KENYA: At Diocesan Launch of World Meeting of Families, Archbishop Muhatia Urges Families to Live in Joy, Hope amidst Challenges
World Meeting of Families
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
Against the backdrop of the ongoing 10th World Meeting of Families (WMOF) in the Church, Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba has urged families to live in joy and hope amidst the challenges they face.
Speaking to Christians at St. Theresa’s Cathedral Catholic Church, Kibuye, in the Archdiocese of Kisumu on Sunday June 19, Archbishop Muhatia emphasized that marriage is the foundation of other vocations hence should be embraced and lived joyfully.
“The vocation to married love is the foundation of the family and all other vocations owe their identity to the family. It a free gift from God freely given and freely received… the Vocation to family love should be lived in joy and hope amidst the so many challenges that face it,” Archbishop Muhatia said.
Expounding on the theme for the 10th WMOF, “Family Love: A Vocation and a Path to Holiness,” the Prelate said, “Towards a path of holiness, families must rediscover the place of the word of God and the Eucharist in their daily lives first by reading and meditating on the word of God, for the word of God remains ‘a lamp to my feet and a light to my path’ for the families.”
He emphasized in his message delivered on the day of Corpus Christi when Catholics honor the institution of the Holy Eucharist that, “The Eucharist remains the sacrament of love and the sacrament of charity, a school where love can be learnt and charity practiced and the source of grace that sustains married love.”
He further reminded those in family life that God’s calling to this vocation is responded to in the Sacrament of Matrimony and continually is sustained by God’s Grace.
The international meeting for Catholic families that is ongoing in Rome was organized through the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, and is a five-day meeting from 22-26. The Vatican officials asked each diocese to plan for a similar event in their own local communities, an invitation which the Local Ordinary of Kisumu acknowledges to be special.
“This year’s meeting has a special feature than the previous ones for it will be held in an unprecedented and multi-centric form,” The Archbishop said on Sunday before the commencement of the Family week adding that, “While Rome remains the main location, each diocese like ours will be a centre of a local meeting for families and communities, allowing every Christian to be part of the celebration and in hope of engaging as many families as possible, in the spirit of the ongoing synodal journey of the church and can prove to be valuable experience of the participation, communion and mission of families in the life of the church.”
Archbishop Muhatia encouraged Christians to actively participate in the family week event, noting that sufficient preparations have been made within the Archdiocese and “parishes are encouraged to use the pastoral materials and suggested activities from the pastoral office.”
Additionally, he encourage all priests, religious men and women and all Christians to also be involved since it is “an occasion to reinvigorate joy in the families as an image of Gods infinite love and in turn through the grace of the holy spirit to support families as they bear witness to the gospel of Christ’s love and to be avenues where peace is made and sustained.”
The world meeting of families is the largest gathering of catholic families across the world organized after every three years since 1994 by the church to promote the pastoral care of families.
The Archbishop called upon all parishes of the Archdiocese to dedicate the Sunday, June 26 which marks the closing of the WMOF “to pray for the intention of families and at the end of the Eucharistic celebration give mandate to families on behalf of the local ordinary.”
