playing Golf, bowling, going out for movie, watching baseball
(Cubs), football and basketball. I like cooking. My favorite food is Kenyan and
Italian. However, I do not eat fish or any sea food. I do not take any drink
or foods that contain alcohol. I love listening and playing music. I can sing
as well and I love doing just that. I like being around people I love and
spending quality time with different families and kids. I hope you will invite
me in your family events, I will like that. Most of my family is in Kenya, you
are my family for now. In short, I like outdoor events, they are fun and I love
having fun.
I hope this helps you to know me a
little bit. I prefer to be called Fr. Sam. I prefer to be identified as a
Kenyan not an African.
May God bless you all.
Fr. Sam
Dance is the story of my life.
Printable
Version
By Father Sam
Have
you ever danced? We dance because we are celebrating or having fun. Each
one of us has been blessed with a special dance. It’s unique because no one
else knows it unless we open ourselves and allow others to come and join us
and dance with us. Please join me, watch the steps and movement and enjoy
the dance, it’s the story of my life.
It was
in the afternoon on August 22, 1974 when I came to this world. My mom
(Margaret Wambui) and dad (Patrick Mukundi) lived in a grass thatched house
and mud built wall. This was the place I was born. After birth I was
named Ngatia, which means a lion. According to our tradition I had to take
my uncle’s name. I was baptized four years later and named Samson. My aunt
chose this name for me so that I can strong like Samson in the Old
Testament. I am the fourth child of my parents who have 15 children. By
then we lived in Kimuri, a small village of about 1000 families. Kimuri is
located in Eldoret, Rift Valley province, Kenya. Yes, I’m a Kenyan by
nationality, kikuyu by tribe. There are more than 30 tribes in Kenya which
means there are more than 30 languages. Kenya was colonized by the British
for many years and hence English has been our official language. We learn
English from kindergarten all way through college. Kiswahili is the
language that unites us as a nation and is required to be studied as well
from kindergarten to high school. Every Kenyan speaks three languages at
least: mother tongue (tribal language), English (official language) and
Kiswahili (national language).
I took
my primary education in Kimuri primary school for seven years. Most if not
all the kids were kikuyu. Then in 8th grade I went to Ochemina
Primary school where my uncle whom I’m named after was a teacher. Most kids
there were Nandi by tribe and I had to learn some of the Nandi language and
culture as well. In both of these places 90% of the people were farmers. My
primary responsibility was taking care of the cattle of my parents. If I
was not in school I had to take the animals to the field (cows, goats and
sheep) and graze them. My parents had 20 cows, 35 sheep and goats. We had
two dogs which we used for hunting for the protection of our animals and
house at night from bad people. Dogs are not expected to be inside the
house. We had two cats which lived inside the house mostly to hunt the
rats. I kept some rabbits and chickens which I sold once in a while to get
some money.
My dad
had a big music system and neighbors used to come home on the weekend, play
music and dance. If you danced very well my dad would give you a gift. This
was how we had fun on the weekend, dancing in people’s houses; we did not
have a dance club in my village or any where near. TV was history in my
village; no one had a TV when I was growing up as a boy. I had not seen a
movie theater until I came to United States. Radio was the only means of
communication by then.
My
parents expected all us to participated in their farm life and enjoy every
bit of it. Before going to school every day my brothers and I had to milk
five cows or more by hand and on my way to school carry the milk in a big
container with a wheelbarrow to the milk collection center, and then head to
school. After school I had to make sure I fetched enough water from the
well for family use, animals and sometimes even for the plants, in case it
was very dry. One of the most fun times was working in the farm during
harvesting period. Neighbors moved from one farm to the other helping each
other to harvest corn. We were always singing and competing to see who will
out harvest the others. For this reason I knew everybody in the village
because we were very close together. Whether in marriage, funerals or any
community event the whole village was involved.
