By Paschal Norbert
SAGANA, AUGUST 1, 2023 (CISA)- After a three-year hiatus, the Consolata Missionaries Kenya-Uganda Region celebrated the First Religious Profession of 11 Consolata Missionaries Novices (2022-2023) at Sagana Noviate in the Catholic Diocese of Muranga, Kenya.
The auspicious event held on July 29, 2023, at Blessed Joseph Allamano Sagana Catholic Parish, was presided by Rev Fr Zachary Kariuki, the vice-Regional Superior of the Consolata Missionaries Kenya-Uganda Region.
In his homily, Fr Kariuki reminded the novices of the arduous journey of a missionary and the challenges of their calling and urged them to lean and trust in God in their moments of weakness.
“Through the religious profession as Consolata missionaries, you are embarking on a journey for which our Lord called you, even before you were born, while you were still in your mother’s womb; a journey he has called you to begin regardless of your shortcomings, your, unworthiness and your weaknesses just as Jeremiah in the first reading. It can be a tedious journey full of challenges, if you look at the later life of the prophet in his ministry, but the Lord is also telling you today ‘Don’t you worry my son, because I will be with you, to protect you’” counselled Fr Kariuki.
“In this journey, as you begin… Follow the examples of those great men and women of faith who came before you and in spite of their weaknesses, fears, disappointments, doubts and even misgivings have completed their journey and many are still continuing, and this is only because they have learnt the secret of walking the journey; to trust in the promise of the Lord who told Jeremiah ‘Don’t you worry my son, I will be with you to protect you’” he added.
The vice-regional superior appealed to the conscience of the novices by imploring them to deeply reflect on “the implications and the conditions of the YES you are to pronounce in response to his invitation,” in that they will totally surrender their lives to the lord when “they vow obedience, chastity and poverty.”
“The vows you will be making today dear brothers, are a commitment to surrender your lives to Jesus who was obedient, chaste and poor. These vows brothers, are meant to liberate you from all that can hinder you from following the Master, so that you can be united with him totally and wholly, and only with him, and together with him, help in the construction of the Kingdom of God, he came to establish. You become free of particular, possessive and personal relationships so that you can love and serve all the children of God as Jesus loves. You are liberated from an uncontrolled and egoistic search for material things for personal gains and security so that you can be a good and faithful of servant of heavenly goods; you liberate yourselves from your own whims and personal desires so that you can be free to do what God wants and not what you want… and in this way, become like a candle that burns itself out, so that it can give others light,” he preached.
Fr Kariuki appealed to the novices not to let their fire burn out, thereby, compromising their ‘yes’ to the Lord and the family of Consolata Missionaries.
“The general chapter has just finished and one of the concerns is the growing number of missionaries that are asking to leave the institute to go and serve somewhere else, or is it for greener pastures? While others abandon the ministry altogether, just after a few years after their definitive YES to surrender their lives to Jesus in the spirit and charism of our founder, Joseph Allamano; the original zeal and motivation of why we became missionaries, totally forgotten,” he chided.
Regardless, Fr Kariuki charged the novices to march and take on the world aware that the devil is lurking, “these vows through which you surrender your lives to Jesus, will not make you superhuman beings. The temptations will still be there and maybe, even more than before. Always remember, God is giving you a great gift reserved for a few, and therefore the devil is not going to sleep. He will try with all means to make you deviate from the journey or abandon your commitments.”
The 11 professed Consolata Missionaries come from eight African countries: Kenya (2), Uganda (1), Tanzania (2), DR Congo (2), Ethiopia (1), Ivory Coast (1), Guinea Bissau (1) and Angola (1). They will proceed to different countries in Africa and South America for theological studies.
