The “Extraordinary Missionary Year” team has prepared a video reminding us of our commitment to pray for vocations particularly during this month of November.
Hope you find very familiar faces. Enjoy!
(Please note that it is a 24 Mb video.)
Posts by Diocese of Manzini
EMY – November saint: St Therese
by “Extraordinary Missionary Year” Team
BAPTISED AND SENT
Topic for November: Vocations
Saint to contemplate: St. Therese of the Child Jesus (1873-1897)
At 15, she entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux to give her whole life to God. Living a hidden, simple life of prayer, she was gifted with great intimacy with God. Through sickness and dark nights of doubt and fear, she remained faithful to God, rooted in His merciful love. Her last words were the story of her life: “My God, I love You!”
She described her life as a “little way of spiritual childhood.” She lived each day with an unshakable confidence in God’s love. “What matters in life,” she wrote, “is not great deeds, but great love.” Therese lived and taught a spirituality of attending to everyone and everything well and with love. She believed that just as a child becomes enamoured with what is before her, we should also have a childlike focus and totally attentive love. Therese’s spirituality is of doing the ordinary, with extraordinary love. Continue reading “EMY – November saint: St Therese”
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
by Fr Pius Magagula
Click HERE for Sunday’s readings
A preacher, trying to draw the attention of listeners would always make them take sides. His story would always contain a protagonist and a victim.
A protagonist – an initiator, someone that takes part in a scenario (my translation of the English word). In relation of the story, one would obviously be made, drawn to choose sides.
Coming down to the story, parable of Jesus; we are automatically drawn to condemn the Pharisee.
“This will be a perpetual law for you. On the tenth day of the seventh month you will fast and refrain from work, both citizen and resident alien; for this is the day on which the rite of exploitation will be performed for you to purify you, to purify you before Yahweh from all your sins.” (Leviticus 16:29-30)
Continue reading “30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C”
A feast with a difference
by Bishop José Luis IMC
Sunday was the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. In our diocese it is an important feast as two parishes are called: “Mater Dolorosa” (Mbabane) and “Our Lady of Sorrows” (Hluthi). It is also an important feast for our “founding fathers” the Servants of Mary and the Sisters of the Servite family: Mantellate and Swazi Servite Sisters. The invitation came from St Joseph’s parish outside Manzini. They wanted to celebrate this feast bringing together the widows and widowers of the parish.
Arriving at the parish I asked Fr Wandile Dlamini OSM who is the parish administrator how many of them were expected to attend. He said: “we were giving a list with 100 names”. It was completely unexpected to me to hear of such a big number and, as he shared with me, also to him. No one guessed there were so many and, I believe, most of them – if not all – were there. Continue reading “A feast with a difference”
Baptised and sent
By Bishop José Luis IMC
In just two weeks’ time we will be gathering at “Santissima Annunziata” (Our Lady of the Anunciation) for our annual Diocesan Pilgrimage.
The theme of this year is: “Baptised and sent” following Pope Francis’ call to the Church all over the world to celebrate an “Extraordinary Mission Month” next October 2019.
Our Diocese has chosen to celebrate more than a month. Next October we will be launching an “Extraordinary Mission Year” which will last until October 2020.
A novena of preparation to the pilgrimage is now available and can be downloaded in three versions by clicking HERE. Continue reading “Baptised and sent”
Easter Sunday reflection
By: Fr Dumisani Vilakati
First Reading: Acts 10: 34a, 37-43
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118
Second Reading: Col 3:1-4
Gospel: John 20:1-9
Click HERE for Sunday readings in Siswati
Alleluia. He is risen! The readings on this Resurrection Sunday emphasise that Jesus is indeed risen and this places certain demands on us the most important being the passing on of this message of joy and hope to peoples everywhere. Alleluia. Continue reading “Easter Sunday reflection”
In solidarity with Mozambique
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Peace!
We are all aware of the unprecedented devastation caused by Cyclone Idai in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. It is considered that, just in Mozambique, about one million people have been affected.
For many years, Sr Florence Tsabedze, born in Eswatini (Good Shepherd Parish) and a member of the Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception has been serving in Mozambique. In the last few days she shared with me: “Concerning the needs, basically we need food, clothes, medical care… The bishop’s house in Beira, the Cathedral, mission, convent, outstations and many more shelters have been badly damaged, apart from the simple homesteads. Here the situation is worse because people are still dying of cholera and malaria caused by the cyclone. Dead bodies are still found in the seashore…”. Continue reading “In solidarity with Mozambique”
Epiphany: The showing forth of Christ
by Fr Christopher Maseko
The whole life of Christ was a continual Passion; others die martyrs but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha – where he was crucified – even in Bethlehem, where he was born. For to his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy as first as the cross at last. His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas day and his Good Friday are but the evening and morning of the same day. As even his birth is his death, so every action and passage that manifests Christ to us is his birth, for Epiphany is manifestation. Every manifestation of Christ to the world, to the Church, to a particular soul is an Epiphany, a Christmas day.