“Karibu CMF....
“At the end of s successful Annual Retreat....
“Entrance Procession....
Seeking God's grace.....
With the Major Superior....
“The Final YES...
“Delivering the message.....
“Presenting the human needs.....
“The First Step towards the Altar.....
“The Second Step Towards Altar.....
“Children are great imitators. So, give them something great to imitate” so goes the ancient saying. Our students along with Fr. Maxwell Chacha, arranged a camp for the children of KPF, Magereza on December 30th Friday, 2022 in our Formation House campus. A few children participated in the camp which featured activities like, games, meals and mass. A few snaps of the camp are given below.
Do the Good You can!
As we continue preparing for
the coming of the Emmanuel, God with us,
the readings of today specially the Gospel pericope that the Mother Church
presents us in this table of the word, it gives us a direction to irrigate our
eagerness in waiting for our savior. We are all invited to follow up Mary’s
wonderful example of kindness, affection and generosity in set out of our
comfort zone to do good to others.
Edgar Cabral
II Year Theology
As
we continue to await the nativity of Christ, there is no doubt that we have
already passed through a lot of experiences in life. Some of them might have
been great experiences that we wish could repeat themselves, yet some might
have made us to doubt God and perhaps ask for some signs. St. Claret himself at
one point could say, “Humanly speaking, I see no hope, but you have the
power to make it happen, if you will” (Aut.40). In his desire to dedicate
himself day and night to the Lord as a priest, he at one-point lost hope. He
however kept his confidence and trust in the Lord.
Today’s
first reading (Is.7:10-14) is someone interesting. God himself asks the Prophet
Ahaz to ask for a sign. The prophet confirms his confidence and trust in the
Lord by not asking for a sign. He however prophesizes the coming of the
Emmanuel. He foretells the great mystery of the incarnation where the God-man
comes to be with us, hence Emmanuel, God with us.
Our
response to the Psalmist (Ps.24:1-6) “Let the Lord enter, he is the King of
Glory”, echoes John the Baptist’s cry, “Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight” (Lk.3:4) thereby reminding us to make our hearts
pure for the Lord.
In
that regard, our Gospel text presents us with a Lady who was so noble and pure
to the point that the Lord found her worthy to be the one to bring the promised
Emmanuel to us. The annunciation account invites us today to be ready for the
service of the Lord. Perplexed by angel Gabriel’s greeting, Mary finds
confidence when she is told her cousin Elizabeth has been saved from the shame
of barrenness and is with Child. This is the sign given to her by the Lord.
Brethren,
as we await the nativity of the Lord, we are invited to be well disposed to
receive the Lord. No matter the situation, trouble and confusion that you are
currently facing, we are invited to humbly and obediently say like Mary,” Let
it be with me according to your Word” (Lk.1:38). As we approach Christmas,
let us with great faith accept God’s plan and will as Mary, our model did.
Akwiri Harrison
II Year Theology
On December 9, 2022, the Martyrs of Barbastro Formation community went on a community picnic to Bagamoyo, a historic coastal town founded at the end of the 18th century, though it is an extension of a much older (8th century) Swahili settlement, Kaole. The German colonial administration chose it as the capital of German East Africa, and it became one of the most important trading ports for the Germans along the East African coast west of the Indian Ocean in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is now the capital of the Bagamoyo District in the Pwani Region. The picnic was designed to provide ample time and space for community bonding and relaxation. As a result, it was influenced by visits to the rich variety of historic monuments ranging from slave trade to the spread of Christianity. It was also an opportunity for the community as a whole to have fun together away from home. The picnic was concluded by a holy mass celebration on the beach.
On 20th September 2022, Br. Carlos Horacio Antonio Verga CMF, General Prefect of Youth and Vocations and Fr. Gabriel, Delegate Superior, Mother of Africa Independent Delegation, Angola paid a visit to the community. Rev. Br. Carlos engaged the students in a lively interactive session and invited them to work zealously among the youth. The community was also delighted by the visit of the Superior General Very Rev. Fr. Mathew Vattamattam CMF in company with the Prefect of Apostolate Fr. Pedro Belderrain CMF on 26th September 2022. During their visit, they animated the community on the General Chapter and the First-Year students were officially welcomed to the community. The community was also privileged to receive a new member, Fr, Maximillian Maxwell CMF 0n 7th October 2022 as the new Econome replacing Fr. Jones Chellapan CMF who was the Econome until then. The community bid farewell to Fr. Jones on 2nd November 2022 and thanked him for his generous services.
