Category Archives: Religion

ANDREW THE APOSTLE AND SINGLE WOMEN

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2013

Mama Rose from Busia, Kenya would like to know why St Andrews Day is connected with Advent and why around midnight on November 29, it was traditional for girls to pray to St Andrew for a husband.

Mama Rose St. Andrew’s Day is connected with Advent because his feast day is on November 30th which falls around the start of the Advent period and has become linked with prayer for the mission of the Church.

On your second question why around midnight on November 29, it was traditional for a marriageable girl to pray to St Andrew for a husband, there are reasons why this was happening. Girls could toss a shoe at a door. If the toe of her shoe pointed in the direction of the door exit, then she believed she would be married.

She would peel a whole apple without breaking the peel and toss the peel over her shoulder. If the peel formed a letter of the alphabet, then the skin peel suggested the name of her future groom.

The origin of this custom is explained by the name Andrew (best translated as “manly” or “man”) and by the fact that from ancient times he has been called the “most kindly of saints.”

Others have found the reason for this patronage in the antiphon of the Divine Office on Andrew’s Day: Concede nobis hominem justum (Grant us a good, just man). The girls also pour spoonfuls of molten lead or wax into cold water, and the shape of the congealing portions is supposed to reveal details of their future love and marriage.

In the western sections of Austria and in other Alpine countries young men and girls fasten a very small candle into a nutshell and put these little “boats” into a trough filled with water. All other lights are then extinguished and only the tiny flames of the candles sparkle in the darkened room.

By blowing against them, the nutshells are made to move across the water. When the lights of a boy and a girl collide without capsizing, it is taken as a sign that the two will fall in love and marry.

In Poland girls put bones from the remnants of a meal in front of the door. The girl whose bone the dog takes first will be the first one to marry.

Before going to bed on Andrew’s Night girls say a prayer to the Saint asking him to show them their future husband in their dreams. Saint Andrew was always considered very kind and generous in this matter, even to the extent that he himself would procure the right man for a girl whose own efforts had not been successful.

Here is such a prayer-poem from the Tirol: Heavenly patron, Saint Andrew dear, Please won’t you show me a picture clear Of the man whom thou hast chosen for me? Whether he handsome or homely be, Or young in years, or maybe old, Or still and shy, or loud and bold; I do not mind his manner and way: Just make him love me, that’s all I pray.

Even today there are thousands of local St Andrews singles, as the world’s largest dating site. It is easy and free, unlike paid dating sites. Over 1,500,000 Daters login every day to Plentyoffish.com, they are the market leader in Canada, UK, Australia, US, Ireland and New Zealand. Visit here to see the sample of how they register.
http://www.pof.com/register.aspx

Women praying to get husband is not something new. Even in Kenya over 5,000 love struck women thronged the Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) in September 2010 with the aim of finding true love and restoring broken marriage relationships.

There are several reasons why some women can’t settle in marriage. One of the reasons is to do with what Peter write in his first letter (1 Peter 3:1-9) that wives should accept the authority of their husbands.

Many educated and employed women can’t just agree to this text. It was in this way long ago that the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by accepting the authority of their husbands. Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord.

Similarly, there are also some men who don’t want, in the same way, show consideration for their wives in their life together. These types of men believe that women can’t have a say in the house. They consider women as the weaker sex.

Peter’s message here is very clear, that without humility and prayer relationship can’t stand. Husbands and wives are to live in unity of spirit, sympathy, and love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing. One of Peter’s chief reasons for writing this letter was to tell his audience that as followers of Christ, their behavior was to be distinct and alternative to the wider culture and societal norms – something which would have been quite contrary to his audience’s former lives as pagan Gentiles.

The instruction that wives submit to their husbands is given for evangelistic purposes, so that through their actions, their husbands might be “won over without words. These women are to lovingly, and freely submit to their husbands, because such behavior would display the love of Christ to their unbelieving spouses.

Some women argue that women’s submission to men was assumed at that time when women were largely considered property of their fathers and husbands and they had no independent rights because it was believed that women were ontologically, or by nature, inferior to men, a belief that can no longer work today in the 21st century.

However, when Peter wrote that women to submit to their husbands, he was asking them to respect the social norms of the day for the sake of the gospel. At that time, women who excised autonomy and freedom were controversial.

Contrary to common interpretations of this passage, Peter does not emphasize male authority over women. When Peter tells women that they should have a “gentle and quiet spirit” he is telling them to possess those characteristics which are to characterize all Christians, not just women.

Another reason is financial independence. One of the reasons why women want to be financially independent is they don’t want to be abused in any way by husbands or in-laws. One of the common assumption of women is, if she has a job and all goes well then all is well.

Statistics support that money problems is the leading cause of divorce and separation, and the unprepared woman, long used to being provided for by the husband, should not be surprised to find herself suddenly alone to fend for herself. Worse happens when the husband turns out to be a no-good father too, and just totally abandons wife, kids and all.

Andrew was the brother of Peter, and a son of Jonas. He lived in Bethsaida and Capernaum and was a fisherman before Jesus called him. Originally he was a disciple of John the Baptist (Mark 1:16-18). Andrew brought his brother, Peter, to Jesus (John 1:40).

According to tradition, it was in Achaia, Greece, in the town of Patra that Andrew died a martyr. When Governor Aepeas’ wife was healed and converted to the Christian faith, and shortly after that the Governor’s brother became a Christian.

Aepeas was enraged. He arrested Andrew and condemned him to die on the cross. Andrew, feeling unworthy to be crucified on the same-shaped cross as his Master, begged that his be different.

So, he was crucified on an X-shaped cross, which is still called Saint Andrew’s cross and which is one of his apostolic symbols. A symbol of two crossed fish has also been applied to Andrew, because he was formerly a fisherman.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

TREE AS SYMBOL OF OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH AND ADVENT SEASONS

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2013

Miriam from Nairobi writes: “Fr Omolo I read your article where Apostolic Nuncio planted tree to symbolize growth in our faith and I was really inspired by it. In an African tradition this has a deep meaning, especially among the Kikuyu communities where Mugumo trees are not supposed to be cut, and were used as venues during the performance of certain religious ceremonies like offering sacrifices and prayers.

Although Father I know that next Sunday begins the season of Advent, the time of preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas and the start of the new liturgical year in the Roman Catholic Church, but given your knowledge of explaining them in simple language and with a lot of inspirations, can you enlighten me what is required of us Christians during these seasons?”

I am glad Miriam that you were touched with the symbol of planting of the tree at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) by Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya- Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo to conclude the year of faith.

Your example of Mugumo trees (fig trees) tell it all. Among the Kikuyu communities these trees are sacred that is why they cannot be cut. These are the trees Kikuyu prophet Mugo wa Kibiru prophesied long time ago that the fall of a giant Mugumo tree in Thika would symbolize the end of European rule in Kenya.

The Kikuyu communities also believe in Mount Kenya that God the creator lives there. Ngai or mwene-nyaga is the creator and giver of all things, “the Divider of the Universe and Lord of Nature”. He (Ngai) created the human community.

It is also believed that He created the first G?k?y? communities, and provided them with all the resources necessary for life: land, rain, plants and animals. He cannot be seen but is manifest in the sun, moon, stars, comets and meteors, thunder and lightning, rain, in rainbows and in the great Mugumo trees.

Concerning your question on what Christians are required to do during the seasons of Advent, these are the seasons Christians are encouraged to engage in activities such as special prayers and contributing to ideas on enhancing peace in our homes, churches and nationally. In order to enhance peace it must begin with you first.

Traditionally, Purple is the main color used for Advent because it reflects penitence, fasting, and the color of royalty to welcome the Advent of the king (Jesus Christ). The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his first Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent.

According to present usage, Advent is a period beginning with the Sunday nearest to the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (November 30) and embracing four Sundays. The first Sunday may be as early as November 27, and then Advent has twenty-eight days, or as late as December 3, giving the season only twenty-one days.

In 2011 it began earlier on November 27, in 2012 it began on December 2, and this year it begins December 1. Next year it will begin on November 30, exact date of the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle.

This year the feast is on Saturday. Apostles of Jesus in Magadi Soda, Ngong Diocese have organized special prayers on this day. This is because any Apostle feast is the Apostles of Jesus missionaries’ feast.

In 2015 it will begin on November 29, in 2016 it will again begin on November 27, in 2017 it will begin on December 3, 2018 December 2, 2019 it will again fall on December 1, and in 2020 November 29.

It is also recommended that on first Sunday of the Advent the first Candle is lit, shortly after November 30. This is the day Apostles of Jesus communities in Magadi will lit the purple candle, shortly after the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle.

Traditionally this is called the Prophecy Candle and reminds us that Jesus’ coming was prophesied hundreds of years before he was born. The candle’s purple color represents Christ’s royalty as the King of Kings. Suggested Bible Reading: Isaiah 9:2-6 and Luke 1:30-35. Date-Dec 1

The second candle, lit on the second Sunday of advent along with the first candle, is the Bethlehem candle, reminding us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It is also purple- reminding us that it was a King Who was born in the manger- suggested Bible reading: Micah 5:2 and Luke 2:1-7. Date-Dec 8

After mass at Oriang Catholic Church in Homa Bay Diocese on that Sunday Dec 8 we shall lit the candle at the grave of my beloved late Mama Krsitina Oding with special prayers with small Christian communities of Bugo prayer house.

Mama Kristina Oding died on December 11, 2012 and December 12, 2013 (Kenya at 50) we shall have anniversary mass in her memory. I implore your prayers during this important occasion.

The third candle, lit on the third Sunday of advent with the first two, is the Shepherds’ candle. We are reminded that God sent the angels to proclaim His arrival to common man and that He still uses ordinary people today to spread the good news of Christ. This candle is pink or rose and represents God’s love and faithfulness- Suggested Bible reading: Isaiah 52:7 and Luke 2:8-20. Date-Dec 15

The fourth candle, lit on the fourth Sunday of advent, is the Angel’s candle. As we light this flame, we are reminded of the heavenly hosts that proclaimed Christ’s arrival with “Behold, I bring unto you good tiding of great joy!” The Angel candle is also purple, reminding us that it was a King’s birth the angels were announcing. Suggested Bible Reading: Ezekiel 34:23, Luke 2:15-20 and John 10:11. Date-Dec 22

Last candle is to remember the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. As the prophets promised so long ago, you have come to us once again; and with the shepherds, we are filled with wonder and amazement. Date- Dec 25.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

KENYA: NUNCIO PLANTS TREE TO SYMBOLIZE GROWTH IN FAITH

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2013

As the year of faith concludes tomorrow Sunday November 24, 2013 in Kenya, there have been a lot of celebrations taking place. The Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) concluded it onThursday 21st, with a Eucharistic Celebration presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya H.E. Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo.