When I
moved to Ochemina Primary the distance from the place I lived and where the
school was, was about five miles. I had to run to school every morning, run
back home for lunch break, which was an hour, and make sure I was back to
school for afternoon classes, and then walk home in the evening. I did a
lot of running. During my primary school time I participated mostly in
games. I loved playing soccer. We used to make soccer balls from poly bags
by folding them together. We played soccer in school during soccer season,
in the streets or open areas if we were not in school. We also had an
athletic season for running. We had to run cross country races around the
village for practice every evening. Then competition between schools was
held up to the national level. We had music festival season (music, drama
and dance competition). Different music in all languages as well
traditional dance competition took place. My favorite seasons were soccer
and music festival. At the end of Primary education all students in 8th
grade took a national examination and only those students who pass the exam
made it to high school. If you don’t pass the exam you either drop out or
repeat the 8th grade. I did very well in the national exam and I
was on my way to high school.
However, before heading there I had to go through a cultural rite called
circumcision. It’s a very important right of passage for my tribe. I was
in seclusion for a month, healing the wound, learning the most sacred
traditions of my people which can never be told to strangers, and being
advised of how to be responsible as a father in case I get married and, more
importantly how to relate with women, mostly your wife. I had to memorize
everything because taking notes was not acceptable. At the end the elders
(those gone through the rite before you) gather in the house and ask
questions to see if you understood everything they taught you. Then you take
an oath to keep sacred our traditions and never to reveal to strangers all
that I was taught. This rite of passage makes one be regarded as an adult.
I was only 14years old when I went through this rite.
The
high school I went to was located down town in Eldoret. It is a minor
seminary, namely Mother of Apostles Seminary. It was and still remains one
of the best high schools in the nation, but is very expensive. This was not
the high school of my choice, but my dad was trying to give me the best
education available. I was sure by then that Catholicism was not the
religion of my choice. I had been led to believe that Catholics don’t get
“saved”, they worship Mary and Idols. Catholic liturgies were very boring
to me. I was more attracted to the Protestant spirit of worship (music and
very nice homilies from pastors). I didn’t want at all to be in that high
school but my dad forced me there. At school we had Mass every day in the
morning, rosary in the evening and very intense studies. I was very curious
about very many Catholic doctrines and during the first year I took a lot of
time reading and asking questions of Catholic faith to Irish priests and
Nuns who ran the school. After one year of being in high school I fell in
love with Catholicism.
In
high school I loved playing games very much and music. I played soccer,
handball and, acted in drama. We formed a small choir for contemporary
music, traditional and liturgical dances among the students. Our school did
very well in the drama competition in the nation and several times I acted
as a major character in a school drama. I enjoyed being an actor. Our
handball team did not go beyond the provincial level but I enjoyed playing
that game more than soccer. We did well in the district but we never tested
national competition. Most of my success came with music and academics.
Every year our choir went to the national competition in traditional dancing
as well in composing music. In some of those dances I was the soloist of
the song being danced. I loved it and gave it my all. In my 3rd
year in high school the school president appointed me to be in charge of the
music in the seminary. The school choir sung for the English Mass every
Sunday morning in the parish connected to the seminary (John XX111 Parish).
This mass was mostly attended by students because other people preferred to
attend Kiswahili mass. We created a liturgical dance group and incorporated
some of our cultural oriented tunes and dance into Christian songs. I
believed then and I still believe now that music takes us into a very high
level of worship, very close to God. Music should move our thoughts,
emotions and passion to the next level of seeing and feeling God’s
presence. When I sing I pray better, worship even deeper. With time the
English Mass which used to be for students became the best attended Mass in
the parish. The Church was parked every Sunday. Music played a big role
then and it has always done in my life. I pray with music, dance with music
and breathe musically.
At the
end of High School in Kenya the students take a national examination. You
have to pass this exam with a B or better grade to go to college. I did
well but chose a different path in life rather than going to Government
College. I chose to pursue priesthood. I will write about this journey in a
different article. Hope you have enjoyed the dance so far.
In
Christ Jesus,
Fr. Sam