During the annual holidays period, students were assigned to a variety of missions for pastoral exposure. From September 1 to September 21, 2022, a group of five students visited the Missionaries of Charity in Dodoma, where the Missionaries of Charity Brothers and Sisters were engaged in serving and caring for abandoned, mentally and physically challenged people. From 20 July to 20 August 2022, a different group of students travelled to the Don Bosco Missionaries' vocational training centre in Iringa, where they worked in the sewing, plumbing, and electrical sectors. Another trio of students spent a month, from July 18 to August 18, at the SJS Organic Farm-EOA Center for Excellence in Kwanyange, Diocese of Same, receiving instruction in organic farming and the manufacture of food free of chemicals. The Claretian Parishes of Tanzania received a second crew from 21st August to 21st September 2022. The students had the chance to learn new things and experience different realities outside of the Formation House.
The
readings of today presents pious couples through whom we can say that God is in
the process of preparing people for himself. From these couples we have Samson
and John the Baptist who were really dedicated to the service of God. Both of
them were consecrated to God and filled with the Holy Spirit and have brought
many people to the true worship of God.
Moreover,
in the gospel as we have heard, the angel’s appearance to Zechariah reminds the
reader of the appearance of an angel to the mother of Samson in Judges 13. She
was also barren when an angel of the Lord (Yahweh) appeared to her and told her
she would conceive and give birth to a son. This son should be dedicated to the
Lord, and even while he was in the womb his mother should drink no wine or
fermented liquor.
The
same scenario is found with Abraham where an angel of Yahweh promises that his
baren wife Sarah would bear him Isaac (Gen 18). The purpose of these stories is
not merely to relate miraculous happenings. First, it is to underline that God
furthers the history of his own people with tireless watchfulness, sending his
own Spirit on his chosen leaders. Secondly, God does not rely on human ability,
skills or achievements, but chooses the most unlikely person to his envoy and
further his purposes.
In
a special way, the readings give us the glimpse of consecrated life, the life
we are embracing now. It is a life involving living a virtuous life, purity in
holiness and the crown of the royal priesthood (cf. 2 Kings 11:12). That is why in the Old Testament context we
speak of Nazirite who is devoted to God. According to the customs of the Old
Testament, Nazirite persons vow part of their lives, or their entire lives to God
(cf. Numb 6:1-21). We need to be like Samson
who was not only consecrated for a certain period of his life, but he was
consecrated all his life. Now let us continue asking God to be with us in our
vocation journey as Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Zephrine Superius
III Year Theology
Today
the prophet Isaiah reminds us of the totality of creation based on our prospect
of faith. The creative act of God manifests the beauty of his will toward
humanity. His wonderful creation gives an objective continuity of carrying the responsibility
of taking care of his creation. Psalms 8:4, “when I see your heavens, the works
of your fingers”. Mighty deeds of God go beyond comparison, for he is the only
fashioner of the earth and all that belongs to it. Our faith based on the
‘practical responsibility’, brings the sensibility of what we profess in the
creed during the baptism and on the solemn celebration on the day of the lord.
We firmly acknowledge the superiority of God over his creatures, “maker of
heaven and earth” (CCC. NO.325). this form of continuity calls our attention to
serve God by taking care of his creation diligently. Pope Francis takes the
same call to humanity to conserve and preserve mother earth, bearing in mind
how important is the creation of God. This responsibility for God’s creation
means that human beings endowed with intelligence, must respect the law of
nature and maintain the equilibria that exist between the creatures (Laudato Si, No.68.) We are living in the perspective of distortions and destructions;
humanity no longer values the goodness and creative ascent of God. Currently,
we are facing a long-term crisis on the earth; that is climate change which has
a severe effect on both the terrestrial and celestial of mother earth. Rise in
temperatures, droughts shortage of food, the distinction of different species
of animals, and other defects in the long run of different environments. We
take care of God’s creation for the common good.
GOSPEL:
LUKE 7:19-23
The expectation of the messiah becomes a different notation from the gospel of today (Lk 7:19-23). Here comes the question from the disciples of John, are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else? This brings an introspective question that needs self-analysis in this season of advent. In our own context, we expect a messiah who will reunite our relationship with God and fellow humanity, bring our uncertainty of life to the prospect of hope, and open our blind conscience hence, to realize our moral defect. We pray through saint John of the cross whom we commemorate his life today to enhance our spiritual growth in this season of advent, to make a step of newness in faith as we look forward in celebrating the mystery of God who became man.
