from: joachim omolo ouko
Father Omolo Beste’s Homily

Thursday, December 25, 2014

On this day the Church focuses especially on the newborn Child, God become human, who embodies for us all the hope and peace we seek. John describes the closeness between Jesus and his Father, his consideration and love for others and also his compassion, “the Lamb of God”, “the bread of life”, the light of the world”, “the fine shepherd”, “the true vine”, “the way the truth and the life” and “the resurrection and the life”

He is the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

Jesus is the true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will.

On the other hand, Matthew presents Jesus as the Messiah the one chosen by God to deliver the people from their sins. Matthew quotes the Old Testament extensively, and places special emphasis on Jesus’ fulfillment of prophecies—which would have been important to a Jewish audience.

The Gospel of Matthew is written for a Jewish audience, especially Palestinian Jews who were at the time oppressed by the Romans. One of Matthew’s main goals in his gospel was to prove that Jesus was the true Davidic Messiah–the king the Jews were expecting, who will deliver them from oppression.

Luke presents him as “the Son of Man”–not the Christ or King or God Incarnate, but distinctively the Son of Man. He is not talking only about coming to save lost people; he has come to save that which is lost. He came to the earth to be the perfect sacrifice for all of our sins; for every single person who has lived, or ever shall live.

He also came to destroy the power of the devil forevermore. Luke is portrayed him as one who loves every single person, in spite of how we may fail him. He also came to the earth to pay the price for everyone who will believe in him, to be healed from every sickness and disease.

Mark on the other hand distinctively presents Jesus as the suffering servant. For a gospel apparently written with a Gentile audience in mind, Mark does not begin his story of Jesus where we might expect. He doesn’t begin with Jesus’ birth, or his baptism, or with any other event in the first century.

Instead, Mark reminds the reader that the story of the gospel began many generations before when God made promises to the people of Israel. In other words, Mark does not present the Jesus as the start of a new story, but as the completion of an old one.

In the first reading taken from IS 52:7-10 Prophet Isaiah describes Jesus’ birth as beautiful, he is born to bring glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, “Your God is King!”

The oppressed are crying together they shout for joy, for they see directly, before their eyes, the Lord restoring Zion. He has come to redeem Jerusalem. He has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.

In the second reading taken from HEB 1:1-6 in times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word.

When he had accomplished purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
In the Gospel taken from JN 1:1-18 John asserts: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.

What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.

He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.

And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, saying,

“This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’”

From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God.

The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him”.
Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail obolobeste@gmail.com
Omolo_ouko@outlook.com
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From: joachim omolo ouko
News Dispatch with Father Omolo Beste
SUNDAY, JULY 13, 2014

Ken from Rome writes: “Omolo, Your best ever column, on women and men, and the continuing challenge to society…and the Church to build relationships and structures of leadership and jurisdiction that translate this new sense of equality and justice into daily living reality. Society and Church are far from it yet; getting closer in words but yet far in deeds”. Peace.

Yuvinalis from Kisii, Kenya writes: “Fr. Beste, the story of women being considered as less than men is practically in every community. The horror story from India and China where the girl child babies are aborted tell it all. Some girl child babies can even be killed at their early ages to give the parents a chance to get another child who may turn out to be a son.

Even in cases of inheritance the girl child is discriminated. With the current laws in many countries empowering the girl child and also change in inheritance laws to give male and females equal rights goes to show us how far ahead Jesus was in terms of humanity thinking”.

Joseph writes on my Facebook timeline: “Fr Omolo Beste your expiation of women and connection of Adam and Eve story is wonderful. Please can you explain to me in detail about original sin? I am a Catholic but to tell you sincerely this is the doctrine I don’t understand. Otherwise thank you for this noble job you are doing.”

Joseph has raised very important issue. The term “original sin” deals with Adam’s sin of disobedience in eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and its effects upon the rest of the human race. Its doctrine focuses particularly on its effects on our nature.

The concept of original sin was explained in depth by St Augustine and formalised as part of Roman Catholic doctrine by the Councils of Trent in the 16th Century. Even a newborn baby who hasn’t done anything at all is damaged by original sin. It explains why Catholics have infant baptism.

According to Catholic Church teaching, original sin affects individuals by separating them from God, and bringing dissatisfaction and guilt into their lives. The story has it that when God created Eve to be Adam’s wife, Eve was tricked by the serpent into eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of life and death. She gave some of the fruit to Adam and he ate it too.

