A Practice in Priority

John and Stella Kingodi, with sons Clement and Eric and grandmother Juliana Mambona pose outside St. Mark Parish in Argyle on May 31. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

In the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis expounds on “the exercise of responsible parenthood [which] requires that husband and wife, keeping a right order of priorities, recognize their own duties towards God, themselves, their families, and human society” (68).

John and Stella Kingodi of St. Mark Parish in Argyle have worked to raise their two sons, Clement and Eric, in the Catholic faith so they may love God as naturally and completely as their parents taught them to do.

The couple met while attending the same college in Midland. A good friend of Stella’s brother,  John knew Stella for a while before she encountered some computer trouble and asked him for help. From there, it wasn’t long before the two fell in love.

BLESSED WITH CATHOLIC  SCHOOL

About a year after their eldest son, Clement, was born, the couple moved from Midland to the Denton area. As soon as he was old enough, they enrolled Clement, and later Eric, into Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Denton. The Kingodis credit the school for helping them establish a foundation of faith, an education that continues to prove its worth, even as Clement finishes his sophomore year of college and Eric prepares for his first year at high school.

“We feel very, very blessed and very privileged to be able to afford Catholic school for them,” Stella said. “But when that’s not an option, just trying to keep them in church or formation classes as much as possible, volunteering, or just helping out. I think that would help.”

Eric, who graduated from eighth grade at Immaculate Conception this spring and will enter a charter high school in the fall, is excited to begin his summer volunteering at St. Mark’s Vacation Bible School program.

“I was a kid going to Vacation Bible School before, but now I get to volunteer,” Eric said.

MOTHER KNOWS BEST

John and Stella introduced praying the Rosary regularly when their boys were young, and the habit was reinforced in school.

“It was the same thing with us growing up. Our parents put us through formation classes, and it just became a habit,” Stella said. “My mom, she used to always pray the Rosary and have the rosary beads around her hand. Watching that growing up, it’s just like second nature for you to do that. So [Clement and Eric] picked it up themselves pretty much. We don’t have to really remind them much.”

The family prays together at 8 p.m. around the dinner table.

UNIVERSAL FAITH

Having both grown up in East Africa, John and Stella would hear their parents pray the Hail Mary in Kiswahili. In Tanzania, the prayer is known as Salam Maria.

The family goes to visit their extended family periodically, and while there, they attend Mass and delight that by “being Catholic, you can go to Rome or you can go to Africa, but it will all be the same. You can expect the same Mass and feel a sense of community, no matter where you go,” Stella said.

“And the community is always so loving,” John added.

FAITH CONFIDANT

“One important thing is to find someone you can always talk to about things like your faith. Someone who you know is strong in their faith that you can always go to when times are hard,” said Eric.

The 15-year-old said he always counts on his parents to fill that role.

CONSISTENCY IN PRAYER

Clement advised, “For me, personally, it’s really just about keeping things consistent, all about consistency,” especially the practice of evening prayer.

KNOW YOU BELONG

Rejoice in the faith, Stella and John shared.

“Growing up Catholic, we’ve gone to places, visiting family and friends, who go to different churches, and it just doesn’t quite feel the same. We know we pray to the same God and we all live in the same God, but I think just like my son said, that the consistency with Catholic [prayer and Mass], it’s everything. … It gives you a sense of belonging.”

FINDING A BALANCE

John, who works in distribution at Walmart, and Stella, a nurse practitioner at a hospital, are no strangers to having to cover weekend work schedules.

While they have struggled at times to balance prioritizing faith, along with their responsibilities at home and at work, they endeavor to always put Mass first.

“We try going to Mass as much as we can, and while they were in Catholic school, we tried to never miss their morning school Mass,” John said.

“It’s a challenge,” Stella conceded, “but you must try the best you can.”