{"id":6885,"date":"2026-06-01T03:08:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T03:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/?p=6885"},"modified":"2026-06-10T03:22:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T03:22:32","slug":"united-by-gods-love-an-ordination-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/united-by-gods-love-an-ordination-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"United by God\u2019s Love: An Ordination Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Victor Mutobera\u2019s earliest childhood memories include pretending to celebrate Mass. \u201cI used to gather with my friends and my twin brother, and we would assign roles,\u201d recalls the Maryknoll seminarian. \u201cSome formed a choir, others acted as lectors, and I played the priest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The children salvaged an old car tire, which young Victor would roll along the road, saying he was on his way to a village to say Mass. The transitional deacon, who will be ordained to the priesthood on June 6, was born into a devout Catholic family in Kakamega, Kenya. His parents baptized him as an infant and raised him alongside nine siblings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becoming an altar server at his parish, Mutobera often traveled with priests to outstation chapels. It was a joyful experience, he says. He remembers people telling him, \u201cYou\u2019re going to be a good priest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He attended a diocesan minor seminary, equivalent to high school, while considering entering the major seminary. Mutobera\u2019s parents advised him, \u201cEarn a degree first. If God still calls you afterward, you can join the seminary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While studying at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, the capital, Mutobera met Father Lance Nadeau<\/a>, then a chaplain and now the superior general<\/a> of the Maryknoll Society. \u201cWhat inspired me most was how he preached the Gospel both through words and his way of life. He was a great example to me,\u201d Mutobera says. \u201cHis homilies were so powerful and moving that the chapel couldn\u2019t accommodate everyone, so we set up tents outside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Maryknoll
Maryknoll Father Lance Nadeau, then a university chaplain for Kenyatta University students, meets young Victor Mutobera\u2019s parents Roselyn Barasa and Timothy Mutobera in 2019. (Courtesy of Victor Mutobera\/Kenya)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The priest\u2019s sermons, he adds, \u201cmade me reflect deeply on my vocation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mutobera completed a bachelor\u2019s degree in economics and statistics. During his college breaks, he visited Maryknoll missions in Tanzania. He also traveled to Turkana, in northern Kenya, where Father Nadeau supported a mission helping fishermen improve their skills and enhance their livelihoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the turning point for Mutobera. Father Nadeau dedicated his life to people, he says. \u201cThis is what I want to live for.\u201d He joined the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After studying philosophy at Tangaza University in Nairobi, in 2019 Mutobera traveled to Chicago to begin his year of spirituality with the mission society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attending church for the first time in the United States felt quite different, he recalls, because he was accustomed to services where people sang, danced and clapped. \u201cHere was the solemn Mass, with only one person singing in the choir, and the rest of the congregation listening,\u201d he says. \u201cOver time, I began to recognize how meaningful and beautiful the Mass and its music were.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maryknoll\u2019s formation for priests and brothers includes two years in mission in the Society\u2019s Overseas Training Program<\/a>. Mutobera was assigned to Bolivia<\/a>, where he appreciated the strong sense of community and family-oriented culture. He stayed with a host family. \u201cI found joy in being with them, even though I didn\u2019t yet understand Spanish,\u201d he says. \u201cJust being there and listening helped me build a relationship with the family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"As
As part of his overseas training, Mutobera tutors at-risk students at the Cristo Rey home for youth in Cochabamba, Bolivia. During their vocational discernment, Maryknoll seminarians and brother candidates serve in various ministries in cross-cultural contexts. (Courtesy of Victor Mutobera\/Bolivia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWe value his humility, spiritual values, and his vocation for helping those in greatest need,\u201d says Ren\u00e9 Arze, Mutobera\u2019s host father. The family was inspired to volunteer at the seminarian\u2019s ministries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was truly inspiring to see the affection and respect he earned from the children and young people he assisted,\u201d Arze continues. \u201cI feel deeply honored when he calls me \u2018Dad.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mutobera\u2019s service at Cristo Rey, an orphanage run by the Augustinians for children and teenagers who have experienced violence, involved caring for those who had been either removed from or abandoned by their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI helped young kids with reading and taught values that are essential for a good Christian life. A lay Franciscan missioner and I talked to the teenagers about hope, the importance of trust, friendship, and the role of God\u2019s love,\u201d the seminarian says. \u201cThere were kids interested in learning music. I taught them to play the guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He adds, \u201cCristo Rey provided a very good environment for the children to experience the love and the family they might not have had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to his ministry at Cristo Rey, the seminarian joined pastoral visits to two prisons in Cochabamba. There, missioners led worship services and offered holy Communion to inmates.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

