KENYA
Intense preparation for the Year of the Holy Spirit

Kenya's preparation for the second year of meditation and reflection in expectation of the Holy Year began with the translation into English of the official aid prepared by the Central Committee for the Great Jubilee. As stated in the aid, «one of the primary objectives of the preparation for the jubilee event is represented by a new way of offering oneself to the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit, which shows its action through the sacraments».

The current teaching of the Church is aimed at greater sensitisation towards everything that the Spirit communicates to the Church and to individuals through the various charisms. The fundamental precondition is emphasising all that the Spirit is responsible for within the different communities; from the smallest which can be the family, to the largest represented by the nations and international organisations. A fundamental moment in the reflection on the Spirit is represented by its role of mediation on the Mystery of Trinity.

The true essence of God is being communion. The God which manifests itself through Jesus Christ is a personal God to every effect communion with Three Persons. This God, who is the only and true God, is essentially and totally different from the God of every other religion. But it isn't easy to speak of the Holy Spirit. Indeed while the words «Father» and «Son» provide a real image of God, the term «Spirit» is compared, especially in biblical language, to a «vital breath», to the «wind».

The aim of the aid is to help all the faithful of the Church in Kenya to find through meditation and prayer the true meaning of the presence of the Spirit in daily life. The prayer for the gift of the Spirit is so important for all Christians that many Fathers of the Charge utilised a different formula of the Our Father where instead of «Thy Kingdom come» they preferred to pray «Let your Spirit come down and purify us». Therefore, the Jubilee represents an important occasion to give the right significance to the presence and work of the Spirit which manifests itself mainly through the sacraments of the Baptism and Confirmation.