Washing the feet of Judas

If there is a character that has fascinated all generations in the Bible, it is Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ. He stands out as educated, thrifty and well known personality in Judea.

The Master must have wished to count on his qualities for the mission he was to undertake, and so he assigned him the important responsibility of being the steward of the funds of the new "Jesus evangelisation outfit", as chief treasurer.

Despite Judas' ugly story there are still a few sympathisers for this traitor. Yet, his character is similar to that of many Kenyans today; believers and non-believers alike are caught up in this trap of dishonesty. For a few coins, we are ready to betray not only what we believe in, but even our very own children. And still Christ washed Judas' feet!

When we speak of corruption, we are all quick to point fingers at the high and mighty who, we believe, have the monopoly of corruption. We lash out at their extravagance and ill-gotten wealth, and with one sweeping statement, appease ourselves by saying all the rich are corrupt, implying perhaps that corruption is a vice of the rich; a disease we ourselves, the common-folk, do not suffer.

But no! The "Judas syndrome" is with us! Corruption is more than just public theft. The huge scandals are merely ugly symptoms of a deeper illness affecting all of us like the pimples of chickenpox. Corruption is principally the rot of the heart, the loss of senses for what is right.

We can liken it to the weird illness that causes cannibalism in animals making them to eat their own offspring or suddenly descend on the eggs they laid, or worse, start feeding on their own bodies.

That "Judas moment" where we find a "good excuse" for acting unjustly, for seeking personal gain at the expense of another life, for visiting those in power to broker a deal that has only selfish ends, for breaking the law, for tinkering with scales...has unfortunately become a "Kenyan moment".

We all are enchained in a mesh of strands, that we seem forced into submission to this "Judas-ism" that is corruption: The art of betrayal.

When all the Catholic bishops walked and knelt barefoot on the National Prayer Day in Subukia, you could have heard a pin drop. With this prophetic gesture, the bishops sought pardon from God for our waywardness, and pleaded for divine intervention; they asked for God's mercy for our accommodation and association with corrupt actions; they asked for the courage needed by Kenyans to stand and give witness against it, like the early Christian martyrs.

And so kneeling, we asked God for renewed graces and energy to take up this battle to our doorstep as believers and Christians. Like in Judas' time, many disciples fled in fear. The power of the "Corruption Matrix" seemed too powerful, which is the case with so many Kenyans. But this is now the moment of new courage.

Indeed, there is a time for everything. Again going biblical, David was as clueless as many of us Kenyans, but he had plan: Not another, but I will go against this giant, with skill, courage and God! It is our turn to slay this monster, not with words, but with skill and with God.

The Catholic bishops invite us to heal and recover our conscience. When your "false sense" views another as an "object", we become beastly towards him. But when if our conscience recognises him as a human person, like your own mother, we treat them differently.

A corrupt conscience is a path to death, to inhumanity as Pope Francis reminded us in Kasarani.

This is a wake-up knell for all Kenyans: That the death you see on the road was caused by you, by us, when we endorse with our actions the senseless lawlessness on our roads; you broke the law once by bribing your way out after speeding, by overlapping.

You have a stake in that death of a poor mother in a rural clinic with an incompetent nurse in attendance because you bribed to have your child go to university, or even facilitated cheating in her exam. Did you not accept the 50 bob or Sh100 during the last election? That is the price of a life that you now must hurry to bury!

This campaign of the Catholic bishops isn't merely an outcry for the big scandals, it is about the scandal of conscience of believers that have become numb. Can we recover our strength and sense?

Our strength is in the heart and conscience. If we starve this monster, we will slay him. And the bishops already led the way: Repentance, conversion and action. Yes, "we are not limited". Commit yourself: I stand against corruption. Let us break the chains of corruption. We need our feet washed!

Mr Muheria is the Archbishop of Nyeri Diocese