KENYA: Archdiocese of Kisumu Family Day: Bishop Obanyi’s Message of Belonging and Self-Reliance
Bishop Obanyi
By Sr. Henriette Anne, FSSA
At the celebration of Archdiocese of Kisumu Family Day on 14th October 2023, Bishop Joseph Obanyi Sagwe, of Kenya’s Catholic Diocese of Kakamega, encouraged the faithful of Kisumu to feel as part of God’s family.
“When we feel the sense of oneness and belonging, we are called into the obligation of supporting the family, so we can continue to grow, and the word of God can continue to spread that all people may come to know Christ and be saved,” Bishop Obanyi said when sharing his reflection during the homily.
He continued, each one of us is important in the eyes of God, in the eyes of Jesus Christ, we all matter however big or small we are, however rich or poor we are, each one of us in the family, you do not discriminate because of what you have and what you don’t have, in a family, we all cherish one another, we all recognize one another in our status, and that’s the family, that we are called to be in the Church, it’s the family that we called to be in the Archdiocese of Kisumu.
He added, “We are here to celebrate the family day of the Archdiocese of Kisumu where we come and contemplate together in the context of the Mass asking God to help us in living our faith but living it fruitfully and that’s how we connected to Jesus Christ, who is the vine dresser, who is the source of our faith, who is the source of our lives, we begin from him so that we can have the strength to move forward and to do his will”.
Reflecting from the book of Prophet Isiah, a story of people in captivity who had lost hope. But in their despair, the prophet Isiah brought them the message of God’s light, thus bishop Obanyi asked the congregation to be a light to the nations, a source of hope even in the darkest times.
“The first reading from the book of Isiah, is read in the context of the Hebrews who are in captivity and the time of reading this part of Isiah, they have lost every hope, they don’t see any possibility of ever going back to their country, and therefore, they remain despaired, and hopeless. What we here today, in the book of Isiah, is where he is saying, got up. God is going to shine a light upon you, in fact He is going to bring darkness in the world and you will only be the people to be a light, and people will come, slowing to you as a light to the nation”.
He further said that no matter the chellenges they are facing, God never abandoned them. They are part of the larger family, the family of God, and they are called to support each other, to bring hope and light to their community and beyond.
“What Isiah is doing, is giving them the hope that even the midst of despair, even if they have lost hope God is the reason for them to become a light to the nation. We are consoled by these words, God never abandons us, that God leaves us to despair, even when sometimes the situation is so difficult that we don’t think we can go forward and yet God is with us. As a community of God, at times we go through challenges, let us hear the words of Isiah resounding and bringing us hope that we can move forward”, he narrated.
This year’s family day themed as “Get up, let’s go”, the bishop drew a parallel to Jesus and His disciples as they journeyed to Jerusalem, a journey that was filled with challenges and suffering but Jesus strengthened his disciples, telling them to abide in Him, to stay connected, he urged Christians to be connected to Jesu Christ.
“So, that being connected with Jesus Christ is the main message that we all get, whatever we do, wherever we go, however we are, we are connected to Jesus then we are in growth to Jesus Christ. So, when we are being told, get up let’s go, it is let us not despair, let us not be discouraged, let us not lose hope because with Jesus, because we are getting into an area where God himself strengthens us”.
In his homily, Bishop Obanyi called upon the Christians to discover the sense of a family, “Dear people of God let us discover that sense of a family, let us know that God has put us not by a chance but by design, God wants to save us as a family, and if he is to save us a family then we have to live that sense of a family”.
He also emphasized on the concept of self-reliance, a way to sustain the faith and build a self-propagating, self-governing and self-supporting church.
“Self-reliant is not a new concept in the Church, self-reliance is where the world is going for the goals of sustainability what they call understanding the way I live within my means, and therefore self- reliance already was conceived back 50 years ago, as you all are where, this year, we are celebrating 50 years of small Christian community since AMECEA, the Churches of AMECEA declared that the way of building the church is through small Christian community. And therefore, talking about the family 50 years later, you read and understand that AMECEA with SCM envisioned a church based from the family, a church that is self- propagating, a church that is self-governing, a church that is self-supporting”.
He also called the congregants to be missionaries to themselves and to others, to evangelize, to govern the Church with integrity, and support one another.
“The church must reach where we must evangelize selves. Remember 1969 when Pope Pul the VI in Uganda when he said, “the church of Africa, you have to become missionaries to yourselves”. And that time has come, we need to move on, we need to evangelize, we need to evangelize to ourself, but we also need to move out so that we can evangelize others.
As he concluded his homily, he called upon the congregation to rise to the occasion. He reminded them that they were part of something greater, a family of faith, and that they should get up, go, and build the Church of Christ. Whether young or old, rich or poor, each member of the family had a role to play in this divine mission.
The celebration was attended by the bishop Kitale, Kakamega, Eldoret, Homabay, and Kerichoand representatives of Kitui Diocese, and Nakuru Diocese.