Adam and Eve realised that they were naked and hid in shame. When God next visited the Garden he realised that they had disobeyed him. God banished them from the Garden of Eden into the harsh world outside. God also banned them from eating the fruit of the tree of life, and so death entered the world.

So when Adam and Eve sinned in Eden and turned away from God they brought sin into the world and turned the whole human race away from God. Adam was created in the image of God with the potential to be perfectly fulfilled through his existence and his relationship with God. But Man failed to fulfill his potential and opted to go it alone and estrange himself from God.

Although St Augustine, who largely devised the theory of original sin, thought that original sin was transmitted from generation to generation through sexual intercourse, he did not say exactly how this happened. He only said that it was transmitted by “concupiscence”, when people had sex and conceived a child. This is where many scholars have difficulty.

Concupiscence is a technical theological word that Augustine used to refer to sexual desire as something bad in the soul that was inseparable from normal human sexual impulses. Sexual desire was bad, he taught, because it could totally overwhelm those caught up in it, depriving them of self-control and rational thought. This disapproving view of passion was quite common among Christians of Augustine’s time.

Augustine thought that concupiscence was present in all sexual intercourse. He thought that it was just as bad and uncontrolled in a marriage as it was in non-marital sex, but that an excuse could be made for it within marriage because its purpose was to produce legitimate children. Protestant churches don’t believe on this concept that is why they don’t baptize infants.

This bad element in sex provides the means by which original sin is transmitted from father to child. The Council of Trent gave the official stamp to the idea that original sin was transferred from generation to generation by propagation – which means during the sexual act that led to conception.

St Augustine was Bishop of Hippo, in what is now Algeria, from 396 to 430. He was one of the greatest theologians in history and his ideas still influence Christian thought today. He thought that humanity was originally perfect (“man’s nature was created at first faultless and without any sin”), immortal and blessed with many talents, but that Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and introduced sin and death to the world.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail obolobeste@gmail.com

Omolo_ouko@outlook.com
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From: joachim omolo ouko
News Dispatch with Father Omolo Beste
JULY 7, 2014

News Dispatch with Father Omolo Beste has resumed after being offline for some days. It resumes with today’s Gospel from Mt. 9:18-26 and why Matthews portrays Jesus differently from Mark and Luke.

Matthews Gospel is very short and only begins with ‘while he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. Mark is more elaborate (5: 21-43)-he begins with-‘when Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake’.

Luke’s style is quite unique (Lk 8: 40-56) – he writes- ‘now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

Mark and Matthew bring the synagogue leaders, named Jairus much later. Matthews continues-‘when he came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him.

Mark on the other hand continue-‘but come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

Matthews writes-‘Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment. Mark adds-‘large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.

When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.

Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Luke approaches it differently- he write- ‘as Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Matthews approach to Jesus is more of kingly who came to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies about the messiah. Jesus is the King who taught with authority. For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. He is shown as having authority to forgive sin.

For Luke, Jesus is the compassionate savior of the world, with love and compassion for all people, whether rich or poor, Jew or Gentile. He reaches out especially to poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, the women and the poor and outcast of society.

While Matthews emphasizes on the authority of Jesus, Luke emphasizes on his divine mercy, depicting God as the Father who forgives his prodigal children with unbounded love. On the other hand, Mark focused on the power and authority of Jesus over diseases, sin, evil spirits, nature, and death itself, and through his role as a teacher. Jesus gives his apostles the power to heal sickness and “cast out devils.

John’s approach to Jesus is quite different. John’s Gospel portrays him as truly divine and pre-existing. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John also portrays Jesus as the one who not only speaks the words of the Father as a representative but who is ‘one with the Father’ in terms of his very essence and being as divine.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail obolobeste@gmail.com

Omolo_ouko@outlook.com
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From: joachim omolo ouko
Father Omolo Beste’s Homily
Sunday, May 18, 2014

Today is fifth Sunday of Easter. Today’s first reading taken from Acts 6:1-7 is quite a challenge to us all. It depicts how nepotism and tribalism entered the first Church as the number of disciples continued to grow. The Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

The Hellenists were the converts among the Jews who had returned to Judea after having lived abroad in the Greek world and still spoke Greek and had adopted Greek cultural elements. The Hebrews who were also the Christian converts among the Jews born and raised in Israel complained that Hellenists should not be treated equally as Hebrews since they were from different tribe.

Another reason why the Hebrews neglected Hellenist widows in the daily distribution was because in those days women didn’t inherit property; their livelihood depended on what their father or husband brought home. If none of them existed, widows could “glean” and pick up the leftovers after others’ fields had been harvested.

