KENYA: Relationship with God Shapes Bond with Creation; Sisters Told at Professions, Jubilee Celebrations
FSSA Celebrants
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
During the celebration of Final Professions and Jubilees by some members of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Anna (FSSA) congregation, the celebrants were reminded that their connection with God directly influences how they perceive, treat, and interact with humanity and the natural world.
In his homily during the Monday, December 9, event celebrated in Kisumu Archdiocese, Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba asked the FSSA Sisters to rate their relationship with God knowing that the level of relationship with the creator defines the level of relationship with humanity and it also reveals the level of relationship with nature.
“When our relationship with God is weakened, the relationship with one another and creation weakens too,” Archbishop Muhatia said while addressing thousands of congregants who joined the celebration of ten sisters who took their final profession, six for Silver Jubilee and two for Golden Jubilee.
Reflecting on the Scriptures (Genesis 3) about the fall of humanity, in relation to the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception when the Catholic Church celebrates the belief that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin by the Grace of God, the Archbishop disclosed that “the Immaculate Conception is a lived experience in the Church.”
“In the Book of Genesis (3), God posed a question to Adam and Eve saying, ‘Where are you?’”
Archbishop Muhatia who doubles as the Chairman for the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) said and explained the theological aspect of God’s concern, “This is more than just a question of geographical location, it is a deep question of relationship. The relationship between God and the human person, the relationship between the human persons themselves, and the relationship between the human person and the rest of creation.”
Addressing the celebrants on this concern, the Archbishop explained, “My dear sisters, when God comes asking where are you, remember he wants to know where you are in relationship to obedience, where are you in relation to the foundation of your being since you have been created in God’s image and likeness, and where are you in the relationship between you and the rest of creation.”
According to the Archbishop, when God put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the Serpent, it was a good move since “God put enmity between the human race and the source of evil which means God did not intend to damp the human person like he did to the serpent.”
He added, “Since God had promised to put enmity between the woman and the serpent and between the offspring of the woman and that of the serpent, He announced the triumph of humanity over evil in what he did to the virgin Mary being conceived without original sin.”
He expounded further that Mary was obedient to God and submitted to him totally when she encountered the Angel Gabriel and said “I am the handmaid of the Lord let it be done to me according to your will.”
“The foundation of any religious community is doing the will of God. This explains all the vows,” the Kenyan Prelate said to the celebrants and explained, “The success of an institution of religious life is measured by how the individuals of that Institute are moved toward fulfilling the will of God. This is what defines the perpetual profession, it defines the celebration of 25 years and the 50 years of service.”
On her part, the Superior General of FSSA, Sr. Mary Benigna Aoko while addressing the celebrants stressed the virtue of humility and cautioned, “My dear sisters let it not be in your mind or heart that now you can just do whatever you want. It is now that you need to be more obedient and humbler.”
She continued, “Humility, responsibility, faith, and prayer are what the vows are calling you to respond to. That is being obedient to yourself, to those in authority, and to your fellow sisters.”
