From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2013
My take on a revealing interview published in multiple Jesuit publications, including America magazine, where Pope Francis while declaring himself a “sinner” says we cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods, but speak about issues that affect ordinary people in society is that we should not be judgmental.
That if we focus mainly on these personal issues all the time the Catholic Church will “fall like a house of cards” unless it is able to focus more on the “essentials” of preaching the Gospel and less on politics and bureaucracy.
The pope wants the church which does not judge and criticise others. He wants the church which does not gossip because in doing so it destroys, rather than exalts the image of God present in others.
Those who live judging other people, speaking badly of them, they are hypocrites because they don’t have the strength, the courage to look at their own defects, for why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own.
In Matthew 23 Jesus condemns hypocrites because they are pretenders. They seek to cover their own sins and only look at others. They are like actors on a stage pretending to know God but they are not.
In Kenya for example, the church should be focusing on how half of Kenya’s population who live under a dollar a day could be defended. If it is because of high cost of living caused by the government negligent and bad leadership, the church must be the conscience of the people in order to address these issues.
If it is because the government is wasting billions of shillings in unnecessary trips, through graft, a bloated cabinet, an imbalanced budget and lack of proper planning, the church must step in.
Pope wants the church for example, to focus on the worldwide financial and economic crisis which seems to highlight their distortions and the gravely deficient human perspective, which reduces man to one of his needs alone, namely, consumption.
It is quite unfortunate and painful that human beings are nowadays considered as consumer goods which can be used and thrown away.
The pope wants to see the church focusing on condemning corruption and selfish fiscal evasion, a savage capitalism that has taught the logic of profit at all cost, of giving to get, of exploitation without looking at the persons.
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