Lent: becoming God’s children

By Bp José Luis IMC

 Livi laba yinyama!

We start today our Lenten Journey towards Easter. This is a time of grace, of God’s grace. For the next 40 days we will keep our eyes fixed on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Among other things, Easter is for us that special day when – together with the whole Church all over the world – we will renew our baptismal promises. Not that they expire! Baptism promises do not come with the type of indication we find in the food: sell by, best before, expires on… We renew them out of love, like couples renew theirs. We once again want to make it clear who it is we choose: Jesus or Satan.

Our baptismal promises remind us of our being “children of God”. John in his first letter says: “You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God’s children – which is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). Indeed we are God’s children.

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We dare to dream of a peaceful Southern Africa

Memorial lecture: Fr Dumisani Vilakati’s address 

On Saturday 22 May 2021
our diocese held the third “Bishop Zwane Memorial Lecture”
under the topic

We dare to dream of a peaceful Southern Africa:
Reflections on Pope Francis’ Fratelli Tutti

Below is Fr D. Vilakati’s address

Memory does not mean a matter that has come and gone. On the contrary, memory, following the best of the Jewish and our liturgical traditions, means presence. Therefore, the memory of Bishop Mandlenkhosi Zwane is an act of making him present and participating in the life of the Church in the here and now. He is inviting us to continue engaging in a culture of encounter so as to foster peace and harmony in the Southern African Region.

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Reflection on Palm Sunday – Year B

By: Fr Christopher Maseko

Palm Sunday Homily (Year B) 28 March 2021 - YouTubeClick here for Sunday’s readings

The Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion marks the start and the holiest time of the liturgical year of the Catholic Church; the Holy Week. Today’s liturgy combines two contrasting moments, one of glory, the other of suffering – the welcome of Jesus and His entry into Jerusalem through the Last Supper to his crucifixion, death, and resurrection.

We are told that Christ came into this world to announce the Good News. What was the good news he came to announce? It was the proclamation of the kingdom. You have often heard the expressions ‘Kingdom of God’ and ‘Kingdom of Heaven.’ The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven mean one and the same thing. If someone we to ask you as to what it was that you understood by the expression ‘Kingdom of God’ I wonder what you would have to say. The Kingdom of God is not a territory like the kingdom of Eswatini. The Kingdom of God means the reign of God in our lives. It is the central petition of the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ – Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. In fact, God’s Kingdom comes when His will is done in our lives. To belong to the Kingdom one must make a clear-cut decision. “no one,” said Jesus, “ who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.” There must be total commitment.

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Reflection on the Fifth Sunday of Lent – Year B

By: Fr Christopher Maseko

HOMILY FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B (4) - Catholic For LifeClick here for Sunday’s reading

Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord; and where I am, there also will my servant be. The message we hear in today’s Gospel, this Sunday, will again help us to prepare ourselves for Easter. It will help us to understand more clearly what Christ did for us at Easter.

In the Gospel we hear of some Greeks who wanted to see Jesus. This was extraordinary. Greeks were not of the race as the Jews; they were regarded as strangers and heathens. Surprisingly, Jesus rejoiced that they wanted to see him. In his spirit, he saw himself dying on the cross, all races and nations assembled around the cross. Therefore he said: when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself. Jesus wanted to die for all races and nations and bind them to himself with bonds of love. For he once mentioned that there is no grater love than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

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Reflection on the Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B

By: Fr Christopher Maseko

HOMILY/REFLECTION FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B (1) - Catholic For  LifeClick here for Sunday’s reflection

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” In the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan, God declared that he was well pleased with him because he intended to use him to play a significant role in winning back the whole of humanity that had strayed away from him. This aspect of being well pleased with his son demonstrates the undying love God has for those who would be followers of Jesus. The same is true of our parents when we are brought in this world, they are, of course, well pleased more so, if we are obedient to them. Our obedience will, inevitably have a positive impact on our parents and family at large. Many would even wish to have been members of this family.

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Reflection on the Third Sunday of Lent – Year B

By: Fr Christopher Maseko 

HOMILY/REFLECTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B (2) - Catholic For  LifeClick here for Sunday’s readings

Today’s Gospel presents the episode in which Jesus drove out the merchants from the temple of Jerusalem. He did this gesture by helping himself with a whip of cords and flipped the tables, saying” You shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” This decisive action carried out close to Passover, made a great impression on the crowd and aroused the hostility of the religious authorities. This action of Jesus was wholly different than His loving, gentle and kind previous actions. Perhaps, this has been our big question over the years. The temple has been the centre of spiritual power. The same time that believers are building temples to worship God, devil is trying to occupy them by religious people. The house of God is a house of prayer for all peoples. Unfortunately, the house of God had been changed into a den of thieves, and it was no longer a house of prayer.

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Reflection on the Second Sunday of Lent – Year B

By: Fr. Peterson Mwangi IMC

It is good to be there, cf. 1Cor 2:9; Is 64:3: Second Sunday of Lent (B)  (25th February, 2018). | The Pulpit OnlineClick here for Sunday’s readings

THEME: FAITH IN GOD

The three disciples were lucky to have been given an opportunity to accompany Jesus up the mountain and experience the glory of God but instead of learning in silence and being attentive to what Jesus wanted them to see/ hear, the whole transfiguration experience led Peter to speak and suggested the building of 3 booths where they would all reside. At that moment, a voice was heard from heaven saying, “This is my beloved son; listen to Him.” In this second Sunday of lent we are called to work on our listening skills; listening to the Son God and following His instructions without being distracted by what we have or the situations that we find ourselves in whether good or bad. We are lucky today to have been given Abraham in our first reading as an example of a faithful servant of God who not only listened but also followed the instructions given by God to the latter. He never tried to reason/argue with God, neither did he count the losses that he would incur after sacrificing his only begotten son but with faith, trust and understanding in God who provides, accepted to offer his son as a burnt sacrifice to God. This gesture pleased God who in turn promised Abraham countless blessings and spared the life of his son by providing a ram for sacrifice.

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Reflection on the First Sunday of Lent – Year B

by Fr. Peterson Mwangi IMC

Image result for first sunday of lent 2021Click here for Sunday’s readings

THEME: NEW LIFE IN CHRIST

In our daily conversations, we find ourselves talking about different spirits that reside in our bodies and in our dwellings. These spirits can either be benevolent like the spirit of truth, spirit of self giving, spirit of generosity, spirit of love and others or we can have malevolent spirits in us like the spirit of hate, spirit of laziness, spirit of stealing, spirit of stinginess, spirit of witchcraft and others. I may not know all the Spirits that resides in you or the other but as Christians we are sure of the Holy Spirit that we received in our baptism. This Spirit makes us children of God through the forgiveness of sins, directs our thoughts and actions as the faithful; He should always reside in our hearts in order to teach, guide, protect and accompany us in our daily Christian life and especially this period of lent.

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