The Nuncio laid the foundation stone for the grotto of Our Lady and blessed the Statue of Mother Mary. CUEA is dedicated to the care of Mother Mary. The Nuncio also planted the tree of faith at the university, a symbol that faith in Kenya has just begun to grow.

The climax of this symbol was the thirteen candidates who became catechumens and are being prepared at the university to receive the sacraments of initiation on Easter vigil. The thirteen included eleven students, a staff member at the institution and a child of one of the staff member at the institution.

As the Apostolic Nuncio said in his homily, our faith is not only part of our life and part of the life of the church- it is indeed a gift from God which can be enriched through greater knowledge of God. As such faith requires a greater deal of understanding, particularly when we spend time in prayer we deepen our faith.

A faith which should be sustained even in times of difficulties, in our weaknesses and strength-but above all we should support one another to grow in this faith.

As we conclude the year of the faith, currently there are more than 4,000 registered churches in Kenya, belonging to an innumerable variety of denominations. They can range from very mainstream churches, to lesser-known evangelical and gospel offshoots.

Many of these denominations are recent compared Catholicism which first arrived in Kenya in 1498, when a Portuguese trader erected a cross on the coastal shore near Malindi, even though the country didn’t start to have an official Church presence until the 1900s with the construction of the railways.

By that time, there were a number of missions and Kenyan priests were starting to be ordained. The first Kenyan dioceses were established in 1953, for Nairobi, Nyeri, Kisimu and Meru. Today there are more than 26 dioceses with baptized Catholics estimated at 7.5million, comprising of 33 percent with Protestants lead at 45 percent-Indigenous beliefs at 10 percent, Muslim 10 percent and other at 2 percent.

Among the first African bishops were Caesar Gatimu and Maurice Cardinal Otunga. Gatimu was born to a Catholic family at Limuru, Kenya, in 1921. He made his first studies at St. Augustine’s Minor Seminary, Nyeri.

In 1939 Gatimu was sent to Rome to receive his philosophical and theological formation in the Urban College of Propaganda Fide, and then (after his priestly ordination in Rome on March 17, 1946) in St. Peter’s College, from which he got his doctorate in divinity in 1948. After his return to Kenya he worked in the diocese of Nyeri in various pastoral services.

In 1956 he was appointed parish priest of Kianyaga Catholic Mission and in 1959 he became one of the councellors in Nyeri Diocese. On April 21, 1961 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Mgr. Cavallera and on May 21 of the same year was consecrated in Rome by Pope John XXIII together with thirteen other bishops from missionary countries.

On November 25, 1964 Pope Paul VI made him bishop of Nyeri, when Bishop Cavallera was transferred to the new diocese of Marsabit. He was the first Kikuyu Catholic bishop and efficiently contributed to the development of the Catholic Church in his diocese and in the central province of Kenya.

Because of his pastoral dedication and the good relationship he had with his people and the authorities of the country, it can explain why in Kenya today, Kikuyu communities are very strong in faith. In fact Kikuyu are among the communities in Kenya that have understood that the church belongs to them and not the clergy.

Catholic Women Association (CWA) among the Kikuyu communities is one of the strongest associations in Kenya today. These women alone are able to take care of the priests, cater for the ordination of newly ordained priests, religious among other church support.

Gatimu died on February 20, 1987 and was buried in the Catholic Cathedral of Nyeri, in the presence of all the bishops of Kenya and of President Moi. He worked along with the Consolata missionaries.

Cardinal Maurice Otunga who would have been a paramount chief but instead chose to serve God as a clergy. Born in January 1923, Otunga was the first Kenyan bishop. Pope Pius XII appointed him as the Bishop of Kisumu in 1956.

He had been ordained priest in October 1950 while in Rome, where he studied at the Collegio Urbaniano in 1947, returning home four years later with a Masters degree in Theology and a bright future in servant leadership.

He was appointed to Nairobi in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. In 1971 he succeeded Archbishop John Joseph McCarthy as Ordinary of Nairobi. He was made Cardinal two years later. He is credited with setting up several institutes including the Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA).

The second missionaries to come to Kenya after the Catholic were the Anglican missionaries in 1844. Over the years they translated much of the Bible into the local languages in order to help preach to the locals. Festo Habakkuk Olang’ was among its first Kenyan bishops.

Festo Olang’ was born about 1914, around the beginning of the first World War, at Ebusakami Esabalu village, Maseno, near the equator in south Bunyore of Kakamega district. He spoke Luo and Luhyia fluently.

He was ordained to priesthood in 1950 at St. Paul’s, Maseno, by Bishop Crabbe. In 1952, he became the first African rural dean for Central Nyanza and vicar of Bunyore parish through the end of 1954.

On May 15, 1955, Olang’ and Obadiah Kariuki were consecrated at Namirembe Cathedral, Kampala in Uganda by Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Fisher, as the first African assistant bishops in Kenya.

Olang’ presided over all of western Kenya while Rev. Kariuki took central Kenya. Olang’s duties included confirmations, visitations, counseling, and preaching, just to name a few.

In December 1960, he was appointed bishop of Maseno, which covered Nyanza province and Western province. He was enthroned in 1961 by Archbishop Beecher at St. Stephen’s church, Kisumu, which later became his pro-cathedral. He was archbishop from 1971 to 1980, the year he retired.

Among other first denominations in Kenya include the English Society of Friends and Africa lnland Mission established as a “faith mission. It began its ministry in Kenya in 1895 under the direction of Peter Cameron Scott. Others include Methodists, Presbyterians among others.

In Luo Nyanza Legio Maria was taking root. The religious movement was initiated by repeated appearances of a mystic woman to several Roman Catholic members delivering messages about the incarnation of the son of God as a black man.

These appearances are said to have begun around 1938, almost simultaneous with the beginning of Edel Quinne’s lay catholic mission to Africa. By the early 1960s the movement had assembled a good number of catechists, acolytes, and believers in a spiritual return of Jesus Christ.

The continuous expansion of this movement coupled with its belief in Simeo Ondetto as the returned Son of God led to theological tension and eventual break with lay catholic movement, Legion of Mary.

This mystic woman is the one Legio Maria adherents relate with the Fatima Secrets. She is believed to have called a number of Catholics to the new movement by visionary appearances, telling them to look forward to her son who had come to Africa. Her spiritual son, Simeo Ondetto, was then a catechist in Roman Catholic Church.

By 1980 the church numbered 248,000 adherents. Today it has spread up to Tanzania, Uganda and other parts of Eastern and Central Africa among different ethnic communities.

Government estimates at the time of the split from the Catholic Church stated that there were nearly 90,000 followers of Legio Maria. By 1968, it had become a member of the East African United Churches.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

KENYA: THE PEOPLE DAILY REPORTS NJUE IS TO GET VATICAN POSITION

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2013

Since The People Daily reported four days ago that Cardinal John Njue of Nairobi archdiocese is reassigned to Vatican many of you have asked me to establish the truth about the report. Click here to read the report-Cardinal Njue to get Vatican position as reshuffle looms | The People. http://www.google.co.ke/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepeople.co.ke%2F32704%2Fcardinal-njue-to-get-vatican-position-as-reshuffle-looms%2F&ei=oA6PUuzTLcT_rQfRi4DYCg&usg=AFQjCNErqieUFJLfXeyc9weQhXUrBLoobA&sig2=7pJYZ63rjg_VGDZ5ExyQ4g

I have been reluctant to report because the office of the Nuncio in Nairobi has not communicated it officially. However according to the report by The People Daily sources in the Church said John Cardinal Njue is scheduled to be appointed by Pope Francis head of the Pontifical Association of the Holy Childhood, a Catholic children’s association commonly referred to in Latin as the Pontificium Opus a Sancta Infantia.

Report further reveals that in his new position, Njue will be based in Vatican City, Italy where he undertook his formative studies before he rose up the ranks in the Kenyan Catholic Church to his current position.

The new changes according to the report will effectively see Bishop Maurice Mukhatia of the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru transferred to Nairobi for the eventual appointment to the position of cardinal and archbishop.

Although it is not said why Njue is to go to Rome, according to the report this might be as the result of Vatican concerns over divisions in the Kenyan Catholic church during the reign of Cardinal Njue, dating back from majimboism debate to constitutional review and presidential elections.

Njue also hit the headline in May 2009 when members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal group in the Archdiocese of Nairobi were angry at him when he ordered it investigated. This was despite the fact that his successor emeritus Archbishop Ndingi Mwana Nzeki supported and appointed a priest in charge of the movement.

Cardinal Njue also hit the headline in 2010 when the Nairobi Star reported that over 100 priests within the Archdiocese of Nairobi were planning to ambush Njue at a meeting on November 16 to challenge his leadership. Click here to read the source-Priests rebel against Njue | The Star.

The paper reported that the priests wanted to tell him to his face that they were losing faith in him because of the way he is treating them and the faithful. The priests were reported to have told all those who could speak to Njue including the Pope’s Pepresentative in Kenya Archbishop Paul Allan Lebeaupin and members of the Episcopal conference but nothing had changed.

Some priests were also unhappy with Njue’s campaign for the No side during the August 4 constitutional referendum. Njue had directed all the Catholics in Kenya to vote ‘NO’ to the constitution.

According to the report, he forced some of the priests to openly campaign against the constitution even when they knew that the people who came to church were in support of the constitution.

The priests who refused to tell their Christians to vote ‘NO’ argued that they wanted to people to use their consciences to vote ‘YES’ or ‘NO’. They wanted the church to remain neutral.

Njue also featured on controversial ownership of St Mary’s Hospital. Cardinal Njue and Marie Therese Gacambi of the Assumption Sisters wanted to grab the hospital from Father William Charles Fryda of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Society in the United States who is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the hospitals.

