By Rose Achiego
KCCB Social Communications
The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) through its Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) is dedicating the 2020 Season of Lent which will begin with Ash Wednesday on February 26 to the anti-corruption campaign which they launched on October 5 2019 at Subukia in Nakuru.
In a preface to 2020 Lenten Campaign tool, the Chairman of KCCB’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission Rt. Rev. John Oballa Owaa said this year’s Lenten Campaign whose theme is Stewardship for a Transformed Nation – My Obligation should address how the Church as an institution and all its members can continue the fight against corruption.
Bishop Oballa, who is also the Ordinary of Ngong Diocese argues that stewardship could spur Kenya to greater heights. “In stewardship, we believe that everything God created is good. Man was created in the image and likeness of God and was commanded to govern creation rationally to bring forth fruit from the earth,” he said.
“The baptized have this responsibility to share in the kingly, prophetic and priestly life of Christ. In other words, our stewardship must imitate that of Christ. Everything we have belongs to God. We are simply managers and administrators acting on His behalf,”
reads Bishop Oballa’s preface which emphasizes that during the 2020 Lenten Season all the faithful in Kenya need to decisively confront corruption which has bedevilled their country and examine how they have committed themselves to stewardship of “one’s self and to God’s service.”
The 2020 KCCB Lenten campaign too follows the See (listening to a story from life situation) - Judge (reflection on a Bible passage) and Act (practical consideration of the role one can can play in society) Approach. Drawing from Psalm 8 which highlights the dignity of a human being as compared to all the other creatures, the 2020 KCCB Lenten Campaign message invites the faithful to make the Season a week spiritual journey by reflecting on five pertinent topics which include:
· Responsible farming and how to preserve our ‘common home’ the earth;
· Youth and development and how to empower the young people;
· Natural resource management and how to avoid further exploitation of natural resources;
· Leadership and accountability so as to appreciate servant leadership as the Christian style and approach;
· Respect of the sanctity of life and on how to appeal to conscience in order to act ethically in a social context characterized by a culture of death.
“Ultimately, good stewardship will take place in the family. The family is the cradle of human civilization and the domestic Church. We must oppose those institutions and persons seeking to destroy the family. As God’s stewards, we should be guided by the Church’s teaching,” concludes Rt. Rev. Oballa in the preface.
The KCCB 2020 Lenten Campaign tool is already available on KCCB’s website both in English and Swahili languages.