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Path of Holiness Entails Discovering “place of Word of God, Eucharist”: Kenyan Archbishop

Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba of Kenya's Kisumu Archdiocese. Credit: ACI Africa

By Magdalene Kahiu

Kisumu, 21 June, 2022 / 11:01 pm (ACI Africa).

A Catholic Archbishop has called on Kenyans to find a place for the Word of God and the Eucharist in their families if they are to be on the “path of holiness”. 

In his message when opening the Archdiocesan phase of the World Meeting of Families Sunday, June 19, Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba called on Priests in his Metropolitan See to dedicate Sunday, June 26 to praying “for the intention of families, and at the end of the Eucharistic celebration, give mandate to families on behalf of the Local Ordinary."

“Towards a path of holiness, families must discover the place of the Word of God and the Eucharist in their daily lives first by reading and meditating on the Word of God for the Word of God remains a lamp to my feet and a light to my path for the families,” the Archbishop of Kenya’s Archdiocese of Kisumu said. 

Archbishop Muhatia underscored the link between the Holy Eucharist and love, saying, “The Eucharist remains the Sacrament of love and the Sacrament of charity, a school where love can be learnt and charity practiced and the source of grace that sustains married love.”

“God’s calling to married love is responded to in the Sacrament of Matrimony and continually sustained by God’s grace,” the Kenyan Archbishop said.

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The World Meeting of Families is an international Catholic gathering initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1993 with an aim of strengthening family bonds. The event takes place every three years, the last one having been held in Dublin, Ireland, in 2018.

This year’s event has been scheduled to take place in Rome from June 22-26 under the theme, “Family love: a vocation and a path to holiness.”

In his message during the Holy Mass at St. Theresa’s Cathedral of Kisumu Archdiocese, Archbishop Muhatia said the theme of this year’s celebration shows “the place of the families at the centre of pastoral attention.”

“The vocation to married love is the foundation of the family and all other vocations owe their identity to the family,” the 54-year-old Archbishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in Nakuru Diocese in February 2010 said.

He added, “Family love as a vocation is a free gift from God, freely given and freely received.”

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“Vocation to family life should be lived in joy and hope amidst the so many challenges it is facing in many ways,” Archbishop Muhatia said. 

The Archbishop who has been at the helm of Kisumu Archdiocese since March 19 called on members of the Clergy, women and men Religious, and Laity in his Metropolitan See to follow the proceedings of the weeklong event virtually.

He said the Archdiocesan phase of the World Meeting of Families "is an occasion to invigorate joy in the families as an image of God’s infinite love, and in turn, through the grace of the Holy Spirit to support families as they bear witness to the Gospel of Christ’s love."

Magdalene Kahiu

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.

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