According to Catholic observers, Mukhatia is the best for Nairobi because he can unite the church based on his robust personality unlike Njue whom critics argue has not been vocal in taking the authorities head on like his predecessor Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a’Nzeki who was the most outspoken critic of the Moi regime over the ethnic violence that rocked parts of Rift Valley region shortly before the 1992 General Election.

The paper further reveals that the changes will also see one Alfred Rotich, who left the Military Ordinariate of Kenya, the diocese charged with the pastoral care of the uniformed members of Armed Forces, moved to Mombasa as an archbishop to replace Boniface Lele who has been retired on health grounds.

The Church the paper reports, is also contemplating the appointment of Fr Hieronymus Njoya currently the regional superior of Consolata Missionaries based in Kenya to head Kakamega diocese to replace Bishop Philip Sulumeti who retired last year on health grounds.

The changes are also set to see Fr Lawrence Njoroge, a lecturer and chaplain at the Jomo Kenyatta University and Agriculture and Technology, appointed Vice chancellor of the Catholic University of East Africa.

But people are to wait for the official announcements by the papal representative, (Apostolic Nuncio) to Kenya- Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo just as he did in November 1, 2013 when Lele retired.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

YEAR OF FAITH CONCLUDES WITH NUMEROUS CHALLENGES IN KENYA

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013

Next Sunday November 24, 2013 is the Feast of Christ the King, established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism, a way of life which leaves God out of man’s thinking and living and organizes his life as if God did not exist.

The feast demonstrates the fact that Jesus came to serve all humankind. His kingship spells out a kingdom of justice and judgment balanced with radical love, mercy, peace, and forgiveness.

Though he died, like other kings, he died willingly to save his people, and his death was not a result of a battle lost or a plan gone awry, but of a glorious victory. He rode into Jerusalem, announcing his kingship on a borrowed donkey. He had no palace or statehouse, much less a place to lay his head, and lacked a transportation service.

Although the day was established as an antidote to secularism, today in Kenya there are some people who still believe that there is no God, that science and the scientific process have made God obsolete. They believe on things you can touch, feel, prove, or study.

One of their major beliefs is based on wealth. That man is an evolving creature who will become capable of planning the perfect economy. Man, who must “save himself,” must be in absolute control of all aspects of his universe, and that government must be granted authority over man’s economic affairs. Read Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Quas primas (On the Feast of Christ the King) which shows that secularism is the direct denial of Christ’s Kingship.

Another challenge is of post-election violence victims who are still traumatized. As Pope Francis says, we must continue in our efforts to bring healing to the wounded and be more merciful them.

We must admit that as a church in Kenya we have not done a lot to show balance and “heal wounds” of the victims. We have not found a new balance because most often, especially as pastors we think that only few of the suspects of post-election violence need our prayers and healing.

Pope Francis says if we think this is how the church should operate, then even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.

There are those who lost their income, job, or displacement due to the event, still housed by relatives or friends. They are not only homeless, they are landless and jobless. Ethnic communities in Kenya have not been healed and reconciled. People of different ethnic communities are still bitter and wonder justice would prevail one day.

Children have been adversely affected economically, socially, physically and psychologically. They saw their mothers and sisters being gang raped, their fathers stripped naked and forcefully circumcised. These children have never healed from this trauma.

Physically some children have dropped out of school, some were also raped as their parents watched and some were injured. Psychologically children are still traumatized from the orgies they witnessed. They have nightmares and no one is thinking about them.

The Waki commission mandated to recommend legal, political and administrative measures to prevent violence in future and to ensure that those involved in the violence are brought to justice as individuals. To date the victims are still crying for that justice.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

MY HOMILY ON THIRTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
SUNDAY, 17, 2013

Today’s first reading is taken from Mal 3:19-20a. It concerns the day of retribution, of judgment when the Lord will punish the wicked and reward His faithful ones. The book was written to correct the lax religious and social behaviour of the Israelites, particularly the priests in post-exilic Jerusalem.

Malachi is not only criticizing his audience for questioning God’s justice but also reminds them that God is just, exhorting them to be faithful as they await that justice. Being faithful is to give God all that He deserves.

The priests were not faithful because they have been offering unacceptable sacrifices, so the people have been neglecting to offer their full tithe to Elohim. The result of these shortcomings is that the people come to believe that no good comes out of serving God.

Because Israel was an agricultural society back when the Torah was given, the tithe laws speak of crops. Because of this, some say that the tithe laws only apply to farmers. They then suggest that since they are not farmers, they do not owe tithes.

However, this would mean that the farmers would have to support the entire priesthood by themselves, while no one else has to pay anything. This, however, would not be just. Levites were given the priesthood as a reward for opposing all those who were unrestrained, even when it was their own sons and relations.

Numbers 35 indicates that Levites were given 48 cities throughout Israel, and the land around each city extending out from the city walls for 2000 cubits, which is about two-thirds of a mile. They were to use this land for their herds and crops.

Levitical priests were only serving in the Tabernacle (or Temple) two weeks out of the year, and the rest of the year, dwelled in one of the 48 cities scattered around Israel where they lived, worked, and raised their families.

The priests were of the sons of Levi, that had the office of the priesthood, that had the Commandment to take tithes of their brethren, of the people according to the Law, to help the widows, disabled and the poor, but these tithes were abused by the priests.

In this context, Malachi’s prophetic message of the promise of coming justice, or judgment, is tied to the coming of the Messiah who would come to witness God’s love, a witness that centers precisely on problems of violence, brokenness, conflict, and alienation.

This witness finds expression in the lives of those who do turn to God and themselves witness to God’s love in the midst of alienation and brokenness. God’s justice finds expression in this costly witness whereby God’s people bring healing amidst brokenness.

This is because Jesus’ acts of justice involve not only healing the hurting but also confronting those who have been doing the hurting, including religious and political leaders who do have a kind of justice on their side—justice in the sense of the self-interests of people in power and their laws and policies that act to sustain their power.

This is similar to the Gospel taken from Lk 21:5-19. When some people were speaking about the temple adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here–the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”

Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilence; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony.

Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.”

The second reading is from 2 Thes 3:7-12 in which Paul addresses those few in the community who were unwilling to earn their daily bread and were abusing the charity of their fellow Christians.

Even though in his two letters to the Thessalonians, Paul praises their faith and good works, as in the best of communities, there were a few amongst them who were unwilling to earn their daily bread and were abusing the charity of their fellow Christians.

Paul condemns this dishonesty and in the sixth verse, which immediately precedes today’s reading, he tells the brethren to “keep away from any of the brothers who refuse to work.” As he did while he was amongst them he then goes on to encourage the whole Christian community to avoid idleness and to earn their daily bread honestly.

To help us to be honest with ourselves in our stock-taking we are reminded today that this world will come to an end one day. We do not know when or how but that end will come. It will be followed immediately by the general judgment.

Christ will come in power and glory to judge the whole human race. Each one will receive the sentence he merited while on earth. The just will enter with him into eternal glory. The wicked will go to their place of suffering, sorrow and remorse.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.
-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

US BISHOPS’ NEW PRESIDENT AND OBAMA’S HEALTHCARE DEBATE

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013

The Vatican ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano has sent a signal to American bishops at their first national meeting since Pope Francis was elected, that the new president of the U.S. Bishops’ conference should not “follow a particular ideology” and should make Roman Catholics feel more welcome in church.

Addressing the bishops during their meeting at Baltimore, which is also to elect new president, Vigano did not only emphasize on the challenges from broader society to Christian teaching but also cautioned that the bishops’ witness to faith would be undermined if they failed to live simply.

They are to be pastors and not ideologues. This is indirectly indicating to the bishops that they should work towards a laborious process of reshaping the hierarchy to meet the pope’s dramatic shift in priorities.

Almost since his election in March, Francis has signaled that he wants the church to strike a “new balance” by focusing on the poor and on social justice concerns and not overemphasizing opposition to hot-button topics like abortion and contraception and gay marriage.

In a September interview, Francis said Catholic leaders should give greater emphasis to compassion, arguing the church’s focus on abortion, marriage and contraception has been too narrow and alienating.

Under New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, dozens of Catholic charities and dioceses, along with evangelical colleges and others, are suing the Obama administration over a requirement that employers provide health insurance that includes contraceptive coverage. The issue is expected to reach the Supreme Court.

The fact that the opening of the U.S. bishops’ annual fall assembly Monday morning was marked by noted changes in tone and emphasis for the prelates, who have focused extensively in the last two years on a fight against the Obama administration’s implementation of the health care law, is an indication that U.S. bishops are now saying that Obama was right in his health scheme.

Although Cardinal Dolan, who is stepping down this week after three years as the conference’s president, barely mentioned that fight in his presidential address, instead focusing on the issue of religious freedom globally, is a sign that Dolan is still nor happy with Obama’s scheme despite its massive support.

The affordable care act was signed into law to reform the healthcare industry by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 and upheld by the Supreme Court on June 28, 2012. ObamaCare’s goal is to give more Americans access to affordable, quality health insurance, and to reduce the growth in health care spending in the U.S.

The care act expands the affordability, quality, and availability of private and public health insurance through consumer protections, regulations, subsidies, taxes, insurance exchanges, and other reforms.

Up to 82% of nearly 16 million uninsured young U.S. adults will qualify for cost assistance or Medicaid through Obamacare’s marketplaces. This has been opposed by insurance companies who see it as a threat to their businesses.

Already 54 million Americans with private health insurance have access to preventive services with no cost sharing due to the new minimum standards of Obama Care. The care reduces the growth in healthcare spending. The current $2.8 trillion U.S. healthcare system costs almost $9k a year for every man, woman, and child.

Quoting extensively from Pope Paul VI, Viganò urged the American bishops to be witnesses rather than teachers, mentioning a meeting he had with Pope Francis in June, Viganò said the new pope told him that he wants pastoral bishops. Not bishops who profess a particular ideology.”

Viganò also quoted from Francis’ meeting this summer with bishops in Brazil, where the pontiff said, “The church is never uniformity but diversity harmonized in unity, and this is true for every ecclesial reality.” “We should also ask ourselves today a question posed by Pope Francis to the bishops of Brazil,” Viganò pointed out.

Viganò’s references to Francis’ style and tone were not the only ones Monday morning.

Francis was cited and quoted several more times as the bishops moved on to other agenda items, particularly discussions of the Vatican’s request for wide input on a planned global meeting of bishops on the family called for next October and how to address poverty in their strategic planning document.

Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, the secretary of the Synod of Bishops, asked bishops’ conferences in an Oct. 18 letter to distribute the questionnaire “immediately” and “as widely as possible.”

U.S. Catholic bishops will choose new leaders at an assembly in Baltimore this week and possibly signal a new direction for the American church under the influence of Pope Francis.

All eyes will be on whether the new leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops continue vigorous opposition to Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate, or increase their push to help the poor and immigrants given Pope Francis’ emphasis on social justice issues.

In an interview with a Jesuit journal published in September, Pope Francis said the church cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and must become more merciful or risk falling “like a house of cards.”

The conference broke with tradition in 2010, electing the outspoken conservative Dolan to a three-year term as president of the U.S. bishops. It is speculated that Dolan’s former vice president Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona, who was seen by some as more moderate could be elected president.

However, conference observers believe bishops will follow tradition this time and choose the current vice president, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky. Kurtz is viewed as a reliable conservative who is well liked and effective.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole
Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

SPIRITUALITY IN RELATIONSHIP AND LOVE

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Nyakwar Ajuma Koduma posted on her Facebook timeline a recent study conducted by the St. Ives skin care brand, that women feel their most confident at the age of 29. They discovered that a lot of this confidence was due to them falling in love during that age or being in a stable relationship.

I had refuted the research, arguing that it is not accurate-in fact women feel their most confident at age 27-at this age they don’t fall in love as such, they are trying to stabilize their relationship and how they can cater and love their children-then at age of 40 a woman does not care whether she is loved or not-she can do things on her own and love seems to be diminishing slowly-the motto here is how to take care of herself and children.

My refutation was liked by overwhelming Facebook fans that I feel should share with you on my News blog. According to the research more than half of women polled said 29 was their prettiest age. Reasons included feeling confident, falling in love and stable relationships.

The poll also found that women feel and look their best on Fridays. Stress and lack of sleep were key reasons for feeling unattractive. The rosy cheeks and fresh-faced looks of their teenage years might be gone but it seems that’s no impediment to beauty, after a survey found that women feel most beautiful at the age of 29. Confidence was pinpointed as the top reason for the finding followed by falling in love and enjoying a stable relationship.

Nicole Melmore, brand manager at St. Ives, says that from age to occasions, their research shows that beauty really isn’t skin deep, with more women stating that they feel more beautiful when they are at home without their make-up on (17 per cent) compared to when they’re wearing lots of make-up (seven per cent), it seems that feeling attractive isn’t just down to having a perfectly made up face.

In her book, Enchanted Love, Marianne Williamson argues that love should be understood terms of spirituality and not sorely on material aspects. In this way then the age at which a woman falls in love or not does not rise.

There are many ways in which love is expressed to us and from us. First you must be attracted to the opposite sex. Marianne Williamson refers to this first stage of love as attraction which every normal being must undergo.

Second stage is focus. That you will now focus on particular woman or man you feel you want to establish relationship with. The third stage is desire or falling in love. This is where you desire to have someone to give you warmth, make you feel like being you, and make you feel special.

Fourth stage is adoration. This is according to Marianne Williamson is the core of spirituality in relationship. It is like golden thread that binds two hearts, a feeling that keeps growing even when you are far apart, no matter where you want to feel each other always close.

In fact in its real sense, this is what means to fall in love. It is like jumping off a really tall building, your brain tells you it is not a good idea, but your heart tells you, you can fly.

This is the stage where a man and a woman stay faithful because they don’t have time to look for others because they are too busy adoring each other. It is like a reporter who asked the couple, “How did you manage to stay together for 65 years?” The woman replied, “We were born in a time when is something was broken we would fix it not throw it away”.

The fifth stage is security. Unlike men, what a woman wants in relationship is love, acceptance, respect, to be desired, security and passion. A woman will feel emotionally safe with a man who is emotionally available, honest, trustworthy and authentic. These are character strengths that a woman not only admires, but feels safe with.

The sixth stage is trust. Trust a fundamental human experience, necessary for society to function and for any person to be relatively happy. Without it, fear rules.

The seventh stage is empathy. Empathy, literally “in feeling”, is the capability to appreciate, understand, and accept another person’s emotions. Showing empathy genuinely is one of the most important interpersonal skills that anyone must master.

Listen attentively to what the other person is saying. This will allow you to absorb what they say and be able to respond appropriately. Eliminate distractions: put down the book you’re reading, turn off the TV, etc.

Focus all your attention to what the other person says. Pay attention not only to the words spoken, but also to the way these words are communicated. Establish comfortable eye contact and good body posture.

The eighth stage is caring. Everyone wants to know that they are loved and appreciated.

Learn and encourage her dreams. Make her your top priority. Accept her and cherish her for who she is; after all, she’s the only one who will always be there for you if you treat her right.

Call her when you’re not together to tell her that you’re thinking about her. Send her a little note through the mail while you’re away. When you tell her I love you, you say it to remind her that she is the best that has never happened to you.

The only thing that makes it part of your life is that you keep on thinking about. Keep on thinking about her. She wants to be your friend as well as your lover. Simply making time to switch off the TV, sit down, and talk with her will show that you care, to say nothing of the fact that you enjoy her company.

The ninth stage is harmony. This is where you need to listen attentively, with compassion to your partner. Communicate your understanding with “active listening” and by responding in a non-critical and non-defensive way.

Honor each person by showing positive regard and respect. Relate to the essential goodness of each person, even when it is hidden. Be sincere, exemplary, clear, encouraging positive attributes and express admiration and appreciation for her, his talents, qualities, accomplishments, values and courage.

Be supportive, empowering, and prayerful, trust in the essential goodness and growth of others .Visualize a harmonious relationship, seeing the other blessed in light and love, protected and growing. Be grateful and gracious, kind, good friend and loving.

Tenth stage is contentment. This is where at the age of 40 years on wards a woman is contented. Her priorities are to take care of her home and children. In other words, this is the stage where people settle in a relationship because it is familiar and they are comfortable even if they are not fulfilled.

That is why at 75 years, a relationship can be just as fiery and passionate as it was at 35, with each day feeling newer through the passing years and always leaving one’s partner with more to look forward to from day to day. The key is marrying or vowing to spend one’s life with that one they feel they can’t live without, and not settling for the one they can just simply live with.

Stage eleventh and last in relationship is communion. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. Genesis 2:24.The term “one flesh” means that just as our bodies are one whole entity and cannot be divided into pieces and still be a whole. One is to be “glued” to his wife, a picture of how tight the marriage bond is to be.

This doesn’t mean both of you think exactly alike, that’s impossible in any kind of relationship. It also doesn’t have anything to do with religion. Please note that no relationship is ever perfect.

The real test here is how the two of you faces challenges together, and how the two of you still stays together despite the external or internal problems that arise between the two of you. No relationship ever becomes perfect, and it requires constant calibration to the situation and within the relationship.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

Thanks, and Christian Literature request

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From: Josephat Sekele

I would like to express my sincere thanks for the great work you have been doing for many years .Truelly your ministry has blessed me and others all over the world.Personally i have read some of your books and listened your tapes are so encouraging.I take this opportunity to reguest for any christian literature and any other materials which can help my spiritual growth.Thanks.Hope you will consider my request.

THE VATICAN RELEASES PREPARATORY DOCUMENT ON FAMILY

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2013

Juliana from Kayole, Nairobi would like to know how my homilies are found online. She would also like to know whether the Vatican has posted questionnaires for an Extraordinary General Assembly, to be held in October, 2014, where Pope Francis has asked a synod of bishops from around the world to come to Rome and talk about families. The bishops are also supposed to answer a questionnaire about modern families, the actual ones in their communities.

To get my homilies online type in Omolo Beste homilies on Jaluo.kom (kom with ‘k’ not c)-you will be able to get series of my homilies and other related topics. You can also get on particular topic like Omolo Beste on ICC, marriage and many others.

Yes, the Vatican has released the working document-click here the Vatican released a “preparatory document” to read the document. There are thirty-nine of them in the document as stipulated here below:

1. The Diffusion of the Teachings on the Family in Sacred Scripture and the Church’s Magisterium

a) Describe how the Catholic Church’s teachings on the value of the family contained in the Bible, Gaudium et spes, Familiaris consortio and other documents of the post-conciliar Magisterium is understood by people today? What formation is given to our people on the Church’s teaching on family life?

b) In those cases where the Church’s teaching is known, is it accepted fully or are there difficulties in putting it into practice? If so, what are they?

c) How widespread is the Church’s teaching in pastoral programmes at the national, diocesan and parish levels? What catechesis is done on the family?

d ) To what extent — and what aspects in particular — is this teaching actually known, accepted, rejected and/or criticized in areas outside the Church? What are the cultural factors which hinder the full reception of the Church’s teaching on the family?

2. Marriage according to the Natural Law

a) What place does the idea of the natural law have in the cultural areas of society: in institutions, education, academic circles and among the people at large? What anthropological ideas underlie the discussion on the natural basis of the family?

b) Is the idea of the natural law in the union between a man and a woman commonly accepted as such by the baptized in general?

c) How is the theory and practice of natural law in the union between man and woman challenged in light of the formation of a family? How is it proposed and developed in civil and Church institutions?

d) In cases where non-practicing Catholics or declared non-believers request the celebration of marriage, describe how this pastoral challenge is dealt with?

3. The Pastoral Care of the Family in Evangelization

a) What experiences have emerged in recent decades regarding marriage preparation? What efforts are there to stimulate the task of evangelization of the couple and of the family? How can an awareness of the family as the “domestic Church” be promoted?

b) How successful have you been in proposing a manner of praying within the family which can withstand life’s complexities and today’s culture?

c) In the current generational crisis, how have Christian families been able to fulfill their vocation of transmitting the faith?

d) In what way have the local Churches and movements on family spirituality been able to create ways of acting which are exemplary?

e) What specific contribution can couples and families make to spreading a credible and holistic idea of the couple and the Christian family today?

f) What pastoral care has the Church provided in supporting couples in formation and couples in crisis situations?

