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“Consider your calling a noble vocation,”: Kenyan Catholic Bishop to Medical Students

Bishop Paul Kariuki Njiru during the 1st Graduation ceremony of St. Francis School of Nursing in Kenya’s Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi. Credit: Capuchin TV

The Bishop of Kenya’s Embu Diocese has, during a graduation ceremony, urged medical graduands to embrace their calling as a noble vocation and not a career telling them that they will be answerable to God at the end of their mission.

In his homily during the 1st Graduation ceremony of St. Francis School of Nursing in Kenya’s Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, Bishop Paul Kariuki Njiru urged the graduands to only seek ultimate honor from God as soon as they venture into their medical mission.

“Dear graduands, consider your calling as a noble vocation. This is not a career, this is a vocation, a calling from God. God is giving you this mission, this noble task to serve Him,” Bishop Kariuki who chairs the Commission for Education and Religious Education (CERE) of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) said during the Friday, August 18 event.

The Bishop who was recently appointed to pioneer the new Diocese of Wote added, “Do not consider your vocation as just a mere career,  it is a service to humanity which equates to  serving God.”

He urged the graduands including Catholic Nuns at the institution run by the Little Sisters of St. Francis (LSOSF) to be faithful to their service in whatever health facility they will be posted to and to always keep in mind that they are answerable to God.

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Bishop Kariuki assured the graduands of eternal life with their master Jesus Christ only if they strive not only to complete their mission but to also do it well.

“The day in heaven will be the most wonderful day of graduation characterized by eternal happiness, eternal rest, and joy only when we have done our work well and completed our mission,” the Kenyan Bishop said.

He told the graduands to equip themselves with a heart of love and to shun any form of discrimination as they will encounter people with different characters in their mission.

“Do not demonstrate your anger and hatred to anyone,” the Bishop who had been at the helm of Kenya’s Embu Diocese since his Episcopal Ordination in July 2009 said, and added, “Those that serve Christ will be honored.”

In his August 18 homily at the school that was started in 1997 as a program to cater to refugees coming into Kenya from the Great Lakes Region, the Bishop urged the graduands to endeavor for heavenly honors.

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“Many honors have been passed across including academic and athletic honors, there is nothing wrong with honors, they should be distributed diligently to those who rightly deserve them, but know that the ultimate honor comes from God,” Bishop Kariuki said.

He told the graduands to also emulate the founder of LSOSF, the late Mother Mary Kevin Kearney who dedicated her life to serving the poor.

“The school has a bearing because of her good work, a woman of faith and love who wanted to empower young people in the line of service to God,” the Bishop said, adding, “We thank God that this first graduation comes at a time when the cause of beatification of mother Kevin is in progress.”

Bishop Kariuki told the 1st graduands of the Catholic college to be “ambassadors of Christ from wherever you will be, and in your work even pray that through the intercession of this servant of God, Christ may continue to heal and touch the lives of many.”

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.