REFLECTIONS OF A KENYAN PRIEST

In one of his celebrated Encyclicals, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, St. (Pope) John Paul II, adds his own personal refection about the many masses he celebrated in different cosmic realities: “ When I think of the Eucharist, and look at my life as a priest, as a Bishop and as the Successor of Peter, I naturally recall the many times and places in which I was able to celebrate it. I remember the parish church of Niegowić, where I had my first pastoral assignment, the collegiate church of Saint Florian in Krakow, Wawel Cathedral, Saint Peter's Basilica and so many basilicas and churches in Rome and throughout the world. I have been able to celebrate Holy Mass in chapels built along mountain paths, on lakeshores and seacoasts; I have celebrated it on altars built in stadiums and in city squares... This varied scenario of celebrations of the Eucharist has given me a powerful experience of its universal and, so to speak, cosmic character. Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrate...

Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord,  By Rev. Fr. Casmir Odundo, “Kibet” (Assistant Priest Keringet Parish) In my childhood days, I used to wonder what makes birds, aero planes, helicopters fly up into the sky and how is it that man cannot fly on his or her own. My nursery (kindergarden) teacher had told me that man cannot fly up into the sky because he doesn’t have wings. Later, when I was in high school, (form Two), during our physics class I was happy to find an answer to my puzzle. A helicopter goes up into the sky by propelling its main rooter. This rooter causes an increase in velocity above the helicopter, and an increase in velocity means a decrease in pressure above the helicopter and this makes the pressure from beneath the plane to make it fly up. The same principle is applied in some birds and planes. Today, we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord. This Solemnity commemorates a great tenet of our faith. In the Creed ...

Around four years ago, we received information from our Bishop that three of my classmates and I, were going to be ordained into the Order of Deacons in preparation for eventual ordination into the priesthood. Of course we were all overjoyed. At that moment, we were pretty sure that this is what God had created us for and HE had indeed called us to his service. I wrote to family friends of mine based in Nairobi to communicate the good news to them. And they wrote back. And their email has always edified me since. By virtue of our Baptism, all of us (Clergy and Lay people) are priests and called to be holy. Together with the lay people, we share a common priesthood. However, some of us have been ordained into the ministerial priesthood which is different from the common priesthood not only in degree but also by essence. Like all other organizations, sometimes its important to get feedback and views of those we are serving.  It is important for us to know what the lay peo...

NINANGARA (I SHINE!) The readings for this Sunday of Lent still haunt me. I couldn’t help it but sing Christina Shusho’s Ninangara (I shine!).   Christina Shusho, Artist of the song: Ninang'ara The song sung in Swahili, is available in YouTube on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymxj9SSvgr8 and its lyrics is as follows Refrain: Umenifanya ning’are, umenifanya ning’are (You make me shine) Umenifanya ning’are, Yesu (Jesus You make me shine)(Repeat) Wewe waitwa nuru, eti nuru ya watu (You are called the light of men) Ukiingia kwangu, mi nang’ara (I shine when you are in me) Ndani ya hiyo nuru, eti kuna uzima (There is life in that light) Ukiingia kwangu, nina uzima (I live when you are in me) Uso wake Yesu, sura yake Mungu (The face of Jesus, the face of God) Umeingia kwangu, mi nang’ara (I shine when You are in me) Nuru ya injili, utukufu wake Kristo (The light of the Gospel, the Glory of Jesus) Umeingia kwangu, mi nang’ara...

THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT: YEAR C, 2018 By Rev. Fr. Casmir Odundo WE ARE PREGNANT!!! Friends, it’s almost Christmas! Every year before Christmas, the Church gives us a period of around 5 weeks of preparation. This is the period of Advent which begins this Sunday and which also marks the beginning of the Liturgical year. The term Advent is from the Latin ‘Adventus’ which means coming. So it is the period with which we are expecting the coming of our Lord. That was to be the best day in the life of Doctor Ben. He had very good news for his two couple clients. The first couple he called in was that of Rahab and Enoch who had a happy but childless marriage for six years “Well, I have good news for you…” said Doctor Ben as he looked intently at the young couple. “Enoch, your wife is pregnant!” He added. And as soon as the couple heard this…they jumped up in jubilation. From that moment, the couple did not spare any effort in making the period of conception a success…they were a...

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 ...