From: Ouko joachim omolo
Voices of Justice for Peace
Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2012
Sunday November 25, 212 will be the Feast of Christ the King. Established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism, the feast is intended to proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ’s royalty over individuals, families, society, governments, and nations.
Jesus knew the oppressive nature of secular kings, and in contrast to them, he connected his role as king to humble service, and commanded his followers to be servants as well. In other passages of Scripture, his kingdom is tied to his suffering and death.
His teachings spell out a kingdom of justice and judgment balanced with radical love, mercy, peace, and forgiveness. That is why when we celebrate Christ as King, we are not celebrating an oppressive ruler, but one willing to die for humanity and whose “loving-kindness endures forever.” Christ is the king that gives us true freedom, freedom in Him.
Jesus wanted the type of a King who serves in humility. He wanted his disciples to do the same: “Whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:42-45)”.
He wanted the type of King who is not like the rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
It means Kings whose kingships are to serve people justice and peace. Jesus wants his followers to do the same. Peace with God, peace in human relations, peace among nations, and peace with God’s creation. Peace that includes healing, reconciliation, and well-being.
Peace that is more than the absence of war; it includes the restoration of right relationship. We are talking of justice and peace because justice and peace belong together, since right relationship involves both.
According to Greek and Roman ideas of justice, people should get what they deserve. According to the Bible, justice involves healing and restoring relationships. That is a reason for the special concern for the poor and the oppressed.
Our peace witness also includes peacemaking and working for justice. Peace witness is needed even when the nations in which we live are not at war, ministries of mediation, conciliation, and nonviolent resolution of everyday conflict.
This made the Kingship of Jesus different from the Kingship of the Jews. When Pilate said to Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?”… Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth (John 18:33b, 36-37).
A Jewish king was not supposed to be a king “like all the nations” had. A Jewish king was supposed to be a model of what an ideal Jew is all about ? a model for the rest of the nation to emulate.
It explains further why the earliest Christians identified Jesus with the predicted Messiah of the Jews. The Jewish word “messiah,” and the Greek word “Christ,” both mean “anointed one,” and came to refer to the expected king who would deliver Israel from the hands of the Romans, to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
In the first Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius XI promulgated on 11 December 1925 he stated that is only in the Kingdom of Christ that peace could be more effectually restored. Furthermore, it has long been a common custom to give to Christ the metaphorical title of “King,” because of the high degree of perfection whereby he excels all creatures.
So he is said to reign “in the hearts of men,” both by reason of the keenness of his intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind.
He reigns, too, in the wills of men, for in him the human will was perfectly and entirely obedient to the Holy Will of God, and further by his grace and inspiration he so subjects our free-will as to incite us to the most noble endeavors. He is King of hearts, too, by reason of his “charity which exceedeth all knowledge.”
As we reflect on Kingship of Jesus, we remind ourselves that in Kenya it was on November 21, 2005 that the first constitutional referendum was held. The proposed new constitution was voted NO by a 58 percent majority of Kenya’s voters.
Many government officials, including President Mwai Kibaki, had campaigned for a ‘Yes’ vote on the constitution, which divided the ruling National Rainbow Coalition into camps, for and against the proposal. Those who supported the constitution were assigned the symbol of the banana, while the opposition was assigned the orange as their means of representation.
The referendum divided Kenyans and spurred serious fight for political supremacy between Orange and Banana leaders and supporters, but the process itself was peaceful. Since then, political life in Kenya has been characterised by this stalemate. The results of the referendum were: 58.12 percent (No) and 41.88 percent (Yes).
The outgoing Constitution granted Kenya’s president imperial powers and the ability to effective control the executive and judicial branches of government and a tremendous leeway to manipulate and coerce the legislature.
The new Constitution seeks to introduce a system of checks-and-balances which will strive to keep future presidents from exploiting the state for their own personal gain. In particular, new Constitution establishes a bi-cameral parliament, with a legislative assembly and a Senate.
The new Constitution will also entrench a Bill of rights as well as promote gender equality. In particular, the Constitution stipulates that as a general rule state institutions should not have more than two-thirds of one gender to the exclusion of the other.
Furthermore, the Constitution has established a framework for the comprehensive review of land reform and create legal protection against corruption to enable business to flourish unhindered by state exploitation.
If the provisions of the new Constitution are upheld Kenya could gradually become a place to do business without fear of bureaucratic or political heavy-handedness.
Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
People for Peace in Africa
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Peaceful world is the greatest heritage That this generation can give to the generations To come- All of us have a role.