Brother Ken Brings Mission Message to Detroit-area Catholic Parishes

By day, and most evenings, Brother Ken Kalinowski, FSC  ‘85, serves as Principal of De La Salle Collegiate as well as teaching two Theology classes.

He is also the “Rector” or Director of the Brothers’ Community living in the Brothers’ House on Gloede, across from the school’s Warren campus.

But on many weekends?

Most Sundays, he attends Pope John Paul II Parish, formerly Transfiguration, in the area of Six  Mile and Mound. Brother Ken himself grew up in the Six Mile-Davison area. 

However, some weekends he speaks at Detroit-area parishes on behalf of the De La Salle Brothers’ Missions. His message to the Catholics gathered for a weekend Mass is to simply tell the congregation about the Brothers’ efforts throughout the world.

He brings his experience serving in the missions, with time served in Nairobi (Kenya), Mexico City, and Papua New Guinea (PNG). The De La Salle Brothers operate four schools in PNG, where there are 800 languages, where 80% of the island nation’s population lives below the poverty line, and where they still experience tribal warfare. 

Brother Ken volunteered for the three-year stint at La Salle Hohola Technical College in Port Moresby, PNG where he was the Deputy Principal and taught Math and Theology. 

“In Papua, New Guinea our school is nicknamed the school of second chances,” he said. “It is a technical school where most of the students could not find space in the government schools.”

Brother Ken said, “I knew I was in the right place, when I saw the UN vehicles, Doctors Without Borders, the Missionaries of Charity, and our Brothers serving a society that truly needs us. The spirit of the people to share what little they have truly humbles you.”

During the summer of 2023, Brother Ken spoke at all the Masses at St. Jane Francis de Chantel in Sterling Heights and Holy Spirit Parish in Highland Charter Township, and encouraged voluntary donations to the De La Salle Missions. 

“I always felt lucky to receive an education, and for those who helped me graduate from De La Salle and, later, Villanova University. “

Brother Ken has also spoken to American Catholic congregations and school groups in Buffalo, Syracuse, Philadelphia, and New York City, and in foreign settings in Australia, New Zealand, and Haiti; in Haiti he also taught at the Brothers’ school in Port-au-Prince.

At De La Salle Collegiate, Brother Ken encourages regular donations of school supplies to PNG and Kenyan schools, as well as raising money for food donations through dress-down days. 

To make a donation to the De La Salle Missions, contact Brother Ken at De La Salle Collegiate.


 

Brother Ken Brings Mission Message to Detroit-area Catholic Parishes
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