Browsing by Author "Marete, Muthoni Agnes"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Cottolengo Charism and Its Application To The Kenyan Society Today
    (Tangaza University College, 2002-03) Marete, Muthoni Agnes
    Our essay is an attempt to discover and deepen the charism of Joseph Cottolengo in order to share it more fruitfully with others in the apostolate. My decision to study this charism more deeply grew out of the many questions I was asked about Joseph C'ettolengo, his work, and about the Religious communities of the Cottolengo family. Many Christians, especially young people, asked: Is Cottolengo a place or a person? Ilow come you live together as Cottolengo communities? What is your charism and who is Cottolengo. To answer all these questions. I felt the need to study, deepen more and write something about our charism, taking into account its implementation in the Kenyan context. This work therefore is a research into the Cottolengo charism. In an attempt to show how it helps to alleviate the new poverties in Kenyan society today, both historical and descriptive methods will be applied. The essay is divided into four chapters. The first chapter presents the history of the Cottolengo charism. We shall briefly describe the life of Joseph Cottolengo and what prompted him to start the Little I louse of Divine Providence. In the process we will show the uniqueness of the religious families he founded. The second chapter introduces the charism of Joseph Cottolengo. We shall sec that the Cottolengo charism is a gift given to him for the good of all and put in the service of the poor. In this chapter we will examine the biblical foundation of the Cottolengo charism and explore all its constitutive elements. In the third chapter we will try to analyze the fundamental characteristic of the Cottolengo charism, namely. "burning charity." This chapter gives us the picture of the poor that J. Cottolengo had in mind when he started the Little I louse as well as the joys and the challenges of serving them. Chapter four focuses on the application of the Cottolengo charism, that is, on how it responds to the needs of the poor in today's Kenya. Therefore, this final chapter will examine the services in which the followers of Joseph Cottolengo are invokied as a result of their reading of the signs of the time in this particular social context.