KENYA: Sacrament of Holy Orders Not for Pride: Bishop Kamau to Newly Ordained Deacons
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
A Kenyan Catholic Bishop has cautioned newly ordained deacons that the Sacrament of Holy Orders is not a call to pride about but a vocation of sacrifice for the sake of salvation of God’s people.
In his homily while addressing candidates for ordination during the Eucharistic celebration on Saturday, September 17, the Apostolic Administrator of Nakuru Diocese Bishop David Kamau Nga’nga’ emphasized the aspect of sacrifice when an individual is called to the life of priesthood.
Reflecting on Christ who freely sacrificed his life and died on the cross to save the world and fulfill his Fathers call, Bishop Kamau told the nine candidates from the congregation of the Holy Spirit under the protection of the Immaculate Heart of Virgin Mary also known as Spiritan Fathers, that Sacrifice is the way to go for “where there is no sacrifice, there is no life.”
The Prelate reminded the candidates drawn from five different countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Cameroon and Croatia that during the Eucharistic celebration Jesus says, “This is my body which will be given up for you…this is my blood which will be poured out for you and for many… a sign that he is sacrificing his life for mankind.”
“Your parents have given you to the Church and you have given yourself for the salvation of many,” Bishop Kamau said just before laying his hands on the candidates for ordination and cautioned them further, “The moment you fail to recognize that sacrifice and the reason for your being, that is the moment you are no longer living your call.”
According to the Bishop, vocation to priesthood is from God and not from an individual hence “There is no room for pride because the call is a gift from God.”
Remember he said, “When called, we are given a mission, a responsibility and a duty to fulfil which calls for our dedication and not to be proud.”
In his message on Saturday, the Prelate further forewarned the candidates for deaconate ordination that the Sacrament of Holy Orders is a life of loneliness but as Christ too suffered the same there is no need to worry but to “remain united in Christ.”
“The painful moments for Jesus was not when he was nailed on the cross but the moments he was lonely,” reveals Bishop Kamau who was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Nakuru since March this year.
“When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, he suffered loneliness. When on the cross he cried ‘My God my God why have you forsaken me’. As he was giving himself for humanity Jesus suffered loneliness,” the Bishop narrated and shared with the candidates, “my sons, as Christ suffered, you are not exempted from suffering and you are to know that the life you are seeking is that of loneliness.”
He reminded the religious men that even though they live communal life, “there are some things community cannot do hence the feeling of loneliness.”
The Bishop therefore called on the deacons to be ordained “to hold onto Jesus, Mother Mary and to pray unceasingly.”
In conclusion, Bishop Kamau warned the candidates not to come up with their own rules and impose to members of the congregation saying, “Remember, the congregation has been in existence before you. So don’t come with your own rules but build what has been there and keep the Charism and Spirituality of the Holy Ghost Fathers.”
