KENYA: Newly Ordained Priests Asked to Safeguard their Vocation and Care for God’s People
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
At an ordination of eight deacons to priesthood in Kenya’s Archdiocese of Kisumu, the Archbishop reminded the candidates just before the ordination that caring for Christians requires them to, first of all, protect and guard their priestly vocation and live respectful lives.
Referencing St. Paul’s message to the elders of Ephesus (Acts 20: 28) when he (St. Paul) said: “Keep watch over yourselves and over the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the Church of God that he acquired with his own blood,” Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba said in his homily Saturday, November 18, “St. Paul impresses upon the elders of Ephesus to look after the flock entrusted to them by first keeping watch over themselves.”
With this backdrop, the Archbishop warned the candidates to ordination from dishonouring their vocation saying, “You must desist from a life that is contrary to your vocation. You must leave respectful lives and protect your vocations zealously.”
According to Archbishop Muhatia, even though every Christian is expected to fulfill Christ’s mission in this world, each one has to live this vocation in accord with his character, his station, and his calling since “Some are family men and women, others are priests, and still others religious men and women.” Therefore, “Those who have to fulfil their vocation by a deeper involvement in the affairs of this world should do so and those who have to live it by a certain degree of detachment from the affairs of this world, should also do so.”
Most Rev. Muhatia echoed the message of St. Francis de Sales that it is not proper for a working layperson to spend his whole day in church like a Religious, and it is not proper either for a priest to live a life meant specifically for the laity.
In this case, he said, “The ordination of these eight men should serve as a constant reminder that the Lord has chosen each one of us to live the Christian vocation in a specific way, and it is this specificity that will define our service and draw us closer to Christ.”
The Prelate then cautioned the deacons awaiting ordination, “As priests, you must desist from a life meant for the laity. If you are a priest and you realize that you know all the drinking joints in this town, then you have a lot of soul-searching to do.”
Additionally, Archbishop Muhatia who was the main celebrant for the Saturday Eucharistic celebration continued, “As priests you must desist from anything excessive because you have been appointed overseers over the flock of Christ, which he acquired with his own blood; do not play with the Church of Christ. It is not a toy!”
Addressing the lay Christians and reminding them to support the priests and help them fulfill their priestly vocation the Archbishop said, “And you dear laity, don’t overindulge your priests. If a priest invites you for a drink in the bar, run away because you don’t want to contribute to his downfall by going with him and accompanying him.”
He further reminded the congregants including the deacons who were just to be ordained that as prophet Isaiah prophesied messianic times as the period when those called to serve in Christ’s vineyard will be termed as priests, the time is now.
“My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the prophet had foreseen the messianic times to be the time when the people would be called “Priests of the Lord” and “Ministers of our God” (Is. 61: 6). The ordination of these eight men should be seen as an experience of these messianic times,” he said and encouraged the candidates, “Every priest should make his life a joyful proclamation of the words of Jesus.”
The Prelate who also served as Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Kisumu when the Metropolitan See fell vacant in late 2021, assured the Deacons that the Spirit of the Lord will guide them in their ministry and therefore the need to be clothed in God’s grace.
“With your ordination as priests, Jesus sends you into the world to be like him and to witness to his love and to proclaim the year of the favor of the Lord. The spirit of the Lord is upon you and the Lord has recreated you in Jesus Christ to bring an end to the shame of sin in the people you meet by bringing an end to the shame of sin in yourself,” Archbishop Muhatia narrated.
He concluded, “Your vestments are symbols of the restoration of the grace of God that had been lost in sin. Every time you vest as a priest you become a manifestation of the return to God and of the total removal of the shame of the nakedness of Adam and Eve. The grace of God is our vestment; it is our habit and without it we are naked. The world will listen when we speak to it vested in the habit and vestment of grace.”