4. Pastoral Care in Certain Difficult Marital Situations

a) Is cohabitation ad experimentum a pastoral reality in your particular Church? Can you approximate a percentage?

b) Do unions which are not recognized either religiously or civilly exist? Are reliable statistics available?

c) Are separated couples and those divorced and remarried a pastoral reality in your particular Church? Can you approximate a percentage? How do you deal with this situation in appropriate pastoral programmes?

d) In all the above cases, how do the baptized live in this irregular situation? Are aware of it? Are they simply indifferent? Do they feel marginalized or suffer from the impossibility of receiving the sacraments?

e) What questions do divorced and remarried people pose to the Church concerning the Sacraments of the Eucharist and of Reconciliation? Among those persons who find themselves in these situations, how many ask for these sacraments?

f ) Could a simplification of canonical practice in recognizing a declaration of nullity of the marriage bond provide a positive contribution to solving the problems of the persons involved? If yes, what form would it take?

g) Does a ministry exist to attend to these cases? Describe this pastoral ministry? Do such programmes exist on the national and diocesan levels? How is God’s mercy proclaimed to separated couples and those divorced and remarried and how does the Church put into practice her support for them in their journey of faith?

5. On Unions of Persons of the Same Sex

a) Is there a law in your country recognizing civil unions for people of the same-sex and equating it in some way to marriage?

b) What is the attitude of the local and particular Churches towards both the State as the promoter of civil unions between persons of the same sex and the people involved in this type of union?

c) What pastoral attention can be given to people who have chosen to live in these types of union?

d) In the case of unions of persons of the same sex who have adopted children, what can be done pastorally in light of transmitting the faith?

6. The Education of Children in Irregular Marriages

a) What is the estimated proportion of children and adolescents in these cases, as regards children who are born and raised in regularly constituted families?

b) How do parents in these situations approach the Church? What do they ask? Do they request the sacraments only or do they also want catechesis and the general teaching of religion?

c) How do the particular Churches attempt to meet the needs of the parents of these children to provide them with a Christian education?

d) What is the sacramental practice in these cases: preparation, administration of the sacrament and the accompaniment?

7. The Openness of the Married Couple to Life

a) What knowledge do Christians have today of the teachings of Humanae vitae on responsible parenthood? Are they aware of how morally to evaluate the different methods of family planning? Could any insights be suggested in this regard pastorally?

b) Is this moral teaching accepted? What aspects pose the most difficulties in a large majority of couple’s accepting this teaching?

c) What natural methods are promoted by the particular Churches to help spouses put into practice the teachings of Humanae vitae?

d) What is your experience on this subject in the practice of the Sacrament of Penance and participation at the Eucharist?

e) What differences are seen in this regard between the Church’s teaching and civic education?

f) How can a more open attitude towards having children be fostered? How can an increase in births be promoted?

8. The Relationship Between the Family and the Person

a) Jesus Christ reveals the mystery and vocation of the human person. How can the family be a privileged place for this to happen?

b) What critical situations in the family today can obstruct a person’s encounter with Christ?

c) To what extent do the many crisis of faith which people can experience affect family life?

9. Other Challenges and Proposals

What other challenges or proposals related to the topics in the above questions do you consider urgent and useful to treat?

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

THE VATICAN WARNS CATHOLICS NOT TO EXPECT CHANGE IN CHURCH

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2013

For Catholics who might have began rejoicing after news that the Vatican has asked for the world’s bishops to distribute among Catholics a questionnaire on issues like contraception, same-sex marriage and divorce should stop doing so.

This is after the Vatican’s chief spokesman clarified in an interview over the weekend that the Vatican’s request for the world’s bishops to survey Catholics on how certain topics affect their lives was part of a habitual “praxis.”

Although the official who sent the questionnaire said Tuesday it is part of a wide-ranging project to reform how the Vatican reaches out to bishops and faithful around the world, the Vatican has warned Catholics not to expect rapid change in the Church’s stance on major social issues, whatever the results of a global survey it is carrying out.

Ahead of a special meeting of bishops next October, a questionnaire has been sent Oct. 18 by the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops, which is preparing a global meeting of prelates for next October on the theme of the family.

Called by Pope Francis last month, the Oct. 5-19, 2014, meeting is to focus on the theme “Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization.” It asks for the opinions of parish priests and parishioners on issues such as same-sex marriage, birth control and divorce.

At a news conference the meeting’s coordinator said the Church did not want to re-open the whole debate on Catholic doctrine because the synod does not make decisions based on the majority of public opinion.

The questionnaire asks about local church attitudes towards same-sex couples, and tackles once-taboo issues such as how to include the adopted children of gay couples in the Church.

Same-sex unions, mixed marriages, single-parent families and surrogate mothers are all mentioned in the prelude to a list of questions. This is how the question is formulated:

“What pastoral attention can be given to people who live in these types of [same-sex] union?”

“In the case of unions of persons of the same sex who have adopted children, what can be done pastorally in light of transmitting the faith?”

“Do [the divorced and remarried] feel marginalized or suffer from the impossibility of receiving the sacraments?”

“In cases where non-practicing Catholics or declared non-believers request the celebration of marriage, describe how this pastoral challenge is dealt with.”

Although the Church remains opposed to same-sex marriage but Pope Francis has called for more tolerance towards homosexual people, especially what to do with their adopted children, to be included or not included in the church.

Fr. Federico Lombardi, however, said in an interview with the Catholic News Agency on Saturday that the questions will only be used by the synod in an advisory way. Lombardi is the director of the Holy See Press Office.

In another development, despite speculation by the media and a number of Catholic scholars that Pope Francis could name the Church’s first female cardinal next February, the Vatican has rebuked those claims, saying that the unprecedented event will not take place.

“This is just nonsense . . . It is simply not a realistic possibility that Pope Francis will name women cardinals,” Fr. Federico Lombardi, told The Irish Times. Lombardi says this is only possible theologically and theoretically.

“Being a cardinal is one of those roles in the church for which, theoretically, you do not have to be ordained but to move from there to suggesting the pope will name women cardinals for the next consistory is not remotely realistic.”

This follows Lombardi’s comments last week when he stressed to the public that they should expect nothing out of the ordinary come February. “Stay calm, no nomination of women cardinals are due,” Lombardi said.

The heightened speculation comes at a time when Pope Francis has publicly addressed the Catholic Church’s need to develop “a truly deep theology of women,” but has refrained from publicly elaborating on any structural changes that would install women in the Catholic Church’s leadership apparatus.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

WHY POPE FRANCIS MAY BE NIGHTMARE TO CONSERVATIVE CATHOLICS

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from: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Nancy from Bahati, Nakuru, Kenya writes: “Fr Beste I like your homily on Zacchaeus tax collectors who repented to Jesus and returned back the money he stole from the people. Since we lose a lot of money like this through revenues, how does Kenya make its annual budget?

Fr I used to like your homilies with mwalimu Rurinja from Njoro on Radio Citizen every Sunday. I don’t hear you nowadays what happened, though I still hear mwalimu. You really know how to connect your homilies with current events”.

Willie from Nairobi writes: “Omolo Beste I read on your Facebook timeline that Pope Francis may make a woman cardinal how can this happen when women have been viewed negatively by the Catholic Church?”

This second question of Nancy has been asked by many people who used to tune to my homilies every Sunday evening on radio Citizen with mwalimu Simon Rurinja from Njoro. I used to give homilies when I was still in Nairobi working with People for Peace in Africa in conjunction with Blessed John Paul II evangelizing parish team. Since then I have been reassigned new responsibilities outside Nairobi.

Nancy it is very unfortunate that every financial year Kenya makes it budget on deficit due to massive corruption which is systematically tearing Kenyan economy apart. Currently the Government intends to raise more revenue to plug the budget deficit, estimated to be Sh356 billion.

And because cost of Kenya’s debt has increased by 14 percent due to corruption, domestic borrowing has doubled in the revised 2012/13 Budget to Sh164.9 billion from the previous financial year’s level of Sh83.4 billion. It means that much of Kenyan money is used to pay debts and borrowing at the same time.

Corruption is not only on Kenya revenues, it is in all sectors including transport where untrained and untested drivers who prefer to buy road licences rather than take a driving test have led to deadly accidents on our roads daily.

The majority of drivers on our roads hardly attended any driving school. For Sh7, 000 you can buy a driver’s licence from Times Tower brokers and be on the road the same day.

As Pope Francis also mentioned it in his Angelus message to the crowds in St. Peter’s Square, despite the oddity of Zaccheus’ action, it serves as a model for sinners who may feel far away from Jesus. Kenya can only improve economically if corruption is curbed completely.

Zaccheus was “despised” by the people of Jericho because of his occupation as a tax collector, and yet after he climbs a tree to see Jesus, the Lord “calls him by name and he is converted.

Willie you are absolutely right that is why Pope Francis may be a nightmare to conservative Catholics. Already an Irish feminist is causing a stir in the Catholic world as rumours are rife the married 49-year-old could be set to join the world’s ‘most exclusive’ club of cardinals.

Linda Hogan is being tipped as a contender to become the Vatican’s first female cardinal, a title which has never been held by a woman in history of the Catholic Church according to historians.

A former Brazilian priest, Juan Arias, was the man who first put forward the prospect of an imminent appointment of a female cardinal, when he wrote the idea was ‘not a joke’, in the Spanish newspaper El Pais in September.

He quoted an unnamed priest as saying: ‘Knowing this Pope, he wouldn’t hesitate before appointing a woman cardinal. ‘And he would indeed enjoy being the first Pope to allow women to participate in the selection of a new pontiff’.

Pope Francis is expected to name at least 14 new cardinals ahead of his first consistory – a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals – in February. The conclave currently consists of 100 elderly males, criticised in recent years for their mismanagement of child abuse scandals.

Hogan, who was a founding member of the International Association for Catholic Social Thought, is one of nine potential female cardinals listed by friend James Keenan, professor of theology at the Jesuit Boston College, on his Facebook page.

Along with Professor Hogan, two candidates are from Brazil, three are African, one is Australian, another German and the ninth is from the Philippines.

Pope Francis met with experts on women’s issue in Rome, affirming that the Church must continue to work for a more profound understanding of women and their roles. Conservative Catholics have struggled with all this, especially when he washed the feet of women on Holy Thursday.

Two young women were among 12 people whose feet Pope Francis washed and kissed at a traditional ceremony in a Rome youth prison, the first time a pontiff has included females in the rite.

