REFLECTIONS OF A KENYAN PRIEST

   By Rev. Fr. Casmir Odundo  Today, at 9.34 am Rome time in Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, in the Vatican Pope Benedict XVI passed on just a few hours before we crossed over to the New Year 2023 and during the Christmas Octave.  By the time of his death, he was 95 years old. He had served as Pope for 7 years and as a Cardinal for 27 years. He had also served as a Bishop for 45 years and 71 years as a priest.  On 28th February 2013 Pope Benedict XVI walked into a  gathering of cardinals in the Apostolic Palace and announced in his  characteristic fluent Latin what no pope has dared for over 600 years:  His resignation.   Born on 16th April 1927 (the feast of St. Bernadette Soubirous of  Loudress) Joseph Aloysius Ratzinger rose through the ecclesiastical  ranks to become the 265 th Bishop of Rome. His vocation journey started  when as a 5 year old boy he was in the group of young children who  welcomed the then visiting Cardinal Archbishop of Munich with  flowers. Struck by the cardinal’s

By Fr. Casmir Odundo  Mention Brazil at this point in time and everyone thinks about the ongoing World Cup 2022.  Well, other than the World Cup, there is something else, perhaps nicer, more beautiful and more important will happen in that country early next month, to be precise on the 6th of January 2023, during the Solemnity of the Epiphany. Deacon Pedro (L), Fr. Casmir, (C) and Deacon Joao Two young men, Pedro Paulo Funari, aged 33 and Joao Henrique Funari, aged 29, will be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo by His Eminence Odilo Pedro Cardinal Scherer, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo in Brazil.  Every priestly ordination is special but what makes this one more interesting is the fact that those to be ordained, Pedro and Joao, on the same day, in their own parish church: the Parish of Our Lady of Brazil, in Sao Paulo are actually first cousins. Marcelo, the father of Pedro and the godfather of Joao, is the brother of Joao's mother, Cecilia

During his Wednesday General Audience on 9th of November 2022 at the Vatican in Rome, Pope Francis asked the gathering to give an applause for the newest Blessed: Maria Carola who was beatified in Meru, Kenya on 5th November 2022. The Pope called Blessed Maria Carola Cecchin " an example of a good and wise woman who is an encouragement for many who labor so hard for the spread of the Kingdom of God." On Sunday, 13th of November 2022, the feast day of the new blessed and the day of her D ies Natalis, Kenyan families, Priests, religious and seminarians living and working in Rome gathered for a Mass of thanksgiving for the New Blessed at the Basilica of SS. Sylvester and Martin ai Monti' where the applause of Pope Francis for the new blessed was extended keeping with the Italian tradition.  The Kenyan Community in Rome called the beatification of Maria Carola as an incentive to deepen the call to holiness. " It means a lot today, especially for our religious sisters, it

Di don Casmir Odundo Beata Maria Carola Cecchin "Fiorina" “ D'ora in poi sarà chiamata beata. ” scrive Papa Francesco, nella Lettera Apostolica dichiarando ‘ Beata’ suor Maria Carola Cecchin “Fiorina” che è stata letta a suo nome Sua Eminenza il Cardinale Antoine Kambanda, Arcivescovo di Kigali, Ruanda. Il Cardinale ha presieduto la beatificazione e la celebrazione della Messa a nome di Papa Francesco.   Suor Maria Carola Cecchin è nata il 3 aprile 1877 a Cittadella, Padova, in Italia. Fu battezzata il giorno dopo e chiamata “Fiorina”. Fin da giovanissima Fiorina sentì il desiderio di offrirsi tutta a Dio. A 19 anni entra nella Casetta della Divina Provvidenza (Suore Cottolengo) a Torino. Quando divenne novizia prese il nome di Maria Carola . Nella solennità dell'Epifania del 1899 ha fatto la prima professione religiosa. Dopo la professione ha lavorato con i poveri in Italia e lì è stata ispirata dai missionari che tornavano dalle missioni e desideravano andare anche