Nairobi, 21 January, 2020 / 2:30 am (ACI Africa).
With this year’s Season of Lent starting February 26, the Catholic Bishops in the East African nation of Kenya are expecting Catholics in the country to focus their attention on “stewardship” during the 40-day period, striving to take good care of God’s creation and gifts with “more respect, solidarity and vigilance.”
The official launch of the Lenten Campaign has been slated to take place on February 22 in Kenya’s Nakuru Diocese under the theme, “Stewardship for a transformed nation: My obligation.”
“We hope to promote a sense of appreciation of the fact that what we are and have are actually held in trust at the service of others so that we promote more respect, solidarity and vigilance,” the Chairman of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) under the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops KCCB, Bishop John Owaa Oballa told ACI Africa in reference to the planned Lenten Campaign.
During the Monday, January 20 interview, Bishop Oballa explained what informed the theme for Lent saying, “Instead of being a servant, manager or an administrator, man wants to play owner and deny others the fruits of creation by trying to amass things for himself. Conscious of that danger of (man) attempting to turn things against God’s divine intent for his creatures, we thought and found the appropriate theme would be stewardship. It will help us explore this and reflect on the original plan as intended by God.”
According to the Kenyan Prelate who is also the Vice-Chairman of KCCB, by having the specific theme on stewardship as a means of transforming the nation, the Bishops in Kenya “hope to create more awareness on servanthood and to create that sense of responsibility to God and others for what He (God) has placed us in charge of.”