Tithe Blessing: We thank God for our jobs and businesses and invite those who have prepared their tithe or made direct payments to the bank or church paybill to come forward for prayers and blessing. As we offer our work and business to God, pronounce a prayer over your offering.
Registration for New Catechumens: Registration for new catechumens class for Baptism and First Holy Communion begins today. Parents with children in grade 4 are to register in the Catechist’s Office.
Readmission to Sacrament: Adults who used to receive Holy Communion and stopped, and are not under any Canonical impediment, are to see the Parish Priest to begin the process of readmission to the Sacrament.
Welfare Acacia Fund: All members of the welfare Acacia fund are required to bring the membership books to Noonkopir parish office on or before March 20th, 2024, for reconciliation. Your cooperation will be highly appreciated.
Kitengela Community Run: The Parish Priest, the Parish council, and parishioners of St. Monica Catholic Church invite you to the inaugural Kitengela Community Run on April 27th, 2027. The theme is “Towards a healthy, peaceful, and cohesive society.” Proceeds will go towards projects paving the way to pay up the loan for the land. Registration fee: KSHS 1,000 for adults and KSHS 500 for children. Mpesa Paybill number: 400222, Account number: 472040#Run. May God bless you as you partake in this noble cause. We invite a CJPD representative to make remarks on the Week 4 topic of the 2024 Lenten campaign.
Lenten Retreat: There will be a Lenten retreat in our parish from Monday, March 18th, to Friday, March 22nd, 2024, to prepare us for Easter celebrations. The program layout for the retreat is as follows:
Consultation: 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Adoration & Confession: 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Mass & Spiritual Talk: 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Healing Mass: Friday, March 22nd, 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm. There will be no morning Mass during the week.
Registration for New Catechumens: Registration for new catechumens class for Baptism and First Holy Communion begins today. Parents with children in grade 4 are to register in the Parish Office.
YCW Formation and Training: Young Catholic Workers (YCW) formation and training will officially start on April 7th, 2024, as earlier communicated. Parishioners who are eligible members and would like to go through sessions are encouraged to register at the Parish office.
Youth Hike to Kilimambogo: The youth will have a hike to Kilimambogo on April 27th. Charges are 2,000/= to cater for transport and lunch. All parents are requested to register their youths.
Opus Dei Recollection: The Opus Dei Recollection comes up next Saturday. The ladies’ Recollection begins at 9:00 am while the men’s Recollection starts at 2:00 pm. There will be confession from 8:00 am. We invite a CJPD representative to make some remarks on Week 5 topic of the 2024 Lenten campaign.
Lent is a time when we pause to reflect, pray, fast, repent and be charitable. Our merciful God is always present to show us his everlasting love through reconciliation with self, with others and with creation. As the Catholic Church, this is a special time which also reminds us that we are mortal beings.
This Lenten season occurs at a historical moment when the Universal Church is focused on strengthening itself as a Synodal Church. The spirit of Synodality is one in which we journey together as one community, actively participating in the life and mission of our call to be witnesses of the risen Christ. The Synodality journey is one in which we are privileged to be missionaries who bring the Good News of the Lord to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). We are, therefore, invited to continue praying for this process of Synodality to be a moment of conversion towards making our Church Christ-centred in what we do and in whom we are as children of God. The Lenten reflections this year touch the core of our Christian faith: care for the poor. The Church in her teaching, practice and prayers places the poor at the heart of her mission.
This year’s theme, Integrity for a Just Nation, focuses on using our integrity to build a culture of justice in Kenya. A just nation is only possible if the citizens are people of integrity. The invitation, therefore, is to reflect on our journey of faith as the baptised people of God who should live with integrity to build a just nation. This Lenten season places responsibility at our doorstep: conducting ourselves with integrity. As moral beings, we have to go forth and fight for justice for the poor.
There are many causes which as Christians we are called to fight for. However, Mother Church says there is only one choice to make over the poor; the preferential option for the poor. Who are the poor we must attend to? In the Old Testament, widows and orphans are often mentioned as vulnerable members of society. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pronounces: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” He illustrates the consequences of neglecting the poor in the parable about a rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus. Numerous passages in the prophetic books condemn the oppression of the poor and call for justice. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus
The Divine Mercy Elimu Fund of Sts. John and Sylvia Parish was launched in 2023 after developing and approving a policy and implementation framework. With the program’s opening for the 2023-2024 academic year, a total of 76 applications were received from all the outstations in the parish. Following an elaborate, thorough and transparent vetting process, a total of Kshs. 193,000 was recommended for award to 32 (21 male and 11 female) needy learners and students representing 25 secondary schools, 3 junior schools, 3 primary schools, and 1 college, respectively.
All beneficiaries have subsequently collected their cheques drawn in their respective institutions’ names. Evidently, there were many needy and deserving cases in the parish. However, the number of beneficiaries and amount disbursed this year was greatly delimited by the bursary amount originally available from the 2023 Lenten campaign (Kshs. 146,000).
Against the above background, the Education Committee wishes to thank the Parish Priest, Father Ben, for first agreeing to top up the bursary amount. This ensured that many more needy cases, especially incoming form one student, were also supported. Secondly, we also convey gratitude to Fr. Ben for the speedy writing of the cheques that ensured that all the beneficiaries returned to school with their respective cheques.
We also wish to recognize and thank St. Claire SCC for contributing Kshs. 10,000 towards supporting the education kitty. Indeed, this amount greatly helped a late form four applicant and one of the victims of the demolitions at Kimalat outstation to continue with his studies at Machakos School. We wish to urge, as well as challenge, all other jumuiyas to emulate this laudable gesture as they craft their 2024 strategic plans.
Clearly, the immediate challenge is in the need to raise more resources to ensure that all needy learners and students within the parish are helped. It is also our plan to provide long-term scholarships to a few needy and bright students in the parish to realise greater impact of the education support program. Finally, the Education Committee is working with the PPC to develop a strategy to raise funds to boost the education kitty. We pray and hope that we can count on the support of all parishioners in this noble endeavor even as we thank them most sincerely for their benevolence and kind assistance in the past.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I am delighted to welcome you to the ecumenical celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2024. Each year the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity jointly assign a particular country to prepare material for WOPCU.
The materials for the 2024 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were prepared by an ecumenical team from Burkina Faso facilitated by the local Chemin Neuf Community (CCN). The theme chosen is “You shall love the Lord your God… and your neighbour as yourself” (Lk 10:27). Brothers and sisters from the Catholic Archdiocese of Ouagadougou, Protestant Churches, ecumenical bodies and the CCN in Burkina Faso collaborated generously in drafting the prayers and reflections and experienced their work together as a real path of ecumenical conversion. Our Ecumenical Prayer: “All Lord Jesus Christ, you call us together in faith and love.
Breathe again the new life of your Holy Spirit among us that we may hear your holy word, pray in your name, seek unity among Christians (and harmony with all men and women) and live more fully the faith we profess” The Theme, and our Ecumenical prayer, is a clarion call to all of us as Christians to continuously practice the Christian ethos, that’s character, credibility, moral values in all circumstances. May the spirit of the Lord guide us throughout the year to us into oneness.
It is my sincere hope that this booklet will encourage you to live and practice your Christianity and become the voice of reason, be the voice for the voiceless and all with humility. Even though today is a one-day event, the theme shall remain as our Christian compass through 2024. Thank you for being part of our Ecumenical movement participant today and wish you God’s blessing through the Year as you too experience God’s endless LOVE. With God’s richest blessings