The move has come under fire from Catholic traditionalists who say that the rite is a re-enactment of Jesus washing the feet of the 12 apostles before his death, and thus should be limited only to men. Traditionally, popes have washed the feet of 12 priests.Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.comFacebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.
-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

MY HOMILY ON THIRSTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Today’s first reading is taken from Wis 11:22-12:2. It talks of the universe which is like a grain of dust compared with God who created it. God loves all the things which he has created. It is he who preserves all creation, he who forgives the sins- his spirit is in every creature.

In Genesis creation accounts God saw everything that he had made was good and he loved them. He took a survey of them, looked over them again, as workmen do when they have finished their work, to see if anything is amiss or wanting.

The challenge here is, do you really love your work or complain? Do you take your work as the service to the people or merely for salaries? Do you complain when work is much and sometime you are forced to do overtime without added wage? Do you do your work justly or steal from it, through corruption or other means?

Doing work with love and loving your work means you must do it justly. In the Gospel taken from Lk 19:1-10 we are seeing at first Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man was not just in his worked. His work was full of corruption and did it merely to get money from taxpayers unjustly.

Later on he realizes that it was wrong to exploit and rob people of their money, he then seeks to see who Jesus was. When Jesus looked at him and told him that today I must stay at your house he replied: “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.”

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” The grace of God was working within Zacchaeus that is why he was not only able to seek forgiveness from Jesus but also pay back the money he had stolen from people.

Salvation came to Zacchaeus because he was able to pay back those he had wronged. That is how salvation came to Zacchaeus because by turning from his tax collecting, he turned from Rome and was reconciled back to the Jewish community.

As a chief tax collector for the vicinity of Jericho, Zacchaeus was an employee of the Roman Empire. Under the Roman system, men bid on those positions, pledging to raise a certain amount of money. Anything they raised over that amount was their personal profit.

The fact that Zacchaeus was a wealthy man, so he must have extorted a great deal from the people and encouraged his subordinates to do so as well. The crowd, however, muttered that Jesus would be socializing with a sinner. Jews hated tax collectors because they were dishonest tools of the oppressive Roman government.

Zacchaeus collected taxes for the Romans, overseeing the customs charges on the trade routes through Jericho and levying taxes on individual citizens in that area. Zacchaeus must have been efficient, organized, and aggressive in his work.

Even today revenue administration is often ranked as one of the poorest performing public sectors globally in terms of corruption. This is because tax administration is an attractive and tempting sector.

In Kenya for example, the Government is experiencing critical shortage of revenue due to challenges in tax collection. Nothing illustrates this better than the fact that over Sh50 billion owed to suppliers between 20008/09 has not been paid to date.

Within 18 months alone, the taxman had sacked 162 employees over corruption.

More than half of the sacked workers were customs officers stationed at border posts, airports and Mombasa port.

Yet to date, corruption in KRA and Immigration still tops the list above other departments. This hindered KRA from meeting its targets during the 2008/09 financial year when it projected to raise Sh493 billion from taxes but fell short of the target by Sh12 billion.

It fell short of its Sh128 billion revenue target for July September by Sh4 billion.

If this trend continues, Treasury could find it hard financing its expanded budget and this might harm recurrent and development expenditures and other public sectors like hospitals, roads, schools among others.

This trend put the Government in a tighter corner to finance that year’s Sh860 billion budget — the largest budget ever in Kenya. Since then Kenya has not recovered from this, yet corruption continues. Last week the Government was forced to sack 16 immigration officials due to corruption.

Roads Transport department failed to turn in its Sh1 billion target and instead collected Sh600 million in taxes despite an increase in car imports and motor vehicles registered in Kenya in the past 12 months.

Unless Kenyan tax collectors meet Jesus to tell him we are really very sorry like Zacchaeus, give back part of the money they have stolen to the people, high cost of living is expected to affect middle class Kenyans.

The second reading is taken from 2 Thes 1:11-2:2. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to persevere in their Christian faith and give glory to God. Paul tells them not to consider that the end of the world and the second coming of Christ in glory to judge the world is near at hand.

This idea had in some way become fairly widespread among the converts and some of them just sat idly waiting for Christ’s coming, refusing to do any work. Such behavior was condemned by Paul who told the offenders to work and earn their daily bread.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

ORDINARY CATHOLICS TO GIVE THEIR SAY ON THE USE OF CONTRACEPTION

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Following my postage on Facebook Timeline that the Vatican has asked national bishops’ conferences around the world to conduct a wide-ranging poll of Catholics asking for their opinions on church teachings on contraception, same-sex marriage and divorce, Martin writes via Fecebook: “I do hope some won’t see the Church as a democracy”!

Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary general of the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops, asked the conferences to distribute the poll “immediately as widely as possible to deaneries and parishes so that input from local sources can be received.”

Although Martin could be right that the Roman Catholic Church is not a democracy because the church hierarchy isn’t elected, doesn’t have any checks or balances, and it doesn’t solicit or care about the opinions of ordinary churchgoers as to how things should be run, but remember when Pope Benedict resigned there were speculations that the next pope would bring changes to Catholicism.

Benedict was well-known as an enforcer of orthodoxy, cracking down harshly on nuns, supporters of same-sex marriage and other progressive factions within the church, and the beleaguered liberals in Catholicism are hoping that the next pope will bring a change of direction.

Pope Francis believes that the church is the people and not hierarchy as it were understood previously. The poll, which comes in a questionnaire form, is going to be sent to national bishops’ conferences globally in preparation for a Vatican synod on the family next October.

It is going to be the first time the church’s central hierarchy has asked for such input from grass-roots Catholics since at least the establishment of the synod system following the Second Vatican Council called by Pope John XXIII who was seen as liberal pope. He died before he could see the implementation of the document.

The upcoming synod, which Pope Francis announced earlier this month, is to be held Oct. 5-19, 2014, on the theme “Pastoral Challenges of the family in the context of evangelization.”

While I don’t see many Catholics voting for same sex marriage, divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion and other sacraments, overwhelming majority will vote for the use of contraceptives.

This is given that already majority of Catholics are using them, especially condoms. Recently Cardinal Martini was quoted by press saying that if Jesus would have never written Humanae Vitae.

“He is a Jesus who struggles against injustice. So he also opposes the “lies” and “damage” of the encyclical by Paul VI prohibiting artificial contraception”, writes the former archbishop of Milan in his latest book.

In his latest book-interview, published first in Germany and now also in Italy, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini calls himself not an anti-pope, as he is often depicted by the media, but “an ante-pope, a precursor and preparer for the Holy Father.”

Cardinal Martini puts us in front of Jesus from another perspective. Jesus is the friend of the publican and the sinner. He listens to the questions of young people. He stirs things up. He fights with us against injustice.”

Martini accuses Paul VI of deliberately concealing the truth, leaving it to theologians and pastors to fix things by adapting precepts to practice. The book is entitled: “Due in una carne. Chiesa e sessualità nella storia (Two in one flesh: Church and sexuality in history).”

Contraceptives are mostly used in Western countries where natural methods have continued to be considered not only completely ineffective, but also inconvenient and difficult to apply. The method was introduced by two married Australian doctors from Melbourne – Evelyn and John Billings whose natural birth control took the name.

Evelyn is from Irish Catholic ancestry who converted to Catholicism at their marriage. Together with her husband John Billings they dedicated their lives to this research of Billings methods of birth control which was adopted by Catholic Church as the best method for controlling birth.

For those who remember the campaigns of the feminists for the discovery of the female sexual apparatus – in the 1970’s, they advised women to use a mirror to examine their genitals – the Billings method seems perfect: the woman controls her power of procreation through her own knowledge of herself, without the mediation of doctors and medicine, in perfect autonomy. In reality, the feminists always treated with disdain.

But just as the questionnaires have been sent, German bishops have announced that Catholic hospitals can provide emergency contraceptives to rape victims, as long as the pills prevent the fertilization of an egg and do not stop the implantation of a fertilized egg.

Bishop Ignacio Carrasco de Paula told “Vatican Insider,” the online news supplement to the Italian newspaper La Stampa recently that the German Catholic Episcopal Conference had deemed it necessary to announce that.

The announcement came Thursday at the end of the bishops’ regular plenary meeting in Trier. The action models similar policy established by the archbishop of Cologne previous month, when a controversy erupted when it became public that two Catholic hospitals in Cologne had refused to serve a rape victim.

Cologne Cardinal Joachim Meisner had apologized for the hospitals’ refusal to serve the victim, who had a doctor’s prescription for a “morning-after pill.” He then announced that emergency contraceptives are acceptable treatment for rape victims in Catholic hospitals.

The announcement follows in 2011 when German pro-life activists sent to Cologne Catholic hospitals — including St. Vincent’s, Holy Spirit and two other hospitals run by the Augustinian nuns known as the Cellitines — a woman who falsely claimed to have been raped and asked doctors for a morning-after pill.

Doctors who complied with the woman’s request were reported to archdiocesan authorities, which resulted in letters of reprimand.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

WHY PRIESTS CELEBRATE 3 MASSES ON ALL SOULS DAY

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

Mama Stacy from Mombasa writes: “Father Beste I read your news dispatch about the press statement by Fr Lagho on religious extremists. Father there is rumours here in Mombasa that Bishop Lele is resigning on Friday November 1, have you heard about it?

I also read your dispatch on all saints day, but not yet on all souls. Are you planning to write about it? I have been wondering why priests celebrate 3 masses on that day and not on all saints day or other days. What makes the day so special to celebrate 3 masses?”

Thank you Mama Stacy for asking these questions and for reading my blog-the same rmous you are hearing is the same one we do hear about Bishop Lele. Rumous even have it that he resigned already and that is why his vicar general, Fr Lagho is issuing statements on his behalf.

We cannot confirm or deny the rumous until we get official statement from Rome. Archbishop Boniface Lele has not been feeling well and that is why he is to resign. Furthermore he is not going to be the first bishop in Kenya to resign before official age of 75 years. Bishop Linus Okok of Homa bay Diocese did the same and Cornelius Schilder of Ngong.

To answer your second question, on all souls day celebrated each year on November 2, every priest is required to celebrate 3 Requiem Masses: one, for the faithful departed; one for the priest’s intentions; and one for the intentions of the Holy Father.

