“Bring laughter back into our homes,” Kenyan Archbishop Urges Women to Restore Joy in Families

The Local Ordinary of Nyeri encouraged the women to ask God, during the spiritual exercise, to increase their love, patience, and courage.

“A mother without love, without courage, without the strength to stand firm and resist evil cannot keep her home or household in order,” he said, emphasizing the need to nurture stable and faith-filled families.

The Kenyan Archbishop urged the members of CWA to resist the temptation to keep anger in their hearts, saying, “Let us ask God to remove every bitterness within us, to increase in us peace and joy, so that when we leave here, it is visible, you smile, your face shines.”

He encouraged the women to let the five-day retreat  transform their lives “so that even here on earth” they may “rejoice, be strengthened, be healed in the Eucharist, and receive renewed strength” to grow their faith and prayer life.

Archbishop Muheria encouraged the women to reject feelings of inadequacy, emphasizing that personal status, wealth, or social influence do not determine a woman’s worth or spiritual impact.

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“You think you have nothing because you compare yourself to other women. Status is not the point, money is not the point, strength is not the point. You have your God, and that is enough,” he stated.

He added, “You the power of prayer, the power of the Rosary, the power of giving good examples. But you must believe in yourself. Do not say, ‘My voice is small, my prayer is small, my home is unknown, I have no status, when I go to the market nobody notices me.’ Take heart, you have Jesus.”

“May our goal not be taken away or overshadowed by worldly distractions, making us forget that our true dwelling is the Lord’s home,” the Archbishop said.

He urged the CWA members to remove obstacles that could prevent them from remaining focused in “this journey of hope as we head toward our heavenly home with God.”

“This is the purpose of a retreat: we bring all our burdens to Jesus Christ and say, ‘transform them; turn them into strength, not fear,” Archbishop Muheria said, citing some  “personal struggles such as anger, lying, jealousy, and a poisonous tongue and vengeance."

He added, “Instead of using your mouth to give love, to build unity, to bring peace, we have become used, especially we CWA women, to divide, stir conflict, provoking and unsettling others.”

The Catholic Church leader, who has been at the helm of the Nyeri Archdiocese since April 2017 encouraged the women to let the retreat be a moment of transformation, saying, “All these troubles we are going through, God will transform them.”

“May our Mother, who is our hope, help you, our mothers,” the Kenyan Catholic Church leader implored in his December 3 homily. 

Nicholas Waigwa is a Kenyan multimedia journalist and broadcast technician with a professional background in creating engaging news stories and broadcasting content across multiple media platforms. He is passionate about the media apostolate and Catholic Church communication.