KENYA: Consecrated Life in the Church is a Gift of God: Archbishop Maurice Muhatia
Archbishop Muhatia Makumba
Sr. Henriette Anne, FSSA
On the occasion of the celebration of Consecrated Life in the Archdiocese of Kisumu, on 3rd February 2025 at St. Joseph Milimani Parish, Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba stressed that St. John Paul II did set aside 2nd February, the day of the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in 1997, to serve as a moment to acknowledge the contribution of religious men and women in the life of the Church.
In his homily Archbishop Makumba reminded the Christians on the three reasons why St. John Paul II established the celebration of consecrated life;
He noted that it was set as a moment to praise and thank God for the presence of Consecrated men and women in the Church.
“The first reason he gave was this; to praise and thank God for the presence of consecrated life of Men and women in the Church. It is very easy for us to take for granted the gifts God gives us and the Holy Father is reminding us the presence of the consecrated life in the Church is a gift of God, we need to praise you, and thank you because consecrated life praises and thanks God”.
The prelate said that the second reason for the establishment of the day was the promotion and appreciation of religious life in the Church.
“The second reason he gave in establishing this day was for us to promote and appreciate religious consecrated life in the Church, promotion can mean, promotion of vocation, or promotion of life itself in the Church, it an occasion for us after praising God for the gift, thanking Him, to promote it”, he said.
The Local Ordinary of Kisumu Archdiocese who is also Chairperson of Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), emphasized that it is the responsibility of all Christians community to promote Consecrated life in the Church, and to the laity to promote consecrated life by embracing the sacrament of Holy Matrimony and welcoming children as gifts from God.
“It is the responsibility of all members of the Christian community to promote the growth of consecrated life in the Church, you the laity need to promote consecrated life in the Archdiocese of Kisumu by giving birth, because if you don’t give birth, we cannot have consecrated men and women”.
He lamented over the modern trend of viewing children as either a right or an inconvenience rather than recognizing them as blessings.
“The world today has changed, instead of looking at children as gift from God, the world today looks at children either as a right or they look at children as unwanted, when children are seen as unwanted, you know what happens, we have forgotten the giftedness of life”.
He continued “The third reason, that we may celebrate consecrated life as a gift from God”, he added, “I invite all of you in the Archdiocese of Kisumu to take heed, to pay attention to these three reasons why St. John Paul II established the day of consecrated life, and is inviting us, as the Church of Kisumu in the year of our double jubilee to appreciate the presence of religious men and women consecrated in our midst and they remind us about God’s love being celebrated on the feast of the presentation”.
He said that religious men and women are the living witnesses of God’s love, just as Jesus was presented in the temple as belonging wholly to God, and through their evangelical vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, consecrated persons offer their lives totally to the Church.
He challenged religious communities to reflect on their witness within their environments, to remember that they are called to be lights to the nations.
“Now every Consecrated person is another Christ, presenting the light of Jesus to the world, I invite you to take this challenge seriously wherever you are, whatever status of life, whether in the parish, in an institution, in the office, let us be conscious of the invitation and call we have received to be light to the nations, to the people we are sent in the communities we live”.
Addressing the priest, the prelate asked the priests to remember that their growing numbers should be a blessing rather than a source of division, that the presence of two or more priests in a parish should promote evangelization, and above the Christian community should look at them and see example of unity, love, and shared mission.
“The priests, we are now growing so in number and two priests in the parish is becoming common, it’s a gift but it can also be a challenge, remember the presence of two priests in a parish supposed to promote evangelization not the opposite, people should talk of you, look at how these two love each other, they are always eating together”.
The Archbishop has further designated pilgrimage sites within the archdiocese of Kisumu in honor of the jubilee celebrations 2025 and places of spiritual renewal; St. Joseph Milimani, St. Joseph Nyabondo, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga in Ojola were designated in Kisumu County, while in Siaya County, St. Boniface Aluor, St. Anne Sega, St. Peter Claver Yala, Holy Trinity Rangala, and St. Peter Claver Lwak.