The general intention for the pope in November is that priests experiencing difficulties may be comforted in their sufferings, sustained in the doubts and confirmed in their fidelity. Missionary intention is that the Churches of Latin America may send missionaries to other Churches as a result of the continental mission.

This privilege was granted by Pope Benedict XV in Incruentum altaris (1915) and has never been revoked. However, a celebrant may take a stipend for only one of the Masses on that day.

Traditionally these 3 Masses used to be celebrated consecutively, but because the timing of these Masses should respect the needs and working day of parishioners or the members of a religious community, which would not favor celebrating the three Masses one right after the other, one Mass can be celebrated at the parish or religious house and then the rest in the outstations.

If in case of religious house or formation, 2 Masses can be celebrated after the other and the third one in the evening. Again it will depend with the timing of the nature of their duties.

On this day Catholics are encouraged, not only to remember the dead, but also to apply their efforts, through prayer, almsgiving, and the Mass, to their release from Purgatory. There are two plenary indulgences attached to All Souls Day, one for visiting a church and another for visiting a cemetery.

The plenary indulgence for visiting a cemetery can also be obtained every day from November 1-8, and, as a partial indulgence, on any day of the year. While the actions are performed by the living, the merits of the indulgences are applicable only to the souls in Purgatory. This is because praying for the dead is a Christian obligation.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

KENYA: MAN OF GOD ATTEMPTS TO DEVOUR FELLOW MAN INSTEAD OF CASTING OUT THE DEMONS

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By Our Reporter

A Pastor with a Kisumu based church situated along Kisumu-Nairobi road attempt to seduce a fellow man took another dimension when the man he had intended to seduce reported the matter to the police resulting to the Pastor’s arrest and subsequently being charged in court.

The Pastor who is called Erick Osewe alias Dominic Oloo and pastoring in one of the branches of the church whose head is locally branded as a political prayer Bishop who once served as former President Moi errand boy within luoland has since been charged in a Kisumu with improper use of mobile phone.

He appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Samuel Atonga and was charged that on October 28th while at Dalc International Hotel within Kisumu County he sent an sms to Walter Amatta

“Through the republic of Kenya by means of a Safaricom mobile you sent a messege to Walter Amatta saying” hi swity si u be part of mine” read the charge.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on a bond of Kshs 60,000.

The case will be mentioned on November 11 .

As a result of his conduct the few church members have since left the church leaving the Bishop with only his wife, few children and relatives in that church

MY HOMILY ON THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2013

Today’s first reading is taken from Sir 35:12-14, 16-18. It talks of God of Justice, a term used for what is right or “as it should be.” It is the a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, equity and fairness, as well as the administration of the law, taking into account the inalienable and inborn rights of all human beings and citizens.

Justice based the right of all people and individuals to equal protection before the law of their civil rights, without discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, color, ethnicity, religion, disability, age among others.

In his dialogue Republic, Plato uses Socrates to argue for justice that covers both the just person and the just City State. Plato describes how such a state would be organized, who would govern it, what sort of education the children would have, and so on.

In this formulation the Platonic definition of justice seems plausible. A thief, for example, is unjust because he wants to have what is not his own. A doctor who does not care about curing his patients of illnesses can be called unjust because he is disregarding his proper role. A murderer acts unjustly since he deprives his victim of that which rightly belongs to him, namely his life.

According to Plato, these functions of the state include making possible the conditions under which everyone can feed, clothe and shelter themselves, as well as seek the Good. Since God embodies these laws, if we go against them we go against God’s 10 commandments.

God knows no favorites. He hears the cry of the oppressed. He is not deaf to the wail of the orphan or to the widow when she pours out her complaint. The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens.

The second reading is taken from 2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18. It talks of how to endure sufferings. Paul himself in his three pastoral letters to Timothy and Titus often quotes his own life and sufferings to encourage his disciples and successors to persevere in their apostolic labors. Paul had full confidence in God, his just judge, who would give him his eternal reward.

If Paul were to be in Kenya today I don’t know how he would encourage Kenyans who commit suicides almost every day due to the high cost of living to endure their suffering instead of killing themselves.

Just as some Kenyans commit suicides because of high cost of living, I don’t know again the message would have to the government over the recent new Value Added Tax (VAT) Act which has resulted in increasing the cost of living by a bigger margin.

Inflation rate went up for the sixth consecutive month in September to 8.3 per cent from 6.67 per cent in August. This coupled with an increase in fuel prices mid September resulted in steep rise in the cost of living.

Data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the cost of food and other general items went up 2.87 per cent in September. The price of books and magazines went up by 6.62 per cent. Other items that went up include electricity and cooking items.

The implementation of the VAT Act and seasonal factors affecting supply of common food crops were the main causes of rise in the food index Notable is the price of milk that went up 22 per cent to retail at Sh57 per 500 millilitre, up from an average of Sh47 in August.

Other factors that caused a rise in the general price of goods and services include an increase in the retail price of fuel mid-September. Prices of diesel, super petrol and kerosene went up by an average of Sh2 per litre of each.

Likewise, the transport Index increased by 0.77 per cent mainly due to increases in the public transport fares that were attributed to higher prices of petrol and diesel.

The Gospel is taken from Lk 18:9-14. It talks of the parable of Pharisee and Tax collector. The parable demonstrates the need to pray humbly. “Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Tax collectors, because of their association with the hated Romans, were seen as traitors to Israel and were loathed and treated as outcasts. But realizing his sin tax collector spoke of his unworthiness before God. He beats his breast in sorrow and repentance and appeals to God for mercy.

This is the type of prayer God wants from us, prayer that demonstrates that we are sinners and we need God’s mercy. It means admitting we have nothing to offer to God to atone for our sin except through his mercy.

We come to God as empty, impoverished, despised, bankrupt, pitiable, desperate beggars. The tax collector recognizes his sinful condition and seeks the only thing that can bridge the gap between himself and God.

“Have mercy on me,” he cries, and we know from the end of the parable that God heard his prayer for mercy and answered it. The tax collector went away justified (made righteous) because he had humbled himself before God, confessing that no amount of works could save him from his sin and that only God’s mercy could.

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

KENYA: KIMAIYO’S ARREST THREATS TO JOURNALISTS IS AN ACT OF DEFEAT

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from: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Chris from Nairobi writes: “Fr. I think Pope Francis has taken the right direction as far as the reception of Holy Communion is concerned by opting to allow the divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion.

My wonder is that there are some priests who stop their faithful from receiving Holy Communion on merely their personal differences. Is such an act justifiable according to the church’s law?”

Juliet from Nairobi would also like to know why the Inspector General of the police David Kimaiyo wants to arrest KTN Jicho Pevu presenter Mohamed Ali and Inside Story John-Allan Namu of incitement and propaganda when they were just reporting how Kenya Army looted Westgate Mall instead of protecting the people and their property.

Chris there were no way the conservative cardinals working with the pope could allow this happen. On October 22, 2013 Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, strongly reaffirmed Catholic Church teaching forbidding divorced and remarried Catholics from receiving Holy Communion.

In a length essay published on the Vatican newspaper’s website in five languages, Archbishop Gerhard Muller was categorical that Pope Francis has no intention at all to change this dogma.

This is despite the comments from Pope Francis on his return trip from Rio’s World Youth Day regarding divorced and remarried Catholics that a change in the Church’s long-standing tradition on the matter was coming. That perception was strengthened with the announcement of an upcoming synod on families for next October.

Juliet this is not the first time Mohamed Ali and John -Allan Namu have been threatened. They have received death threats over George Saitoti death exposé that aired on the station some weeks ago.

The Standard Group management expressed concern over the threats that appeared aimed at intimidating its journalists. Group Chief Executive Sam Shollei said the Group supports Press freedom and will not allow its journalists to be intimidated in the course of their duties.

The exclusive stories dubbed Ghururi ya Saitoti and Death in Ten Minutes by Ali and Namu respectively showed that there could have been foul play in the death of then Internal Security minister George Saitoti.

Mr Shollei said Standard Group will stand by its journalists, and will remain steadfast in discharging its duties as a media house, without fear or favour.

The two journalists looked into the circumstances that led to the death of Prof. Saitoti, his assistant Orwa Ojode, their bodyguards and two pilots. The pair tried to prove that Saitoti’s ‘accident’ was an indeed an assassination.

Mohammed Ali was to be killed along Waiyaki Way, near the Museum Hill Interchange.
Dennis Onsarigo, his colleague was to be terminated as he headed home. To support his claims, Moha played a clip of the then Makadara MP Mike Sonko addressing residents of Likoni in May last year. Sonko said that he was aware of a plot to kill Mohammed Ali, Maina Njenga and himself.

In the flight recording aired on Jicho Pevu, the pilots were heard coughing repeatedly just before silence and crashing. They did not even press the distress button.

In the investigative piece, it emerged that the pilots that were to fly Saitoti initially, were replaced with other quite inexperience ones. Nancy Gituanja and Luke Oyugi were informed of their morning assignment that past night while at a club near the airport.

When the plane crashed, Mohammed Ali wondered why the police failed to seal off the scene to prevent loss of evidence. He also wonders why the plane wreckage was let to remain at the scene for 14 full days. A few moths later, Saitoti’s phone was recovered with an Administration Police officer.

Soon after, the commission investigating the accident, led by Judge Kalpana Rawal, was informed how NSIS made phone calls, to prevent the inclusion of particular evidence.
In the postmortem, there was decolourisation of the body, and a particular jelly-pink colour was observed in some organs.

These two factors are brought about by poisonous gas cyanide, and these two facts were not included in the final report. This was admitted by Dr. Amripal karsi. It proves that NIS Director Gichangi was aware of the plan.

Similarly, Ali and his colleague Dennis Onsarigo were threatened after running Paruwanja ya Mihadarati or Untouchables in 2011. Former Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere threatened he would sue the journalists after they exposed how a senior General Service Unit officer, Erastus Kirui Chemorei was killed.

The journalists wanted to prove to Kenyans that what the police had reported earlier concerning the death that it was robberies was not the case. In fact Chemorei had been killed by his fellow police in connection with the Sh6.4-billion cocaine seized by police in a private villa in Malindi where it was kept.

