In the 1^st reading Moses insists on the witness value of keeping God’s word by observing God’s law. “Keep them observe them and they will demonstrate to the people your wisdom and understanding” In the 2^nd reading, James shares the same concern of Moses that God’s people be ‘doers of the word and not hearers only” In the gospel Jesus accuses his accusers of being hypocrites by quoting the prophet Isaiah, “this people honour me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless; the doctrines they teach are only human regulations”. In clinging to human tradition, they ignore God’s commandments. Jesus wants to free people from the weight of tradition that concentrates on approved performance. When religious performance is lacking in the heart, our worship is worthless.

23^rd Sunday

Is: 35:4-7; Ps. 145. 7-10; Jas: 2:1-5; Mk.7:31-37

The triumph of God, that is announced in the first reading by Isaiah, demonstrates God’s preference for the poor, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the tongue tied. St. James in the second reading advises us “My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people and he continues to criticize the attitude made between the rich and poor, where as God chose those who are poor according to the world, to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom he promises. This is clearly demonstrated in today’s gospel when Jesus took the deaf and dumb man aside, away from the crowd and cured him. Mark emphasizes the response of the crowd that “Jesus has done all things well,” fulfilling the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah, in the first reading.

24^th Sunday

Is: 50:4-9; Ps: 114:1-6, 8-9, Jas: 2:14-18, Mk: 8:27-35

With Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philipphi we arrive at the watershed of Mark’s gospel. The first seven chapter’s revealed Jesus as a powerful Messiah, who taught and healed with authority. The climax is reached in today’s gospel. When Peter declares, “You are the Messiah” Then, immediately the second part of the gospel begins to reveal what kind of Messiah Jesus will be. “He began to teach them that the son of man, the Messiah is a suffering servant. This revelation comes as a blow to Peter and he objects and is sternly rebuked by Jesus for thinking as human beings do and not as God does. Isaiah gives the answer, it is to set one’s face to the flint, to take up one’s cross, trusting absolutely, that the Lord God is our help, and therefore, we can never be disgraced. So to think as God does is to dare to do what James calls the works of faith.

25^th Sunday

Wis: 2:12.17-20; Ps: 53:3-6, 8; Jas: 3:16-4, 3 Mk: 9:30-37

In this weeks gospel Jesus is now traveling secretly through Galilee, taking time to instruct his disciples about how the son of man will be declined into the hands of men and put to death. They do not understand this second prediction of the passion. On the contrary, they are caught up in the Jealousy and selfish ambitions that James describes. So Jesus places a child in their midst, as a symbol of innocence, puts his arms around the child and challenges his disciples to accept the little one. When they can welcome that little child, they can welcome the real Jesus who cannot resort to power tactics when threatened or maltreated. In drawing his followers away from looking for power and prestige, Jesus invites them to a new openness to the Father, whose mission he must complete on Calvary.

Sr. Anna Dennehy R.N.D.M

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FEAST OF THE MONTH – THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS

The cross is the most cruel and horrible means of torture. Death on the cross was the kind of execution reserved for bandits, rebel, slaves and for those who had committed the most brutal crimes. To declare oneself to be a follower of someone who had been crucified would be foolishness and shameful.

The feast of the Exaltation of the cross invites us to contemplate this symbol of our faith. The cross is an indication of a life style of a Christ-like immolation. To contemplate the cross means to choose it as the guiding sign for our lives. The cross is the sign of salvation.

The bronze serpent raised by Moses in the desert represented Christ. Those who turned to this bronze serpent were saved, not by what they saw, but by God, the Savior of all (Wisdom 16:7) the only true God is the one who revealed his face through Jesus Christ dying on the cross. Jesus on the cross and from the cross gives us the perfect image of God. He is poor, he has not kept anything for himself, he has given us everything. In the cross we see the immensity of his love and we are told how much we should love our brothers and sisters.

