They will see the Son of Man coming (Lk 21:27)
1st of Sunday of Advent – Year C
One of the advent hymns that I like most is:
We long to see thee so!
To see Thee newly-born.
We long for Christmas morn.
The sands of time run slow.
I like this hymn because it arouses in me the nostalgia for homecoming, or actually going back home. As a young boy studying in boarding school this song reminded me of the joyful time of going back home for Christmas. I remember how the sands of time ran so slow, especially just before Christmas. In the past years, especially as a priest being busy during Christmas, and as I unwrap the celebration of Christmas of its nostalgic feelings I have also begun to appreciate its spiritual depth. I am not in anyway playing down the importance of […]
Month: November 2021
University Preparedness for Online Teaching and Learning amid COVID-19 in Kenya
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University Preparedness for Online Teaching and Learning amid COVID-19 in Kenya
Stanislaus Agava, Sahaya G. Selvam, Judith Pete
New Student Literacies amid COVID-19: International Case Studies
ISBN: 978-1-80071-467-0, eISBN: 978-1-80071-466-3
ISSN: 2055-3641
Publication date: 7 December 2021 
Abstract
Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic took institutions of learning and the workplaces by surprise. Offering online learning was an alternative for institutions of higher learning. Were the Kenyan institutions adequately prepared for this? The present study had three specific objectives: (a) to establish the status of policy preparedness of online teaching and learning in Kenyan universities; (b) to explore the infrastructural preparedness of the universities; and (c) to find out the level of competency preparedness of lecturers and students in embracing the facilities for online teaching and learning. The study had an embedded mixed method research design. Data were gathered using an online questionnaire, from […]
Sermon for the Feast of Christ the King – Homily
34th Sunday of the year
Jesus, the king of our hearts
For another sermon on the same theme: CLICK HERE
This is one of the feasts that I find difficult to understand. So I did some reading about the history of this feast, I was utterly shocked to note that this feast was introduced only in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. Interestingly, as the Pope points out in an encyclical (letter of the pope) that accompanied the event, the introduction of the feast was a warning against the totalitarian governments of the 20th century. It was a statement against the situation of Europe between the two World Wars.
In this light, I got a new impetus to prepare this sermon. As we know, though ‘kings and queens’ are mostly becoming titles of the past, or […]
Sermon for 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B Homily: The End!
The Last Days of Hope
33rd Sunday – Year B (Mk 13:24-32)
Everything comes to an end
We are moving towards the end of the liturgical year. Next Sunday will be the feast of Christ the King. And the following Sunday will be the first Sunday in Advent – the new year in the liturgical calendar. The Liturgy of the Word today takes advantage of this time of the year to remind us of a difficult theme, namely, the end of times!
The theme of ‘the end of times’ or ‘the end of the world’ is indeed a difficult one. So are the readings of today. Similar passages from the Gospels, together with the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelations, are the most misinterpreted texts in the Bible. I personally found the preparation of this reflection quite difficult. For sure, these texts […]
Sermon for 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B Homily: The Widow!
She put in everything she possessed
Mark 12:38-44
As a young priest, soon after my ordination, I served in a rural parish in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, for almost three years. Those days, every Friday afternoon, accompanied by a woman-catechist, I would go to the district hospital ministering there, and then also visit the people who are elderly and sick in their homes. On one of those Friday-visits to the hospital I met an elderly lady, who was very seriously ill. She was baptized the previous Easter and had been in our RCIA (catechumenate) group. As I was anointing her, somehow inside me there was a feeling that she is going to be alright. So after the prayers I told the lady, who could hardly open her eyes, that she was going to be fine. Sure enough, she got well. […]