At the time of his killing, Chemorei was keeping custody of the store where the cocaine was kept. Jicho pevu exposed how together with then GSU commandant Lawrence Mwadime and Assistant commandant and current Police Commissioner, Mathew Iteere, were mandated to keep safe custody of the cocaine – the biggest ever netted locally.

According to sources, Chemorei who was an adjutant at the GSU Training School, Ruaraka, was picked because he was seen as honest, secretive, and trustworthy. These attributes would lead to his brutal murder at the hands of those who had theirs firmly fixed on the haul.

Jicho Pevu revealed that on February 19, 70 police officers led by then area DCIO, Julius Sunkuli, OCPD Augustine Kimantheria, and DC Christopher Musumbu surrounded his house. Many officers disembarking and taking positions around the barbed wired fence as others entered the compound planning how to finish him.

Daniel Maiyo, who was stationed at Kapsowar police post and who was among the officers in the said special operation, says in a statement that after arriving at Chemorei’s home, they found the OCPD and two other people they did not know.

He said the DCIO, Julius Sunkuli, told them to remain outside as he entered the compound, he shortly returned, and ordered them to search the house.

The officer says they found two bullets, handed them over to Sunkuli, and continued searching. But as they went on with the search they heard gunshots. When they came out they saw Chemorei lying dead about 30m from his house.

Besides the body, as they would verify later, were three AK 47 guns, three magazines, and 62 rounds of ammunition.

Another officer, Kimantheria, in his statement, says he was told there were gangsters who had escaped from Chemorei’s house, and he decided to follow them. But when he could not find them he headed towards the suspect’s home.

He said a few metres from Chemorei’s gate he heard gunshots, which lasted for about three minutes. When the gunshots stopped, he saw Chemorei’s body on the ground. He was told he had attempted to flee after being found with guns.

He said the guns found were AK47s serial numbers: 56-128132564, 1960 xa5207, and 386056367017 and 62 rounds of ammunition and a bayonet.

Sunkuli says in his statement that after the guns were found in Chemorei’s compound, Chemorei tried to flee and when cornered he attempted to grab a gun from a police officer hence he was shot.

But the statements of officers who were in the operation contradict Kimantheria and Sunkuli’s statements. Bernard Cheruiyot, a police officer, states that Chemorei co-operated with the police and did not attempt to run as indicated in the OCPD and DCIO’s reports.

“I heard the voice of the DCIO who was outside the gate say, “Simama!” Immediately officers opened fire. I never saw him jump over the fence.”

Another officer corroborates Cheruiyot’s statement. Jackson Cheruiyot says when they arrived at Chemorei’s house they found the OCPD in company of two other people inside the compound.

This was about the time when John-Allan Namu was still reporting for NTV and Harith Salim uncovered evidence of recruitment activities in Kenya by Somalia’s radical al Shabaab group.

Undercover video footage taken by the crew shows the activities of a network of terror recruiters luring youths to go and fight in Somalia. Disturbingly, one of the key recruiters captured on tape introduced himself as a serving member of the Kenyan military.

This is none other than Corporal Hussein Abdullahi Athan. He holds the rank of corporal, and has been in the Kenyan military for more than 10 years. Hussein is also a trained engineer – a skill set which, in the army, means that, among other things, he is a specialist in laying land mines and booby traps as well as in bridge-building.

His base is 10 Engineers in Nanyuki, but at that time he was attached to the school of combat engineering in Isiolo as a trainer.

In fact Juliet Kimaiyo should be very grateful to the media because they are able to discover security threats in the country which Kimaiyo with his security team are not able to do. But assure Kimaiyo’s threats are just like a sound of a frog which cannot scare a cow from drinking water. Kimaiyo and his team must accept they have failed in their duties.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.comFacebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.
-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002

KENYA: CHURCH FOUNDATION TO IMPROVE LIVELIHOODS

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To: “jaluo@jaluo.com”
By Chak Rachar

AFRICAN Churches Foundation has embark on various community projects to improve the livelihoods of those people living in extreme poverty.

The Chairperson Bishop Phoebe Onyango said the foundation is undertaking subsistence farming in the seven constituencies of Kisumu county to ensure food sufficient.

Bishop Onyango disclosed that the foundation is training the residents on new farming methods after which they provide them with farm inputs.

She said the foundation also support education sector by funding the feeding programs and access to clean water in various schools in the county.

Onyango said the foundation targets the orphans and vulnerable children from the seven constituencies adding that they provide them with food and medical assistance.

She said the county has a population of 968,909 with 226,719 households saying that 45% of the populations are living below the poverty index.

The leader said the foundation also empowers women and youth economically to enable them start up small business activities.

Onyango asked the churches in the county to support the agricultural initiatives launched by the foundation to reduce food insecurity among the poor.

Speaking yesterday during the church leaders meeting in Kisumu, Onyango said churches have been lagging behind in development agenda.

The leaders were drowned from Muhoroni, Nyando, Kisumu West, Seme, Kisumu Central, Kisumu East and Nyakach constituencies.

Onyango called church leaders to initiate various development activities that can change the lives of the poor communities.

END

MY HOMILY ON WORLD MISSION SUNDAY

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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2013

Today is the 87th World Mission Sunday. The day coincides with Mashujaa Day, also known as Heroes’ Day in Kenya. “mashujaa” is Swahili for “heroes”, is a national day in Kenya, which is observed on October 20 as a public holiday to collectively honour all those who contributed towards the struggle for Kenya’s independence.

The theme of this year’s Message is taken from the Motu proprio, Porta fidei with which Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed the Year of Faith: “called to radiate the word of truth that the Lord Jesus has left us.”

It is the first Mission Sunday since Pope Francis took over from Benedict. In his message Pope Francis stresses that it is necessary to proclaim the Gospel of Christ courageously and in every situation.

He wants us to proclaim the message of hope, reconciliation (and) communion, a proclamation of God’s closeness, his mercy, salvation and a proclamation that the power of God’s love is able to overcome the darkness of evil and guide us on the path of goodness.

His message emphasizes the obligation of all Christians to share the faith with others and do so with respect. He also points to the stifling damage done to the church by the failure to evangelize and the sacrifices made by many Christians around the world currently facing oppression or even persecution because of their faith.

Approximately 10 per cent of the 2 billion Christians in the world today suffer persecution. This means that some 200 million Christians suffer harsh repercussions because of their religion. Yet as the pope says in a message we should not impose our faith or religion on anyone.

The good news of Jesus Christ is to be proclaimed through word and deed with respect. This is because the church’s missionary spirit is not about proselytizing, but the testimony of a life that illuminates the path, which brings hope and love.

World Mission Sunday is celebrated on the third Sunday of October every year. It was created by Pope Pius XI in 1926 as the day of prayer and propaganda of missions. The word “mission” originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin missionem (nom. missio), meaning “act of sending” or mittere, meaning “to send”. Traditional Apostles of Jesus Missionaries use the day to commission the newly ordained priests in missions land.

The first reading is taken from Ex 17:8-13. In this reading the Israelites are attacked in their journey from Egypt to Canaan by the Amalek tribe who would have annihilated them were it not for Moses’s intercession with God.

In those days, Amalek came and waged war against Israel. Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, “Pick out certain men, and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur.

As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses’hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on.

Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Second reading is from 2 Tm 3:14-4:2. Paul continues to exhort and encourage his disciple Timothy to be loyal to the Christian faith. Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent,
equipped for every good work.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.

The Gospel is from Lk 18:1-8. This reading poses a question as to why should whole nations of devout Christians suffer persecutions, a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being.

And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'”

The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Yet today, many missionaries risk being persecuted, killed, robbed or rejected- Just last month a Danish missionary was strangled to death in Kisumu County after four armed robbers suspected to be Administration Policemen raided his home.

The Danish, Kristensen Jan, 73, was among six people who in January 2000 met to consult over the construction of the first Jan’s Academy Group of Schools. The gang got into Jan’s compound at around 10 am and did not interfere with the watchman at the gate. As they entered, one of them, suspected to be Administration Police officer waited outside with a get-away car.

The three then proceeded to the old man’s house and ordered the workers to be silent as they wrestled the missionary on the floor.

Towards the end of 2009 the Church in Africa suffered severe attacks against missionaries. On December 6 at night, Fr. Louis Blondel, a member of the Missionaries of Africa was assassinated in his home by three men near Pretoria, South Africa.

Fr. Blondel, a French citizen was 70 years old and has been a missionary in South Africa for 22 years. Before his South African assignment he served for more than fifteen years in Tanzania.

In the South Kivu province, on December 6, 2009 around 2 am, Fr. Daniel Cizimya Nakamaga, 51, a diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Bukavu was assassinated in his parish home in Kabare.

Unidentified men forced the door and shot him twice in the head after screaming at him in Lingala “ye wana” which means “this is the one”. Two other priests were in the house but were not hurt.

In less than 48 hours, on December 7, 2009 around 7:30 pm, Sister Dénise Kahambu was assassinated at the Monastery in Murhesa by men in military uniform. These were not the only attacks against the Archdiocese of Bukavu in recent months.

On October 2 around 8 pm, at Chiherano parish, a priest and a seminarian were taken hostages after their parish home was looted. They were released after a ransom was given.

On October 5, 2009, the Catholic School run by Marist Brothers was attacked and looted. Because of these events, Archbishop Francois-Xavier Maroy was forced to return home from Rome where he was taking part in the second Synod of African Bishops.

On Oct 12, 2009 in Kabare the Mukongola hospital was attacked and two doctors were seriously injured. The Catholic Church has always been the target because of its social justice role.

This diocese has experienced many losses since the war stated in 1996. The first victim was Archbishop Christophe Munzihirwa, killed by Rwanda troops the same day they captured the city of Bukavu on October 29, 1996.

Followed was the killing of Fr. Georges Kakuja, Fr. Claude Buhendwa and Sisters murdered in Kasika, Fr. Remis Pepe without counting the many lay people they served.

On December 12, 2009 in Kericho, 190 miles from the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Fr. Jeremiah Roche was killed by robbers. Fr. Roche was a Kiltegan Missionary (St. Patrick Missionaries). They broke in his home after cutting the metal grille of his window.

He was stripped naked, tied on a chair and then stabbed in the throat. The assassins took with them a DC player, two cell phones and his blood stained clothes which were later found. Fr. Jeremiah, a native of Ireland from the town of Limerick served as a missionary in Kenya for 41 years.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.

-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002