From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013
Today’s first reading is taken from Am 8:4-7, second reading is from 1 Tm 2:1-8, the Gospel is from Lk 16:1-13. All the readings today emphasize the concept of Justice and peace. While justice is a virtue which guides the human will, prompting us to give others what is due to them by reason of their existence and their actions, peace is a gift of God implored with faith.
As prophet Amos speaks out in the first reading, we must fearlessly condemn greed, self-indulgence, corruption, complacency, and religious indifference in the strongest term possible. We must condemned political, religious and any other leaders who exploited and oppressed the poor.
We should emulate the courage of Anglican Bishop Alexander Muge who became a true voice to the voiceless of the exploited and oppressed people of God in Kenya. He fearlessly condemned Moi’s regime for corruption and ethnic cleansing which had begun sweeping through the Rift Valley, Western, Nyanza and other regions.
We should also emulate the courage of American Mill Hill missionary, Fr John Anthony Kaiser who fearlessly brought attention to the social problems facing people of God in Kenya. He became a vocal critic of the waves of evictions which were clearly government-backed.
He came into national limelight in the early 1990s when he vigorously resisted the eviction of the internally displaced people who had camped at Maela in Narok, following their eviction from Enoosupukia.
In the second reading St. Paul insists that we must speak the truth without fear, bias or favor. We should emulate the courage of American human rights activist, Malcolm X who courageously and fearlessly spoke the truth:
“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”
Jesus told his disciples that to believe in his is to know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” John 8:31,32. The key to genuine freedom is found in the phrase; “continue in my word”. Jesus says we come to know the truth by continuing in his teachings, and truth is that which will liberate us or make us free.
Truth will lead men and women, boys and girls to love one another. To the extent that we love one another, we shall also respect each other’s rights and privileges.
Later Saint Paul would write about the necessity to be numbered among those “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For…ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit” (Romans 8:4-6, 9). It is not a matter of being “bad” or “good” but of being truthful.
To live as a material being is to live a lie; to live as a spiritual being is to live the truth. And that is truly “life and peace.” “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit,” for “he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” with the Divine (Galatians 5:16; I Corinthians 6:17).
In the Gospel Christ is warning those who would follow him on the road to heaven not to become the slaves of earthly things. We should serve God, not money. No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”
In simple word, Jesus wants us to be generous with what you have. Generosity is the habit of giving without expecting anything in return. It can involve offering time, assets or talents to aid someone in need. Generosity can also be spending time, money, or labor, for others, without being rewarded in return.
Although generosity often goes hand-in-hand with charity, it is not solely based on one’s economic status, but instead, includes the individual’s pure intentions of looking out for society’s common good and giving from the heart. In other words, generosity should reflect the individual’s passion to help others.
Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
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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