4 September 2026

Providence Calls, a Servant Answers: The Ordination of Justus Nyabuga

The newly ordained deacons and priests stand together at Resurrection Garden

There are moments in the church community when a celebration becomes more than an event. It becomes a sign. The diaconate and priestly ordination celebrated at Resurrection Garden was one such moment: a moment in which the Church gathered around men who had freely offered themselves for a life of service, and in which the mystery of Christ the Servant became visible through the laying on of hands.

Eight men received the grace of priestly and diaconate ordination on 4 September 2026 — four Consolata Missionaries were ordained priests, and four others ordained deacons, among them Justus Nyabuga Barongo, a son of the Congregation of the Sons of Divine Providence, the Orionine family founded by St. Luigi Orione. For Justus, the celebration was not simply the attainment of another stage in ecclesiastical formation. It was a deeper invitation to place his life at the service of God and His people.

The presence of the Most Reverend Philip Arnold Subira Anyolo, Archbishop of Nairobi, who presided over the celebration, gave the occasion a particular ecclesiastical significance.

Shepherds after the heart of Jesus

In his homily the Archbishop told the newly ordained priests that their lives are no longer their own but given to them for the sanctification of His people. He also asked them to follow the example of Cardinal Maurice Otunga, a model of fidelity and humble service.

To the deacons, he said that their ordination is not a waiting room before priesthood, but a calling in itself — one to be lived in humility, availability and compassion. He challenged them to be shepherds after the heart of Jesus, sent out in service, and entrusted them to the intercession of Cardinal Otunga and all the saints.

A friendship begun over a century ago

In his speech, the Delegate Superior for Kenya, Rev. Fr. Antony Njenga Mburu, thanked the Archbishop for accepting to preside over the celebration and for ordaining the brothers. He echoed the Archbishop’s words that all are called to lead by example, and that the newly ordained should always go back to Jesus, who called them, whenever they feel exhausted and overwhelmed by the mission. He also thanked the Consolata Missionaries for allowing the Sons of Divine Providence to join in their ordination, stressing the similarities in the mission of the two congregations.

Fr. Antony recalled that the founder of the Consolata Missionaries, St. Joseph Allamano, and the founder of the Sons of Divine Providence, St. Luigi Orione, were contemporaries from Piedmont in northern Italy. Though their charisms were distinct, both were moved by the same spirit of the Gospel, and the missionaries they inspired in turn inspired others through mission and evangelisation. It is providence, he said, that their sons now stand side by side on the same altar, continuing a friendship begun over a century ago.

“First saints, then missionaries — souls are saved through holiness.”

St. Joseph Allamano

He encouraged the newly ordained priests with these words of St. Joseph Allamano, urging them to seek holiness first. To Deacon Justus, he offered the words of St. Luigi Orione, “Only charity will save the world,” words to anchor his ministry and his journey toward the priesthood ahead — for it is through love poured out without reservation for the poor and the marginalised that the kingdom of God is truly built up.

Fr. Antony concluded by thanking the parents of Deacon Justus for their generosity and for nurturing the seed of vocation in their son, and entrusted all the religious present to the intercession of St. Joseph Allamano and St. Luigi Orione.