Nairobi, Kenya

The first three days of our session have been a remarkably enriching experience, with many opportunities to get to know each other, to pray together, and, of course, to work together.

Each of the five congregations of the Assumption Family has shared the key features of the origins of its congregation and its specific charism. Religious of the Assumption, Augustinians of the Assumption, Oblates of Assumption, Little Sisters of the Assumption, and Orants of the Assumption ---- such a wealth of common history and shared zeal for the Kingdom of God and the transformation of society. Although we had read about each congregation for the session, the history has come to life through the presentations, discussions, and, perhaps above all, through the personal encounters of these days.

On July 11^th, 2015, two Assumptionist brothers, Ai Joseph Nguyen Chi and Gaston Mumbere Ndaleghana, were ordained priests by the laying on of hands of Cardinal Lacroix,, the Archbishop of Quebec.

The Liturgy of Ordination took place at the Montmartre Canadien in Quebec City. A Vietnamese and a Congolese choir added to the international flavor of the celebration. The Superior General, the Provincial and the Territorial delegate, as well as a number of Assumptionists from as far away as Budapest and Rome made the A.A. presence especially noteworthy.

Please hold our two newest priests in your prayers, as well as Brother Roberto Reyes Delgadillo who will be ordained in Mexico on July 19^th.

When life turns you upside down, she’s the calm voice who lets you know it’s going to be OK

The street corner outside these fourth-story classroom windows has a sign that bears her name, and it will surprise no one if someday this bright building on Dudley Street does, too.

But that is no concern now. It’s Monday morning and Sister Margaret Leonard is sitting before seven confident and focused women in a job-training session at Project Hope headquarters in Roxbury, doing what she’s done all her life.She listens. She encourages. She sparks conversation. She smiles. She inspires.“This is why we’re here, because of people like you,’’ the Roman Catholic nun tells the women, each bearing a stick-on tag that carries not her name but the characteristic she hopes soon captures the attention of an employer. Strength. Respect. Confidence. Committed. Ambitious. Empathetic.

They are all adjectives that aptly describe the 78-year-old religious sister who for 30 years has led Project Hope, a nonprofit, multiservice agency. She will surrender that post, the capstone of a remarkable career, sometime later this year, leaving a legacy she began building a lifetime ago when she left her home in Everett to work among the poor.

Father of all nations and ages, we recall the day when our country claimed its place among the family of nations: for what has been achieved we give thanks, for the work that still remains we ask your help, and as you have called us from many peoples to be one nation, grant that, under your providence, our country may share your blessings with all the peoples of the earth.
Amen.

(Collect from the Mass for Independence Day)