We need to understand that the cross is not a charm to wear for protection against illness or misfortune no is it a symbol to be placed on mountain tops to take possession or conquest of a territory, in houses, to sanctify the place. The believer must look at it as a symbol, a synthesis of the life style proposed by the Master.

Today many people use the cross just to show that they are Christians, others use it as a decorative device without knowing its meaning and implications. It is the order of the day to have it on ones heart, but what does it mean to you personally?

What are we to do when hatred, envy, jealousy, passion, uncontrolled instincts poisons our souls and threaten to ruin our lives? Those are the moments when life can only come back to us through contemplations of the one who was raised on a wooden cross. When we look up to him, he will tell us to unite our lives to his and to give it up for our brothers and sisters. Looking up to the cross, gives us courage to face life and its difficulties.

The crucifix turns our values upside down, and makes it possible for us to turn defeat into victory, service into power, poverty into riches, loss into profit, humiliation into triumph and death into new birth. The crucifix should be our standard, our measure to gauge success or failure in life. It is his judgment that will tell the truth about human history, and life must be taken seriously in the service of the Lord.

Reflections:

As followers of Christ who died on the cross out of love, are we ready to love others as Christ loved us?

Are we ready to profess our faith publicly in Christ who died on the cross and rose for our sake?

Lord Jesus Christ, we adore you, since through your holy cross you saved the world.

Rev. Fr. Alfonse Muema

Daystar University

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MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER

“Fathers do you Love me”?

Please send couples for the week end of Marriage encounter on 27th - 29th October 2006. Thanks and may God bless you.

Sr. Anna Dennehy R.N.D.M

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CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF MACHAKOS NETWORK OF 52 PARISHES 2006

In his 3^rd Episcopal anniversary message, His Lordship Martin Kivuva Musonde exhorted Christians for their outburst of faith and commitment which contributed to the creation of nine new Parishes and a chaplaincy, during his first three years as Bishop. The parishes increased the number in the Diocese to 52 and in the Bishop’s words of 2004, brought the word of God closer to the people.

Overall, the parishes project a significant network of the Catholic Church’s presence in Machakos and Makueni districts. It has over 1,000 outstations, about 805,579 Catholics, 124 mainly Diocesan Priests, Religious Congregations, Sponsored Schools and Private Health care facilities. In retrospect, records show that the same firm embraces of the faith and commitment of Christians factored the spread of the church to the present stature. Lay people like Theophil Mulwa, of Kilungu, the first Mukamba Catholic and pioneer catechist and others, welcomed and supported the missionaries to establish missions and schools in their localities. They wanted their areas to receive the greatest gift of faith and education, the most valuable assert next to the faith, pioneered by the missionaries.

When the Christian environment developed, local aspirations for vocations to the priesthood and sisterhood prevailed. The first two Akamba priests to be ordained were then Frs. Raphael Ndingi Mwana’a Nzeki (Archbishop of Nairobi) and U.J Kioko (Bishop Emeritus of Machakos) in January 1961. Then Fr. Martin Kivuva joined the continuous flow of ordinations 1978. The three priests became successive bishops of Machakos, after the formation for the diocese 1969. The local Bishops, assisted by their co-worker priests, religious and laity promoted the training of local clergy and self-reliance of the church. In particular, Bishop Kioko’s long reign of 29 years yielded significant achievements.

He was largely responsible for initiating self -reliance through the annual Diocesan collection which the faithful embraced as the main funding for capacity building, notably the great cathedral, self contained Pastoral Centre for conferences, Junior Seminary and Novitiate for the formation of priests and sisters respectively and Bishop

Kioko Hospital. He reaped a rich harvest of a catholic population of about 400,000 opened 25 new parishes and ordained nearly 100 Diocesan Priests.

Against this background, the faithful can count their blessings, but they dare not be complacent because some parishes are stretched to the limit. Half of them have 20 – 49 outstations each, while eight have 30 – 49 and widely scattered. Considering the poor road conditions and long distances the available Priests are unable to provide pastoral care to the Christians communities regularly.

