Congratulations the Religious Men and Women

My scribble I take, the religious do I remember.

They've chosen this, Deus to serve. 

Isn't simple task , with love they're committed. 

Congratulations religious, as noonday is your work . 

Soon do you join,  studies soon begin.

In prayers you do, call is made manifest. 

Prayers you know,  it's as your drinking water.

Congratulations religious, as noonday is your work.

 In education sector,  forefront you' found.

Needless to count schools,  there you are gold.

Montessori yu' plenty,   O level and A level.

Congratulations religious, as noonday is your work

 

Faith teachings yu' concur, no missing studies. 

You educate, boys and girls 're.

Glittering the church,  bright is future. 

Congratulations religious, as noonday is your work.

 

Your work is hard, the peripheries you touch. 

Plenty love you take,  without boundaries. 

January to December, love you speak. 

Congratulations religious, as noonday is your work.

 

Deo gracias, your parents be blessed. 

Important they're, giving us gifts. 

God bless, God's too to them. 

Congratulations religious, as noonday is your work  

 

No more scribbling, corner am I. 

Religious power, always reckon Deus. 

Dedicate you to prayers, be blessed roundly. 

Congratulations religious, as noonday is your work .

 

By Student Ken Omondi

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Christ and Multiculturalism

 Jesus understood and lived in a community of diverse cultures. He never tried to bring about uniformity but all the time he emphasized unity. This is very evident in his early mission, He offered reconciliation to all cultures. Jesus did this by calling Jews and Gentiles together and offered all a place in the God’s Kingdom. Despite of Him being a Jew, He never favored the Jews at the expense of Gentiles.

Jesus went a notch higher by teaching his own Jewish disciples to reach out with love and acceptance to the Gentiles, who were regarded as uncivilized by many people of the time. This acceptance and love enabled the Gentiles to be allowed in the fellowship circles without them being converted to Judaism. Gentiles were accepted as they were with their limitedness and weaknesses. This explicitly teaches us that Jesus respected differences and allowed communion to prevail at the level of diversity. Not only that but also Christs’ teachings respected all cultures and never tolerated any stereotype to dominate His community of the time.[1]

This did not end but even today Christ offers healings to all categories of people without reservation. Symbolically we can say that the physical healing extended to the Jews and Gentiles represents Spiritual renewal to all humanity. He grants healings of relationships to people of diverse cultural backgrounds. Christs’ healing comes when people accept, love and reconcile with one another.   

As a matter of fact, after his ascension into heaven his Gospel was unceasingly preached by the early church in their ministries, and taking care of one another. Church must be understood as a worshiping, evangelizing, teaching caring and disciplining community. This care and ministry is vivid in many of the Churches today thus re-living the dominical teaching commenced by Jesus. It is in and through the worshiping community that we bring our cultural differences to end and already foretold in Jesus’ prayer where he prayed to his Father that, “I pray that they may be one as you Father are in me and I in you.”[2] The Catholic Church for example has got a number of helping bodies which work to help the poor and the needy without considering their cultural history. In here they have schools that provides education for all, hospitals that provide treatment for all, Churches in themselves are non-discriminative all come to pray at all times, religious congregations have got rehabilitating centers, elderly homes whose service is extended to all as humans who mirror out Gods image. In doing so the Catholics have exhibited a high sense of empathy where they re-echo the teachings and command of Jesus who commissioned all the Baptized to go and make disciples of all nations. Making disciples is not enough but they are mandated to add value to their way of life through Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit[3] and above all they are instructed to teach them all that Himself taught them. This is none other than the Gospel of love.

The church today is still commissioned with fulfilling the great mission and teaching us to come together in fellowship that involves a community ignited with Loving one another with no discrimination, to develop partnership that actively promotes the Gospel and builds up its faithful and mutual sharing of insights, experiences, worship, needs and material possessions. The Church sees Christ as person who urges us to evangelize, teach and live with this very lens of love. He does not leave us orphans, rather he directs us to live a practical life other than staying in the world of theoretical attitude. To put in practice what we preach. Jesus gives us this gist summarized in two laws that is: To love God and to love others.  

On the other side humans are inclined to competing with one another and most often we have disagreements. At the same time, we cannot forget that we need each other and we are created primarily as social beings that’s why under normal circumstances we exit in communities. Communities helps us to feel a sense of belongingness and accepted. Going a little deep we say that it is in and through these schools of socialization that we share guidance and healing very especially when there is spiritual, relational, financial amidst other needs. The thirst of helping others is a sign of the human dignity. At the same time, humans are easily moved by the misfortunes of others. A fresh example is the time of pandemic that we are all in; people from different parts of the Globe come in as individual, as government organizations, religious groups, families, as religions, either as Muslims, Catholics Hindus, Buddhist among others to solicit resources to help the suffering humanity without imitating or following cultural basis. All these help us to understand that human beings have the potential of rising above all the possible differences in the world having Jesus as the tower since he preached and lived the truth of not accepting discrimination.

Christ consummated his teaching of multiculturalism as pioneer by His death. His death offers reconciliation to all humanity today.[4] He offers reconciliation between Jews and non-Jews, between blacks and whites, between developed and underdeveloped countries. He offers reconciliation between men and women, criminal and victims, young and old, pagans and believers. As humans we have to understand that there is no ethnic, national, cultural or social barriers that Christ cannot break down in the interest of peace.    

                                                                         BY: SEWANYANA JOSEPH

 

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[1] Kibui, Agnes Waja, The Role of the Church in Enhancing Multicultural Education for Postive Social Development in Kenya, The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, AMECEA Gaba Publications- CUEA press, 2014, Pp. 391-392.

[2]Cf Jn 17:21

[3] Cf. Mt 28:19

[4]https://bible.org/seriespage/12-christ-and-cultures-multiculturalism-and-gospel-christ retrieved on 5/12/2020.

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