Credit: Catholic Archdiocese Nairobi (ADN)
“What I’m saying is that Joseph was a man in crisis in his family life, but trusting in God helped him overcome the crisis,” the Auxiliary Bishop of Nairobi Archdiocese since his Episcopal Consecration in March 2000 reiterated.
He challenged the CMA members of Nairobi Archdiocese to emulate St. Joseph in being responsible in their respective families.
“Fear of responsibilities”, Bishop Kamau said, is one the major challenges “we have today with our men and with our young people. Some fear the family responsibilities; they do not want to get married, and of course the same for women.”
Credit: Catholic Archdiocese Nairobi (ADN)
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He compared taking up parental and family responsibilities as bearing one’s cross, and added, “We cannot build the Church without families; there is no way you can get a ‘crossless’ family.”
“Let us pray, as we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, that just as St. Joseph carried the cross of the family, we may also carry the same cross in honour of the family, and also for the church,” he said.
The 69-year-old Kenyan Catholic Church leader reiterated, “We cannot have a Church without the cross. Wherever you go, there will always be a cross.”
Credit: Catholic Archdiocese Nairobi (ADN)
He called upon the CMA members to seek the will of God amid life’s challenges, looking upon Jesus Christ for inspiration.
“When Jesus was at Gethsemane, he prayed, ‘Lord God, if you want, take this cup away from me’; and then He followed with, ‘Not as I will, but as you will.’ That means that, the devil tempted Jesus again, but Jesus had to make a decision to go for the will of God,” said Bishop Kamau.
Therefore, he continued, “Jesus went through problems and suffering like we do, and just as he managed to go through them, then we also, journeying with him, can overcome all the issues and crises in our lives.”
Credit: Catholic Archdiocese Nairobi (ADN)
“Let us dedicate ourselves to St. Joseph,” Bishop Kamau said.
As the Servant of God dedicated our Archdiocese to St. Joseph, “we too will go through lives’ crises if we follow in the footsteps of St. Joseph,” he further said referring to Kenya’s first Cardinal, the Servant of God, Maurice Michael Cardinal Otunga, who was the pioneer Kenyan-born Archbishop of Nairobi.
Irene Wambui contributed to the writing of this story
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