Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides)- “My dear priests this is our year! Each of us is called to enter the chamber of his heart and rediscover the great honour God has conferred on him for the good of his people. I pray that each of us will be willing to follow the Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, led by unconditioned and unreserved love for God and for his people”. Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi, said this in his homily at Mass celebrated in Holy Family Basilica on 19 June 2009, on the occasion of the opening of the Year of the Priest.
Cardinal Njue said that with this Year Pope Benedict XVI has offered the Church an opportunity to reflect on the role of priests and to pray for their sanctification. “Priests, we know, are men called by God to be ministers of unconditioned service to the people of God”.
The Cardinal assured priests that if they entrust themselves God and to his people they will lack nothing. "The challenges are many, but remember the Master's promise : “I am with you always”. Cardinal Njue asked men and women religious to pray for the renewal and the sanctification of priests during this special Year and to pray for vocations. The Year of the Priesthood is important also for lay faithful, the Cardinal said: “In this year I ask you to consider your priests as a treasure from God. Do everything to protect and safeguard the priesthood”.
Archbishop Boniface Lele of Mombasa, also celebrated a special Mass to open of the Year of the Priesthood in the parish of St. Matthias Mulumba. In his homily the Archbishop reminded the people that priests are persons and they need the prayers and the support of the whole Church community. The Archbishop of Mombasa appealed to priests to reflect deeply on their vocation.
Archbishop Lele concluded recalling that the mission of the priest is carried out within the Church. It is a community mission and must be undertaken in communion with the whole Church; the mission is hierarchical and doctrinal and he recalled the importance of discipline and of doctrinal and theological formation. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 30/6/2009 righe 28 parole 396)
