Father Gabriel Kwedho: A Missionary of Consolation and Freshly Inked Author

Father Gabriel Kwedho and Kati Dijane with Fr Kwedho’s new book “In Your Arms Lord, Devotional Night Prayer Book“
By Kati Dijane – Father Gabriel Kwedho (IMC), a missionary priest who belongs to the religious order of the Consolata Missionaries, has two things to celebrate this month: the canonisation of Blessed Joseph Allamano, the founder of his order, on 20 October 2024 by Pope Francis, and the release of his debut book, In Your Arms Lord, Devotional Night Prayer Book. The book, published by Pauline’s, is a devotional night prayer book, which is a collection of brief reflections inspired by real-life experiences.
On 6 October 2024, after celebrating Mass at St Matthews Catholic Church in Tembisa, in the Archdiocese of Pretoria, Father Kwedho shared in an interview about what attracted him to the priesthood in Kenya, where he grew up.
“Being born into a Catholic family, I was initially attracted to altar serving because we had a Dutch priest who had this nice motorbike on which he transported altar servers. I just wanted to sit on that motorbike. That’s how I got to the altar.”
Moving forward, his intentions were ‘purified’; he developed an interest in the priesthood and joined the Consolata Missionaries. The religious order is jubilant, as its founder, Blessed Joseph Allamano, will be among the 14 who will be canonised, including Blessed Elena Guerra, Marie-Léonie Paradis and the 11 “Martyrs of Damascus”. Father Kwedho added: “The canonisation of Blessed Joseph Allamano is a big milestone for us. By the way, we are not just priests. We have Consolata sisters and brothers, as well as lay people. Together with the priests, we are a big family. So, it’s a big celebration for us, as our founder becomes one of those intercessors that can pray for us.”
His journey to becoming an author began when Covid-19 paid the world an unwelcome visit, causing havoc and death and the subsequent lockdown in 2020.
With the help and motivation from his friends, Father Kwedho, who served in the parishes of Daveyton in the Far East Rand Deanery in the Archdiocese of Johannesburg, as well as St Martin De Porres in Pietermaritzburg, in the Archdiocese of Durban, decided to use one of the digital platforms to evangelise to as many people as possible during the Covid-19-induced lockdown: YouTube. “The idea of starting a YouTube channel was to keep in touch with the Christians at the parish of St Martin De Porres, where I served, with a prayer and blessing.”
The channel then grew beyond the Durban archdiocese to over 1300 subscribers who ended their day with daily reflections with Father Kwedho for over two years. From this came the newly published book that he hopes will be in the homes of as many Catholics as possible. “In Your Arms Lord, Devotional Night Prayer Book” retails at R300 at Pauline’s Catholic bookstore. If you are in the Archdiocese of Pretoria, you can buy the book at St Matthew’s Catholic Church in Tembisa, or follow https://www.facebook.com/fareastrandcatholicnews for more information.
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