AFRICA/KENYA - "In Kenya, evil is celebrated and good condemned. May Lent help us to heal"

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - "Today, evil is celebrated and good condemned, says His Exc. Mgr. Anthony Muheria, Archbishop of Nyeri, in his homily at our Lady Consolata Cathedral Grounds in Nyeri during the launch of the National 2019 Lenten Campaign.
"The evil doers are praised and the rightful are condemned. Today we witness the glorification of evil. We the Christians, we the citizens, reward those who do evil and laugh at those who stand by good and call them foolish and stupid of the world", denounces the Archbishop.
The Archbishop decried the growing culture of gambling and corruption that has engulfed the country, saying these vices risk destroying the moral fabric of Kenya. "How much longer is our nation going to be constantly labelled as a nation of gamblers?" posed Archbishop Muheria.
"Our families have been broken because parents spend their money in gambling and other luxurious ways. In this country, in all our towns, most advertisements that we have are about gambling. It looks like our children know only one thing – gamble and you will succeed. How I wish gambling were taxed double, triple, five times, ten times – because that is not the way of winning. That is not the way of success. Success is sweat, it is work, it is skills, it is reward".
According to Mgr. Muheria called on Kenyans to shun greed, which he said is the root cause of all the corruption being witnessed in the country: "We must not be enslaved by the greed for money and wealth, but this is a virus that captivates our heart and makes it paralysed to live up for God with His laws and to show we are truly lovers of good. During this Lenten period, we should reflect on the flaws of greed that have made Kenya the nation of gamblers, the nation of thieves and the nation of corruption".
"Let us pray that this moment of grace does not pass empty – that this word of God does not return to Him empty without fulfilling what it was sent to do – cure us, challenge us and move us to conversion and action", he concluded. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 6/3/2019)