Victor Ohiambo
II Year Theology
The Gospel of today captures some elements
that are worth noting. Jesus is teaching and among the audience are pharisees
and doctors of the law who had come from every village in Galilee. Some men
come carrying a paralyzed man, the crowd make it impossible for them to reach
Jesus and finally they succeed to lower him in front of him through the roof.
Here there are three categories of people engaged with Jesus: pharisees and
doctors of the law, the crowd and men carrying the paralyzed, let me call them
friends.
Perhaps, the friends of the paralyzed had
gotten the glimpse from prophet Isaiah, “Strengthen the weary hands, steady all
trembling knees and say to all faint hearts, courage! Do not be afraid” (Isa
35:3-4). “Look your God is coming, vengeance is coming, the retribution of God,
he is coming to save you” (Isa 35:4). And for that reason, they take the
initiative to save one of their own, by presenting him before Jesus. The faith
they possessed is indeed encouraging, having a paralyzed man they opted to
directly present him to Jesus. They come across the barrier of the crowd, but
this does not stop them either. They still find means to reach him by lowering
him through the roof.
Many at times we do find ourselves
complaining of the blocks that we encounter in life, for instance, while
processing documents. I have heard people speaking of the line being long,
people being many, the processing being demanding, and so on and so forth. Once
in a while I have told my colleagues that they are among the many people in
such circumstances just to encourage them while at personal level I also find
it very difficult to comply. Such may happen to any of us to an extent of
formulating excuses for failure to attend to our spiritual needs, such as
personal prayers noting how engaged we are. The friends of the paralyzed finds
an alternative which leads to deliverance over his sickness. Which kinds of
friends are we having? Are they helpful one’s or the ones who disappear once
in need and appear during good times? Let us be at the service of one another.
It is interesting that the learned
pharisees and doctors of the law also sit down and listen to Jesus. These days
pride has entered many of us to an extent that we do not see anything good to
those who are subordinate to us. We feel we are mighty, learned, superior to
the less privileged, and so think that there is nothing they can offer to us.
Divine knowledge surpasses all that the world offers us as the best. All these
learned men of the time find something useful in Jesus. Let us learn to listen
to others as well and learn from them in as much as we may have wonderful
ideas.
The issue of faith ought to be underlined
from today’s Gospel. It is the faith of the paralyzed and his friends that
leads to his deliverance, his sins are forgiven, and he gets up, picks his
stretcher and goes home. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that,
“By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God” (CCC 143).
“It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe
absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a
creature” (CCC 150).
So, let us entrust all our worries, sorrows
and needs unto the Lord and not on fellow human beings. It is only God who will
redeem us, and he does not disappoint. Let us endeavor also to carry with us the
mentality of the crowd who act as a barrier to block the paralyzed and his
friends from accessing Jesus. “Jesus Christ restores morality, nourishes
virtues, consoles the afflicted, strengthens the weak. He proposes his own
example to those who come to him that all may learn to be, like himself, meek
and humble of heart and to seek not their own interests but those of God” (Pope
Paul VI, The Mystery of Faith).
Thomas Ooko Owino
III Year Theology
Imagine
someone who dreams to be a medical doctor but does not study at all! It is very
clear that the dream might not be realized. So, whenever we aspire something,
extra effort is needed. In today`s Gospel Matthew presents to us a scenario of
two blind men who shout at top of their voices to Jesus asking for forgiveness.
This explains how sicknesses were understood in the Jewish context (most of the
diseases in Jewish understanding were immediate consequence of sin). Therefore,
crying out as presented in the Gospel shows the desperate situation these
people were passing through and how much they needed healing because blindness was a very
terrible condition and among the worst of its negative effects was that there
was very little or even no work available for the blind to
do in order to sustain themselves. Leviticus 21:18-23 lists forbidden defects
that prevent a man from approaching the altar or offerings to the Lord and blindness
is the first to be named. Without work, blind men were often
reduced to roadside beggars.
The start of this encounter is in
public. There are crowds round Jesus, and the blind men are caught up in the
general emotion. Jesus waits until he is in the house, where he can meet the
blind men in person, and question their faith.
No one is perfect, each one of us in
one way or another is blind. The blindness presented here is a symbol of
ignorance. And Rev. Fr. Marandu will define ignorance as a lack of
knowledge which was not supposed to there considering the age. Most of the
times we fail to recognize our spiritual ignorance. He needs us not as a group
but as individual to present to him our weaknesses. But the question which each
of us can ponder is: do we believe in Jesus? So, let us pray that God may
increase our faith!
Geremias Armando Carlos
III Year Theology