The saying goes, “Where there is a felt need there is duty.” So the trumpet summons Christians to mobilize local resources, to build their churches and their priests houses to make it possible for expansive parishes to be split, for closer ministry.

Let us be proud of our faith and in the spirit of participation, generously support our church to give us closer services so “That all may be one.”

D. J. Muthengi

Athi River

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REV. FR. JOHN MUTISO REST IN PEACE

It was a solemn moment when the Christians gathered to pay respect to their beloved brother Priest Rev. Fr. John Mutiso who passed away on 30^th July 2006. A somber mood engulfed the church as Archbishop Ndingi Mwana’a Nzeki gave the homily in

Which he emphasized that it is painful to the family, the Diocese and the church as a whole to lose a young priest who had sacrificed himself to work for the church and serve God. He reminded the Christians that before God no one is perfect and holy, we all have some limitations in our lives.

Let us ask God to forgive Fr. John Mutiso and invite him into the kingdom of heaven. We all believe and know that there is another life to come. Our life here on earth is not the beauty, richness and wealth we own, but a life which we are all called to live according to the life Christ lived when he was on earth. So let us continue preparing ourselves for eternal life which will come one day. “You will be with me in paradise” Let us pray for those who killed Fr. John Mutiso so that they can reconcile with themselves and come back to Christ, as Christ forgave those who crucified himself. God is always ready to forgive us if we are ready to change.

He quoted Acts 9: 36 the story of Dorcas who was a believer and spent most of her time doing good and helping the poor, Fr. John Mutiso was a believer too and had totally given his life to do the mission Christ had given to him. Those who are ready to change and be reconciled will always enter the Kingdom of God. Let us continue praying for those who want to kill others so that they may be reconciled with themselves and God.

Let us always forgive and forget all the bad things and be ready to follow Christ. Let us always listen to the knock of Christ in our hearts and be ready to respond so that he may come and make his home within our hearts, for when he comes in our hearts he will always give us peace of mind. We pray that Christ may show us his light and that we may change to be good Christians. Christ died on the cross to save us all.

May the Soul of Rev. Fr. John Mutiso rest in peace. Amen.

Sr. Juliana Kimanzi A.S.N

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CONDOLENCES

Prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Br. Martin Okong’o of St. Peter Claver Brothers, who passed away on August 26th 2006 at Mater Hospital. There will be Holy mass at Mater Hospital on 4th September at 11.00 a.m. The funeral mass will be on 5th September, 2006 at Kaumoni Catholic Mission at 10.00 a.m, followed by the burial. May he rest in Peace.Amen.

CONDOLENCES

Prayers are requested for the soul of Mr. Francis Katiku, Father to Fr. Peter Mathuva. There will be Mass on 2nd September 2006 at his home, Kasunguni at 10.30 a.m followed by burial. May he rest in peace. Amen.

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THE CATECHIST’S STORY - FOOT SOLDIERS OF CHRIST

Rose Mary Nduku Nthiani

In August 1959,a burning desire to join the Catholic Church pushed a young girl in high school to lie to her father that they had been told in school that if they did not join the faith they would be sent away. This was mandatory then for parents of children in other Christian faiths to give permission for their children to join the Catholic Church.

Rosemary Nduku, a student at what is today known as Precious Blood Secondary School, Kilungu, had been at that time a member of the Legion of Mary prayer group in their school. Her family and especially her dad was staund Salvation Army church and would hear nothing about her wanting to join the Catholic Church. Her father now is a catechist at Maiani outstation, Kiogwani parish. She was baptized and was confirmed by Archbishop McCarthy and immediately she went back to school. Her baptism took place at Kiogwani by a father christened Fr. Manyanya.

In 1975, she started leading the service at Maiani Catholic church (today St. Mary’s) after getting married to Joseph Nthiani King’ele in 1965. Then she led the service with the late Raphael Kivila and another person I cannot remember. At the same time, she also started teaching the old members of the church about the faith. Before then, Rosemary taught at Maiani primary school, also in the area.