When the twelve chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, Stephen was stoned to death because he said it was not right to neglect Hellenist widows since they too were children of God, created in his own image and likeness just like Hebrews. Stephen himself was a Hellenistic Jew attempting to prove that Jesus is the Messiah in a Hellenistic place of worship.

In our modern time we can call the killing of Stephen political assassination, the killing of individual citizens who oppose the government which is corrupt, tribal, and which is not open to reform. Such murder cases lie unresolved in court registries and in police files because of government conspiracy to cover up.

The second reading taken from 1 Pt 2:4-9 is yet another big challenge. We are invited to come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones where we are called to build our spiritual house.

Rejection may be emotionally painful because of the social nature of human beings and the need of social interaction between other humans is essential. Jesus was rejected, yet he counted this as nothing compared to the love of God.

Unless you build your rejection into Jesus’ spirituality, it can really hurt. It inflicts damage to our psychological well-being that goes way beyond mere emotional pain. We all have a fundamental need to belong to a group (or tribe). When we get rejected, this need becomes destabilized and the disconnection we feel adds to our emotional pain.

In the Gospel taken from Jn 14:1-12 Jesus is challenging us not let our hearts be troubled. In our sufferings we still need to have faith in God. What we should acknowledge is that suffering and sorrow are a part of life.

When you’re angry and bitter, you can still cling to Jesus in the midst of your tears. You can grab onto him and refuse to let go until he brings you through it. You’ll find, to your surprise, that he holds on to you even tighter than you hold on to him.

Jesus is calling on us to have faith in God in our sufferings because he understands better what means suffering and sorrow. He knows about being hurt. He remembers the terrible moment on cross. That is why he is calling on us to have faith also in me.

In his Father’s house there are many dwelling places. “If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be”.

No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. If you know him, then you will also know his Father. “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?

The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail obolobeste@gmail.com

Omolo_ouko@outlook.com
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From: joachim omolo ouko
Friday, April 18, 2014

This afternoon we have gathered here my fellow Christians to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, the act that brought salvation to all who believe. It is the culmination of Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday, and it takes place two days before Easter Sunday.

You have walked with heavy crosses for almost 3 hours from your various centres, that is, Olua, Osiri Pala, Lisuka and Obambo for the reception of 14th station. You are so tired of course, but your tiredness is not in vain.

The cross of Jesus is where we receive divine forgiveness, mercy, and peace. Your longer walk with heavy crosses demonstrates exactly this fact. Jesus willingly took our divine punishment, the result of God’s righteousness against sin.

You may wonder why the day is called Good Friday when as a matter of fact it would have been called sorrowful as Germs refer to it. The day is called good because Christ, by his death, “showed his great love for mankind.

Even though no Mass is celebrated on this day, the service of Good Friday is called the Mass of the Pre-sanctified because Communion (in the species of bread) which had already been consecrated on Holy Thursday is given to the people.

Readings are just like normal days of masses. First reading is taken from Isaiah 52:13 — 53:12, Psalms from Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25, second Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9, the narrative Gospel is taken from John 18:1 — 19:42.

Traditionally, the organ is silent from Holy Thursday until the Alleluia at the Easter Vigil, as are all bells or other instruments, the only music during this period being unaccompanied chant. We can see that the parts of the Good Friday service correspond to the divisions of Mass:

Some none Catholics have wondered why we adore the cross during Good Friday. Adoration or veneration of an image or representation of Christ’s cross does not mean that we actually adore the material image, of course, but rather what it represents.

In kneeling before the crucifix and kissing it we are paying the highest honor to our Lord’s cross as the instrument of our salvation. We look at Jesus on that cross. That is why we affirm: ‘We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee because by Thy Holy Cross Thou has Redeemed the World.’

Looking at the Cross in prayer helps us to truly see it. Most Christians have crosses in their homes. Many wear a cross around their necks. Some of these are very beautiful, perhaps made of precious metal and embellished with jewels.

That is why parents are motivated to encourage their children to wear crucifix, learn to make the sign of the cross, and try to imitate what they see family members doing at the blessing before meals even before they can talk or before going to bed.

Crucifixes are always found in Catholic churches and chapels over the altar and are always carried in liturgical processions, they are found in Catholic institutions, hospitals, schools and on the walls in our homes. The Pope’s ceremonial staff has a crucifix attached to it as well.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail obolobeste@gmail.com

Omolo_ouko@outlook.com
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From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2013

Today is the fourth and last Sunday of the advent season. The fourth candle is lit on this day along with the first three. It is the Angel’s candle, reminding us of the heavenly hosts that proclaimed Christ’s arrival with “Behold, I bring unto you good tiding of great joy!”

