Amid challenging situations of life, Bishop Wainaina said, “God is calling you. Do not lose heart; do not grow bitter; place your hope in Him, knowing that He has a purpose for your trials.”
“Just as Christ endured pain for the redemption of the world and to make us holy, we also must from time to time embrace suffering as a way to draw closer to God,” he said at the Kenyan Catholic Parish, where he also administered the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Emphasizing that God is faithful and fostering hope that forms the theme of the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, the 68-year-old Catholic Church leader said, “We are called to embrace that hope” and to place our hope in God because He “loves us, we know His character, and He is almighty.”
“Remember, these are the key themes we are focusing on this Jubilee year as pilgrims of hope,” he said, and emphasized, “The Jubilee we are celebrating is meant to be a time of a renewed hope, where those who have lost hope regain it.”
Bishop Wainaina encouraged the people of God in his Episcopal See to remain hopeful and share that hope with those who have lost it. “We must remind them that God does not hate them; we should encourage them to persevere, assuring them that God will remember them in their suffering,” he said.
He also highlighted the aspect of reconciliation as important, saying, “This is the year of forgiveness; do not let it pass without letting go ... by forgiving one another, we give each other hope.”
In his homily, the Kenyan-born Catholic Church leader, who has been at the helm of Murang’a Diocese since his Episcopal Consecration in June 2009 called upon the candidates of Confirmation to embrace the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, which he said God availed to them at Baptism.
“These virtues enable us to become and remain His children,” he said about the theological virtues, describing them as the foundation of Christianity that strengthen the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Bishop Wainaina also emphasized the need for the candidates of Confirmation to witness to the person of Jesus Christ through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which God gives to help them fulfill His purpose in their lives.
“The works we achieve through the Holy Spirit make us witnesses of Christ. That is why we say that after receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, one becomes a witness of Christ,” said the Kenyan Catholic Bishop.
