On Saturday the 24th, a Young Assumption gathering took place in Kabuye. This initiative forms part of the response to the calls of the 2024 General Chapter, which encourages communities to awaken more deeply and to strengthen their mission of closeness to young people. The gathering brought together university students from Kigali and Butare, offering a space for sharing, prayer and fraternity.
The day began with a dialogue centered on the life of Saint Marie Eugénie of Jesus, founder of the Religious of the Assumption, in connection with today’s reality. This exchange made it possible to discover or deepen the richness of her journey and to highlight the relevance of her witness for the lives of young people in the present context.
The exchanges revealed the deep affection that young people have for Saint Marie Eugénie. Some have known her for many years, particularly former students of our school in Rwaza. They emphasized that Marie Eugénie’s life reflects many aspects of their own experiences today. Her journey inspires them to face difficulties with faith and hope, without discouragement, and to see them as opportunities for growth. They recognized in it a call to holiness, to embrace all that life brings with trust and surrender to God.
During these discussions, the young people also clearly expressed their expectations of the Religious of the Assumption. They voiced a desire to enter more deeply into the charism of the Assumption, in order to better understand it and live it in their daily lives. They underlined the importance of times of prayer, which they wish to see more fully integrated into their programme as a source of ongoing renewal.
The gathering concluded with a time of Eucharistic adoration, experienced as a powerful moment of recollection, personal encounter with God, and offering to God of all that had been shared throughout the day.
This gathering strengthened the bonds between the young people and the Religious of the Assumption, while opening concrete paths for a closer accompaniment of their aspirations. By listening attentively to young people, the Assumption mission reaffirms its commitment to walk with them, to nourish their faith and to support their desire to engage, remaining faithful to the calls of the 2024 General Chapter to “strengthen the prophetic dimension of our mission of transformative education, giving priority to the peripheries and to young people,” in response to the challenges of our time.