In her New York Times bestsellers Going Rogue and America by Heart, Sarah Palin raises a challenge that unlike previous days when the greeting “Merry Christmas” , today this has been replaced by the supposedly less offensive “Happy Holidays”.

Good Tidings and Great Joy should therefore enable us to revisit our traditional roots and the true meaning of Christmas. It is a call to action to readers to defend and openly celebrate the joys of their Christianity, and to say to one another, “Merry Christmas!”

The first reading is taken from Is 7:10-14. The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!”

Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.

House of David is used here as an example because David had gained a measure of peace in his reign. David was embarrassed that he lived in a fine, solidly built house while God’s “house” remained a tent.

The second reading is taken from Rom 1:1-7. This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. Although Paul chose this word slave, the vast majority of English translations prefer the word “servant.”

Paul uses the Greek original of Romans contains the word doulos, which means “slave.” It was used to refer to someone who was owned by a master. The Message captures the sense of the Greek by having Paul identify himself as “a devoted slave of Jesus Christ.” Like Paul, you and I are slaves of Christ. We need to serve him in all things, and discovering what it means to live in the freedom of his grace.

Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is from Mt 1:18-24. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.

When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.

For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

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

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

From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

The message of today’s firs reading taken from1 2 Kgs 5:14-17 is similar to that of last Sunday. Like Habakkuk, Prophet Elisha is proving to Naaman that it is the living God that cures and not idol, ‘god’ made by human beings.

Immediately Elisha prayed to God that Naaman’s leprosy be cured the miracle happened. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean of his leprosy. Naaman returned God and said: “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel”.

Elisha and Elijah were God’s messengers during this time of apostasy and idolatry. Elijah was the prophet to the northern kingdom. He confronted King Ahab and Jezebel, the high priestess of Baal worship. He told them that God’s judgment was on them for corrupting Israel and leading them astray. And that it would not rain until they turned back to God.

We may infer from this verse that Elisha also suffered previous illnesses, from which he recovered. This in itself was a miracle – we should not take healing even from colds and chills for granted! Until the time of Elisha there was no such thing as someone who was sick being healed – until Elisha came and begged for mercy and was healed.

Second reading is taken from 2 Tm 2:8-13. Paul encourages Timothy to endure suffering. Some of us don’t believe we have to suffer that is why sometimes we runaway from God’s divine intervention and look for shortcuts where our problems can be solved quickly.

That is why those who think that faith in Jesus will exempt them from suffering are in for a shock. God called you to endure suffering because Christ suffered for you. He left you an example so that you could follow in his footsteps (1 Peter 2:21).

Job suffered a great deal but he never cursed God’ name or accuse God of injustice but rather seeks an explanation or an account of what he did wrong. Even when his wife (Job 2:9) suggested that Job should curse God and die, Job endured suffering.

Scripture exhorts us to endure suffering and hardships in life. If we are going to live in faithfulness to what we believe, then we will experience some rejections, some difficulties, some pressure, and even some persecution. That is the Christian life.

For if we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Though Timothy was Paul’s trusted co-worker, he had weaknesses that Paul was trying to help him overcome. One of these was to shy away from suffering and hardship.

The Gospel is taken from Lk 17:11-19. As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed.

And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

Leprosy is not only a terrible disease that causes a person’s body parts to slowly rot away, lepers in Jesus’ day were outcasts of society, and no one wanted to be near them. Lepers often lose their fingers and toes, and eventually the disease kills them. It is very contagious and is spread by touch.

What we learn from these ten lepers is that their faith was evident by their calling out to Jesus to be healed. For that reason, when Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests, they obeyed.

Under the Law of Moses, before a cleansed leper could begin normal interaction with non-leprous people, he had to be examined by a priest and declared cleansed of his leprosy. That is what Jesus was requiring the ten lepers to do, and so they started off on about 30-mile journey to Jerusalem.

They must have believed that they would be better by the time they got to the priests, and as they acted on their faith, they were! For this reason, we can conclude that all ten were healed through their faith in Jesus.

One leper who returned to give Jesus thanks was a Samaritan. His faith was actually more impressive than the faith of the other nine. This happened because Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with one another in Jesus’ time.

He would have been tempted to doubt the wisdom of obeying Jesus’ instructions to show himself to the priests. He knew the priests would probably have nothing to do with him. But he obeyed Jesus anyway and was healed.

This pleased our Lord and led Him to remark on the ingratitude of the others. “Were not all ten made whole, where are the other nine?”

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