REFLECTIONS OF A KENYAN PRIEST

  CONSIGLI A UN NUOVO CONDUCENTE, (UN NUOVO SACERDOTE) di p. Casmir Odundo Il mio collega automobilista, Che meraviglia chiamarti così oggi e sempre. Guidare in modo sicuro! Congratulazioni per aver completato con successo il tuo corso di guida presso la scuola guida (Seminario) e per aver ricevuto la patente. So che non vedi l'ora di metterti in viaggio! Guidare in modo sicuro! . Non dimenticare mai quello che hai imparato alla scuola guida. Segui le regole del traffico! Ricorda che altri aspiranti guidatori ti stanno ammirando, vogliono vedere la tua sicurezza, cortesia, in modo che forse possano iscriversi alla stessa scuola guida e diventare buoni guidatori. Sii un buon ambasciatore, guida in sicurezza! Ti renderai conto che l'apprendimento non finisce mai. Ci sono molte cose che non sono state insegnate alla scuola guida che scoprirai lentamente da solo mentre guidi. Ci sono anche molte strade moderne in arrivo, come la 'Expressway' a Nairobi, che sarà presto lanci...

ADVICE TO A NEW DRIVER, (A NEW PRIEST) By Fr. Casmir Odundo My fellow motorist,  How wonderful to call you that today and always. Drive Safely! Congratulations on successfully completing your driving course at the driving school (Seminary) and on receiving your license. I know you cannot wait to get on the road! Drive safely! .  Never forget what you learnt in driving school. Keep the traffic rules! Remember that other aspiring drivers are looking up to you, they want to see your confidence, courtesy, so that perhaps they can join the same driving school and become good drivers. Be a good ambassador, drive safely! You will realize that learning never ends. There are many things that were not taught in the driving school that you will find out slowly by yourself as you drive. There are also many modern roads coming up, like the soon to be launched 'Express Way'. Keep learning my brother, drive safely! Your first 5,000 kilometers will be the most exciting but perhaps the most ch...

By Fr. Casmir Odundo Globally in many Christian denominations, there has been an ongoing debate on whether women should be ordained or not.  Recently some mainstream protestant denominations have allowed women to be pastors and even Bishops. Just last week, on 12th September 2021, Mrs. Rose Okeno was installed as Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Bishop of Butere in Western Kenya. Her “ordination” made her the second Kenyan woman and perhaps second woman in East Africa in the Anglican Church to hold such an office. Previously, i n September last year Mrs. Emily Awino made history as she was elected the first woman assistant Bishop of the diocese of Bondo, in Kenya. Despite these trends, the “consecration” of women as Bishops even in the Anglican Church as a whole is still controversial. In 2018 many Anglican Churches including ACK signed the Global Anglican Future Conference Moratorium, which decided to halt the consecration of women as Bishops till such a time there was going to...

By Fr. Casmir Odundo The Church from the earliest times established certain ministries for the proper ordering of worship and for the service of God’s people as need arose. These ministries were entrusted to the lay people. The Church organised a liturgical celebration in which ministries were conferred following a particular rite, in which God’s blessings was invoked and which established the person designated in a special rank or class for the performance of some ecclesial function.  Because some of these functions were closely connected with the liturgy they gradually came to be regarded as preparatory stages in the reception of Sacred Orders. So in the end the church found itself with the offices of Porter, Lector, Exorcist and Acolyte which were called the minor orders while the Subdiaconate, The Diaconate and the Priesthood made the Major orders.  Later on therefore,  as a general rule, these orders were reserved to seminarians to serve as preparatory stages on the ...

  By Fr. Casmir Odundo On a day like today, exactly 166 years ago (8 th December 1854) Pope Pius   IX issued the Apostolic Constitution, Ineffabilis Deus,  in which he pronounced and defined the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. He stated that, “the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin." This means that Mary was given immunity from original sin. She was given sanctifying grace before sin could have taken effect in her soul. Whereas, Original sin is the “General rule” for all of humanity, Mary is thus the singular exemption to that rule. Again, whereas, original sin is removed from the rest of humanity through baptism, Mary was completely excluded from it. Mary was thus depraved of all emotions, passions, and frailties, essentially pertaining to original sin. She was t...

By Fr. Casmir Odundo New Abbot: Rt. Rev. Fr. John Baptist History was made in Kenya today when Rt. Rev. Fr. John Baptist Oese Imai was finally blessed as an abbot. He becomes the first Benedictine Abbot in Kenya. History has it that some years past, we had an abbot in Kipkelion Monastery in Kericho who belonged to the Cistercian order.  His elevation is a consequence of the fact that the Conventual Priory of Prince of Peace, Tigoni Kenya of the Benedictine Missionaries of St. Ottillien was in the month of September elevated to an abbey-the full form of a Benedictine monastery.   The   Benedictine Missionaries were invited to Kenya in 1972 by three Bishops, Servant of God Maurice Micheal Cardinal Otunga then, Archbishop of Nairobi, the Late Bishops Emilio Njeru and John Njenga of Eldoret.  In Nairobi they are basically in Tigoni and Ruaraka, in Nyeri they are in Nanyuki where they run the Bible on the Ground animation and retreat centre and finally in Eldoret the...

By Fr. Casmir Odundo   " The one who has not used the tool, does not know its depth." Remarked Archbishop Emeritus Peter Joseph Kairo as he thanked God for granting him 50 solid years of priestly ministry. The Archbishop Emeritus said this while delivering his homily on the occasion of the ordination of  4 priests and 7 deacons for the Archdiocese of Nyeri and also to celebrate his Golden Jubilee of Priesthood. " There is no life without challenges, even priesthood has its own fair share of challenges ,"continued the Archbishop. He encouraged the 11 men who were to be ordained as deacons and priests  to always follow the example of Jesus the Good Shepherd, who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. He cautioned the young men not to aspire for the priesthood because of  money or riches. " The Priesthood , " he said, " is a vocation and a life of sacrifice." He thus encouraged the young men, soon to be ordai...