Visitation and Other Accounts
By Ronald Owiyo, SJ
The day was graced by a beam of warm sunrays when Fr Provincial visited on 5th Sep 2024, an indicator that his visitation would be successful. He was welcomed well by his men and the entire Hekima Community.
On Sun 8th, he celebrated holy Mass for the Community where in his homily he stressed the Ignatian theme of “Cura Personalis.” He underscored that the readings of the day (23rd Sunday in OT, year B) zoomed this concept. He emphasized that formation and life of Jesuits entail the care for the men and women who they serve for the greater glory of God. Indeed, this characterizes the Jesuit charism. The Rector of the Community (Fr Emmanuel Foro, SJ) in his thanksgiving speech hailed the Provincial for his good work and his relationship with the Community.
His visitation involved series of meetings with his men individually, scholastics from Asia and the formators. There was holy Mass then memoralia, on Monday 9th evening, for AOR members. His homily was anchored to the question of when we did see you a stranger and welcome you, or bare and garb you (Mt 25:31-46) to which he highlighted the call for being sensitive and awake (like St. Peter Claver) to see the needs of other people, inviting the attitude of prayer, discernment and doing examen for alertness and action. The day was wrapped up by a pleasant party (for AOR/SRI/KER members) where we also celebrated the birthday of our brother, Fr Opongo, SJ.
It was a joyful and reviving moment to have him among us. Thank you Fr Provincial and always welcome!
On the other side, constructions to make some rooms self-contained are ongoing in the community and on the post-graduate compound to uplift the face of the college. It is hoped that these will get completed in the few coming days. Meanwhile, business as usual continue sprouting at Hekima where men and women continuously visit lecture halls and libraries in quest of wisdom: to understand faith, peace and global relations. Currently, most classes are in the undergraduate campus.
Finally, the college held a welcoming football match between the continuing and new students. The teams displayed plenteous skills in tackling, ball control, dribbling, shooting, passing accuracy and receiving which made the match tight. The pulse of the spectators and contenders quivered as cheering and playing continued. Good enough, the newcomers due to their agility and pace won by a 5-3 score. This made them break the annual cycle of losing always by the freshmen. Currently, community inter-house matches are going on. Soon we will have and know the champions.