At this time, she had not decided to become a catechist. She joined catechism by accident after falling sick. She had gone to the catholic hospital in Kasikeu for Malaria treatment when after observing the treatment she got from the Sisters and the Priests she was encouraged to become a catholic and started to attend classes.

The late Fr. Adriano Bonfanti used to teach them. They would then have to make 15 rounds in a week teaching the faith to people in their region, traveling many kilometers to reach their catechumens. In a week, their only rest day was on Wednesday. In 1999, Fr. David Muvaa sent her among and others to Mbitini for a one-year catechism course. Rosemary’s undying motivation was to serve God by teaching other people. Since her high school days, she felt that she had a mission in teaching the old. She said it is quite wonderful to see people leaving their traditional beliefs and joining the church. She believes that the church is making good progress in the area with an increasing number of the faithful desiring to follow God.

However she regrets that most of the children in Primary and Secondary schools do not get ample time to come for their catechism classes due to commitment to school work. She requests parents and teachers to make a fair negotiation so as to take care of the faith of their children and the future. Further Rosemary, agrees that it is quite a challenge for one to be a catechist at this time as one has to abandon so many other things and concentrate on serving God.

For her it is difficult as age is catching up with her and she is the only recognized catechist in the area. But she says, “I feel the need to continue doing this work and I am not pressed to fulfill my material needs”. After all she agrees that being a catechist is a calling from the Holy Spirit. She thanks her husband, Joseph Nthiani for supporting her in this prudent effort. She also feels happy that her son, Michael Mailu is now deliberating joining religious life. Rosemary hopes that somehow God has heard their cry and he has something good in store for Catechists.

Stephen Muinde

Tangaza College

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A.O.S.K

A.O.S.K meeting on 24/9/2006 at Pastoral Centre Machakos at 10.00 a.m.

Please bring your Copy of Passion for Christ and Passion for humanity.

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DEDICATION OF A CHAPEL OF THE CARMELITE NUNS OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL MONASTERY (MACHAKOS)

The long awaited day 6^th August finally arrived. It was a special day especially to us Nuns since it was the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord and also the day of the official opening and dedication of our Chapel. The invited guests filled the Monastery ground, eagerly waiting for the beginning of the great event which was presided over by His Excellency Alain Paul Lepeaupin, - The Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya.

The great occasion commenced at 10.30a.m as scheduled on the programme, with the procession to the Chapel led by a group of altar boys followed by the liturgical dancers, the Choir, Sisters from different Congregations, Priests and lastly The Apostolic Nuncio accompanied by Rt. Rev. Anthony Muheria (Bishop of Embu Diocese), Vicar General of Machakos Diocese Mgr. Alfonse Mondiu, Vicar General of the Carmelite Order Fr. Carlo Cicconetti, Fr. Anthony Scerri, General Councillor and other Carmelite Priests from different countries. The Nuncio blessed the water and then the Chapel doors and officially opened the Church by cutting the ribbon.

The Nuncio invited the congregation to the celebration of the Solemn Mass. In his homily, the Nuncio said that the dedication was set on a good day since the whole Church was celebrating the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord. He urged all the Christians to strive and live transformed lives, and as Christ was transfigured in front of his Apostles, we too, ought to reflect Christ in our lives. Lastly, he made an appeal to us Nuns to pray for our inner transformation and thus contribute to the beauty of our Chapel. Then the Nuncio blessed the whole congregation on behalf of the Holy Father.

