NAIROBI AUGUST 25, 2015 (CISA) – John Cardinal Njue has called upon faithful to embrace missionary work in their dioceses, parishes and the outstations.
“The missionaries sacrificed their lives to bring us the good news. There in our outstations, parishes and the dioceses we must insist on embracing the missionary work. Remember if there is a church and is not missionary then it is not a church,” said Cardinal Njue.
In his homily when he celebrated Mass to mark the end of the 3-day Golden Jubilee celebrations of Vatican II Council document and silver Jubilee Commission for Mission at St Mary’s School Msongari in Nairobi, Cardinal Njue urged Christians to be responsible, faithful and open to become instruments of spreading the good news.
“We must be aggressive, self-giving, courageous and ready to die for our faith. We need to be guided by the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary through promotion of responsible living, change of attitude and forgiveness. A tree is known by the fruits it bears,” said Cardinal Njue of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi.
The cardinal further challenged the older members of the church to keep on inspiring the young members and ensure they support evangelization of the word of God.
“We as older member of the family of God should inspire young members to pray, receive sacrament, seek reconciliation with God and neighbor as well as offer their time and money to support evangelization work,” he said.
Speaking during the occasion on the theme “Celebrating our faith,” Pontifical Missionary Society National Director Fr Celestino Bundi urged the faithful to keep moving forward the strong legacy left behind by the early missionaries.
“As children as parents as priest as religious lets us be proud of our identity as Catholics and do the best to continue the legacy given to us by those missionaries who came before us. We are happy to see the fruits planted by them,” said Fr Bundi.
The event was attended by Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa Martin Kivuva, Bishop Anthony Muheria of Kitui, Bishop Joseph Alessandro of Garissa, Bishop Joseph Mbatia of Nyahururu and Bishop Paul Kariuki of Embu.
Over five thousand Pontifical Missionary Childhood (PMC) children from 25 dioceses in Kenya, their animators and priests from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania also attended the function.
