Emulate Jesus Christ, “serve without discrimination”, Kenyan Priest Urges Catholic Women

“Whatever activities are ahead of us, above all, let us remember that we are servants. Even if you have many degrees, remember service to humanity and our service will help those who are marginalized,” Fr. Muriithi said during the five-day workshop to initiate the African Chapter of WUCWO’s World Women's Observatory (WWO) aimed at listening to women whose lives are “sometimes unknown.”

He said that most prayers said by Christians are a mockery to God for they all pray but do not go ahead to feed the poor or attend to the vulnerable in the society.

The Kenyan Catholic Priest said that a lot of resources in the world are channeled to unnecessary things at the expense of helping the needy.

“In the world today, we are wasting a lot of money; you can see now, the money being used in the Russia-Ukraine war; a lot of billions, but there are still people who are suffering,” Fr. Muriithi said in his homily at the workshop for Africa WUCWO member organizations held at Little Daughters of St. Joseph in Karen, Nairobi.

He added, “A lot of funds are being used to make arms and ammunitions, for who? To kill one another, traveling to the Mass, Jupiter while there are people who need our services.”

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The member of the Clergy of Kenya’s Murang’a Diocese said that challenges are there and cannot be avoided especially when one is living a Christian life.

“When we live as Christians, we expect challenges from within and from without; never fear challenges, because through challenges we move closer to God,” he said in his homily at the WUCWO workshop organized to train national “social correspondents” drawn from 16 African countries set to conclude on Saturday, May 14.

He said that the way Israelites were attacked by enemies in the wilderness, the Catholic church has many enemies. He said that the church prevails against her enemies because of her teachings as instituted by Christ.

“Christ himself faced so many challenges but he succeeded,” Fr. Muriithi said, and encouraged Catholic women to embrace love at the expense of hatred so that they can counter issues like domestic violence.

“We also have domestic violence; … where is it coming from? Maybe some of us are the root cause of those domestic violence to our children, our parents, our husbands, to our neighbors,” he said, and added, “With that hate, what remains is nothing. With love we are able to reconcile with one another.”

In a Friday, May 13 report, the President General of WUCWO told ACI Africa that the African Chapter of WWO was being initiated to give women in Africa an opportunity to reflect on their lives, share their challenges, and dreams.

In the Wednesday, May 11 interview, Maria Lia Zervino said that the WWO initiative that was first launched in Latin America last year is part of WUCWO’s strategy to listen to women whose lives are “sometimes unknown.”

“We decided to give voice to the women that are currently invisible to the rest of the world. We need to give voice to the women that are like invisible women,” Ms. Zervino said.

He added, “That's why we are starting this research to listen to the women, to pick up their experiences and to put it in an academic way so that we can show to the Church in each level, the government and the international agencies, the lives of these women that are vulnerable and that we need to work together with States and Church to seek for the solutions of their lives.”

Founded in 1910, WUCWO is the global Catholic women’s forum that brings together over 100 organizations of women who profess the Catholic faith.  

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Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.