Congrats, Father Charles!

This weekend we got to participate in a cool and unique event. My friend, Charles Githinji, was ordained into the priesthood. The weekend began with a lovely holy hour of prayer on Friday night in which parishoners of St. Pat's joined then Deacon Charles in praying the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy (and some other stuff).

On Saturday morning, Jenna and I traveled downtown to attend the actual ordination. I have never been to one before and it was really neat to see. For those who haven't been before, it was similar to a wedding mass, but with the ordination stuff replacing the wedding stuff. Oh, and there was heavy incense usage, the bishop, and LOTS of priests, deacons, and seminarians.

On Saturday night, the African community at St. Pat's hosted an ordination reception for Father Charles at the KC hall. We enjoyed seeing native dances, hearing from a few speakers in honor of Father Charles, and eating delicious food. Jenna chipped in and decorated all the tables. She used some of the flowers from the table decorations at our wedding, and I think it is cool that our wedding decorations were shared with a priest's ordination celebration. Anyway, Father Charles clearly had a great time and was very happy with the whole day. And to top it off, a few of his family members were able to get Visas and make the trip over from Kenya. The rest were able to watch a live feed of the ordination.

Finally, Father Charles said his first mass at noon on Sunday with another reception at the Parish. The weekend was a special time for him, and I am glad to have been a part of it. We didn't manage to get one picture the entire weekend, but here is a picture of Father Charles.



Special thanks to Aunt Sarah who came down for the weekend and was a HUGE help with the kids while Jenna and I were doing so much with the ordination. Thanks Aunt Sarah!