During his Overseas Training Program, Mutobera also assisted in Maryknoll\u2019s mission to the Amazon. At a rural parish in the Isiboro S\u00e9cure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS), he taught catechism classes, brought Communion to the sick and accompanied priests to remote communities to celebrate Mass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years ago, the seminarian returned to Chicago to continue his theological studies at Catholic Theological Union. While completing his Master of Divinity, he served in ministry at Mother of the Americas parish in the Little Village community. The Spanish he had learned in Bolivia helped him serve Hispanic parishioners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Mother of the Americas parish, Mutobera provided catechism classes for youth, oversaw altar servers and volunteered in migrant ministry. \u201cThe ministry is about being just, good neighbors, brothers and sisters, and sharing God\u2019s love with those who need it most,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every Saturday, the parish opens its food pantry, offering food and clothing to about 350 people. Maribel Lenus, director of the migrant ministry, says that their goal is to support the community, especially parishioners living in the shadows. Some have stopped working, she says. Children from families without citizenship or permanent residency are afraid to attend school, feeling anxious that their parents might be detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)<\/a>. The ministry includes informing migrants about their rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"While
While in Chicago earning his divinity degree at Catholic Theological Union, Mutobera serves with other volunteers in migrant ministry at Mother of the Americas parish. (Courtesy of Victor Mutobera\/U.S.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lenus is grateful for Mutobera\u2019s compassion toward others, she says. \u201cMission involves building connections with others who may differ from us,\u201d Mutobera says, \u201cbut we are united by God\u2019s love.\u201d God\u2019s grace, he continues, has been evident throughout his vocational journey. \u201cI discovered love, joy and Christ in those I encountered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mutobera says he has learned valuable lessons from fellow seminarians and missioners, notably the formation rector, Maryknoll Father Brian Barrons<\/a>: \u201cHe emphasized the importance of community involvement and teamwork.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Barrons, who visited the seminarian\u2019s hometown last summer, says there he was able to see how Mutobera\u2019s faith and vocation were shaped within his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVictor\u2019s love for God and God\u2019s people will serve him well in mission,\u201d he says. \u201cYou feel his warmth in the things he does, the words he uses to welcome and encourage others, and most especially in his very Christlike lifestyle. He is a true missionary disciple.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After eight years of formation, Mutobera, 36, looks forward to his ordination. \u201cI am deeply grateful,\u201d he says. \u201cI pray that the good Lord will continue to lead me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured image: Maryknoll Seminarian Victor Mutobera, 36, shown at the Maryknoll Society formation house in Chicago, will be ordained a priest on June 6 after eight years of intensive preparation. Mutobera, who is from Kenya, became a transitional deacon last year as a step toward the priesthood. (Octavio Dur\u00e1n\/U.S.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Victor Mutobera, who will be ordained June 6, shares the vocation journey that led him from Kenya to join the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":6887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_eb_data_table":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,25,2840],"tags":[2896,2898,2899,2897,116,2844,465,2901,1815,2900,2902],"class_list":["post-6885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-departments","category-featured-stories","category-summer-2026","tag-amazon-tipnis","tag-cochabamba-bolivia-madre-de-dios-parish-chicago-chicago-theological-union","tag-cristo-rey","tag-june-6-2026","tag-kenya","tag-maryknoll-father-brian-barrons","tag-maryknoll-father-lance-nadeau","tag-ordination-preview","tag-priesthood","tag-seminarians","tag-victor-mutobera"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnited by God\u2019s Love: An Ordination Preview - 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She earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in Communication Science\/Journalism from the University of San Mart\u00edn de Porres in Lima. As staff writer, she writes and translates articles for Maryknoll magazine and Misioneros, our Spanish-language publication. Her articles have also appeared in the bilingual magazine \u00a1OYE! for Hispanic Catholic youth. Her work has received awards from the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada. 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