REFLECTIONS OF A KENYAN PRIEST

By Fr. Casmir Odundo, Kibet (St. Veronica Parish Keringet, Nakuru) St. Paul VI with Archbishop Okoth in the Vatican Before the days of Barrack Obama, the African American Community embraced Bill Clinton as the First Black President. “Bill Clinton is the First Black U.S President. White skin notwithstanding, this is our first black President. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children’s lifetime,”  c ommented Toni Morrison, in his 1998 article that appeared in the New York Times. Last Sunday’s canonization of Pope Paul VI and six other saints got me thinking a lot about Pope Paul VI and whether despite the fact that he was an European,   we could still ascribe to him the title of “ An African Pope”. Of course we know from Church History that there have been three African Popes already: Pope St. Victor I (189-199), Pope Militiades   (311-314) and Pope Gelasius I (492-496). However, as the dates of their Pontificates alre...

By Fr. Casmir Odundo, Kibet (St. Veronica Parish, Keringet, Nakuru) “ Domine ut Videam, Domina ut Sit !” A young seminarian, Josemaria Escriva, prayed. He was asking for   light to see. Just as the blind man Bartimaeus, in the Gospel of Mark had asked Our Lord. He continued with this aspiration (repeating it innumerable times) for over eleven years, till on that 2 nd October 1928 when he finally SAW. According to the Positio, document presented for the Beatification of Monsignior Josemaria Escriva: " On 2 nd October,1928, while the Servant of God was alone in his room, participating in a retreat in the residence of the Vincentian Fathers of Madrid, on Garcia de Paredes St., God deigned to illuminate him. He SAW Opus Dei, as the Lord wanted it and as it would be, down through the centuries.” He was only 3 years a priest when God granted him this vision.   As Beglar notes in his biography of the saint: “ On that 2 nd October 1928, Escriva's apprenticeship ...

Reflection for 26 TH Sunday, Ordinary Time By Fr. Casmir Odundo (St. Veronica Parish, Keringet) Imagine this: You have just been transferred to this village deep in the countryside where to your amazement no one has ever thought of starting butchery. Sensing the need, you apply for a bank loan and immediately quit your job and embark on this butchery business. For a few months it strives…but after a while some natives who have been leaving there all along realize that you are ‘making a kill’ and another butchery is opened just next to yours. What would be your reaction? This is exactly the scenario presented by the readings this Sunday. In our First Reading (Num. 11: 25-29) we are told that as a result of Moses’ feeling that he had not the strength to carry on the duties alone; He appealed to God.   He was asked by God to select 70 men with whom God was to share his spirit with them. The men were to congregate at the Tent of meeting which housed the tabernacle. T...

25 th Sunday Year B BEING CHILD-LIKE, BEING CHRIST-LIKE, BEING GOD-LIKE By Fr. Casmir Odundo, Kibet (St. Veronica, Keringet Parish) Three years ago, I boarded a bus…Easy Coach, to be precise, from Kisumu to Nakuru. I was among the very first people to assume their seats in the bus. There were not so many passengers. A cute couple with a young daughter (around 3 years old) suddenly came into the bus. Naturally, the mother secured a seat for her daughter next to her and the father sat just behind them. “ Mummy I want to seat next to Daddy ,” shouted the young lad with an American Accent. This got the attention of all the passengers in the bus. The parents ignored her. “ Hey, I want to seat next to Daddy ,” the young angel insisted. “ Great English from a three year old ,” I thought.     Her parents conversed briefly in Luo. “ OK then ,” the mother said and they changed places with the father. “ Oedipus Complex ,” I whispered to the passenger who had sat next to ...

SERVANT OF GOD MAURICE MICHEAL CARDINAL OTUNGA By Fr. Casmir Odundo, Kibet Today the 6 th of September, is the 15 th Anniversary since the demise of Servant of God, Maurice Michael Cardinal Otunga (M.M.C.O).   The Late Cardinal was a man known first and foremost for his humility. He had many things to brag about: He was the son of a Paramount Chief and he had studied in the prestigious Mang’u High School and the Prestigious Urban University while living in Collegio Urbano (the dream of many seminarians). He was the first Kenyan Bishop, First Kenyan Archbishop, First Kenyan Cardinal, A synod father in the Vatican II council.   The bishop who blessed Kenyans at independence in 1963. The cardinal whom the Pope appointed to represent him in consecrating the world to the Immaculate heart after Pope John Paul II’s attempted assassination. He participated in two conclaves that elected two popes:   Pope Paul John Paul I and St. John Paul II. Yet instead of bra...

THE 17 TH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME:  MUCH IN LITTLE By Rev. Fr. Casmir Odundo One of the earliest schools in our diocese (Nakuru, Kenya) is St. Xavier’s School. Today, it is a collection of three schools: Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary. While the three schools are now managed separately, they still hold on to some common elements. All of them put on the same uniform, are all catholic schools and have the same School motto.   The school(s) was originally associated with Goan Catholics; perhaps this explains the choice of its Patron Saint: St. Francis Xavier, the Jesuit Missionary who preached in Goa, India. Among the many things that have always struck me about these schools is their motto: Much in Little. Perhaps the Motto was derived from the fact that the schools sit on a relatively small piece of land (as compared to other pre-independent schools). And so, Much is accomplished In Little acreage. Much In Little. Our readings today, speak of this M...

THE 16 TH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME By Rev. Fr. Casmir Odundo The Classical Movie Sister Act 1 ends with Whoopi Goldberg conducting a choir of nuns singing the beautiful melody “ I will follow Him” to a packed audience in a church where the Pope was among those   present. The beautiful lyrics of the song I will follow him, are as follows: I will follow him Follow him wherever he may go And near him I always will be For nothing can keep me away He is my destiny. I will follow him Ever since he touched my heart I knew There isn't an ocean too deep A mountain so high it can keep Keep me away Away from his love (I love him) Oh yes I love him (I'll follow) I'm gonna follow True love, he'll always be my true love (Forever) From now until forever I love him, I love him, I love him And where he goes I'll follow, I'll follow, I'll follow He'll always be my true love, my true love, my true love From...