Mgr. Alfonse Mondiu thanked His Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio for having spared the time to be with the people of Machakos for the dedication of the Chapel, despite his tight and busy schedule. In his speech, Rev. Fr. Anthony Scerri, thanked Bishop (Emeritus) Urbanus Kioko for allowing the Sisters to set their foundation in this place and proceeded by explaining a little the mission of Carmelites i.e. to pray for the whole World like St. Therese of the Child Jesus (now Patroness of the Missions) who dedicated her life to praying especially for Missionaries The Ambassador of Spain to Kenya said the Nuns had chosen the better part in life, just like Mary(sister of Lazarus) in the bible who sat at Jesus’ feet , and so it would never be taken from them. Bishop Muheria said that all Christians are called to be the light and salt of the world by chasing away darkness and bringing light through our prayers.

We would like to send our sincere gratitude to all people who made this day a success by their participation in different ways, all those who were present and also who were absent especially our Bishop Martin who was currently out of the country and could not be with us in the great day.

Who are the Carmelite Nuns?

We are cloistered Nuns called by God to live a life of silence and prayer hidden in God’s presence in the midst of the World. Our main Apostolate is prayer, by prayer we carry with us the needs of our brothers and sisters living in the World and present them to Christ. We wish to make God known and loved by all.

Do you wish to experience God in prayer and silence?

We Carmelite Nuns have retreat houses, you can come and experience silence and prayer and get closer to God.

Carmelite Sisters Community Machakos

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Communication for effective pastoral ministry.

The clergy of the Catholic Diocese of Machakos, led by their shepherd, Rt. Rev. Martin Kivuva, held a two-day workshop on communication for effective pastoral ministry led by Sr. Agnes Lucy Lando (SOM), a Doctoral student at Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and Fr. Januarius Kioko, Lecturer at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, Nairobi. The participants drawn from all over the diocese were led through the different methods that Jesus used to communicate his message to those who followed him. Communication fosters and develops communion. Jesus Christ was always in communication with his disciples, and used varied methods to communicate his message.

The approach he used to address the Pharisees, Sadducees, Samaritans, Romans, Scribes, the crowds, the apostles, etc. varied both in tone, selection of words and examples. In Mark 8:27-29, Jesus poses a question to find out if his audience had understood him. “Who do people say I am?” Jesus is looking for a “feedback.” Effective pastoral agents must do likewise. A research conducted by Sr. Lando in 2002 from selected Dioceses in Kenya, including Machakos, gives the following as some feedback from the youth and the adults on what they like. The Christians say that they really appreciate the good work the priests are doing in their various apostolate; they admire the catholic priests who are organized and prepare their sermons/ homilies. Some priests are audible, loud and clear and they give relevant examples and try to relate the readings with the day to day life situations.

The priests are able to draw the attention of their audience well, address everybody in the church by their sermons, youth, men and women of different careers. In their homilies they touch and challenge the people and ask for application. Some priests are knowledgeable and chronological in their homily and they give a message that people can hold on to, for the rest of the week and they practice what they teach. Without feedback, we will never know the influence we have in our ministry. We must create a friendly atmosphere for a free and spontaneous feedback that reflects who we are to the people. This way, we built a communion of communication of the gospel, as is mandated to us by our Lord.

Fr. Daniel Mwanzia

St. Mathius Mulumba Tindinyo

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Bishop’s Dairy

September

18th Workshop - Small Homes

21st Caritas Meeting - Nairobi

22nd Tulimani Girls Secondary School

24th Final Profession - Meru

26th St. Joseph Club Meeting

27th Hospital Board meeting

28th Caritas Meeting Nairobi

30th Katoloni Pastoral visit

October

3 – 4^th Kibwezi Parish

6^th Graduation CUEA

7^th Makueni Girls Secondary School

8^th Nzaikoni Parish

9^th Nakuru

13-15^th Muthetheni Parish – Confirmation

24^th K.C.S Nairobi

28-29^th Athi River Parish

30^th Priests Council

31^st Meeting Bishop’s Office

“Tradition is a guide and not a Jailer.” W. S. Maughan.

Catholic Diocese of Machakos

P.O. Box - 344 -90100 Machakos

Tel. +254-044-20484; Fax-254-044-21308

E-mail: bishopsomks@wananchi.com

Website: http/www.machakosdiocese.org