Posts by Neliswa Mdluli

32nd Sunday of Ordinary time – Year A

by Thabo Mkhonta

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WITH OUR BAPTISM LAMPS SWITCHED ON, WE AWAIT THE COMING BRIDEGROOM

The Church year is coming to an end, and that is why the readings are starting to be eschatological, and about the end. The end a person may think about is the universal one (cosmological eschatology), but there is also an individual eschatology –the individual end, which is death. We are all heading for that end –and we all know it and have to face it.

I know that since treading on this gruesome subject, which is saturnine to many, because we don’t want to face that reality of death. But, in today’s readings it is all about being vigilant and ready for we all don’t know when would the lights go out. Even the prayer: ‘Hail Mary…now and at the hour of our death reminds us to be ready. The key is to be ready that when it comes you are prepared as a person who is faithful to his baptism. The fact of death is alluded by St Paul in the 2nd Reading as the ground of hope, that is why he is even using the euphemism “asleep” instead of “died”. He is encouraging us not to grieve like people who have no hope, of life after death. So, we shouldn’t be sullen as if everything ends in the graveyard; Him who overcame the grave is coming! Continue reading “32nd Sunday of Ordinary time – Year A” →

Our Lady of Hope (Lavumisa)

by Fr Massa IMC

On Sunday  October 11 after Holy Mass for the Christian community of Lavumisa, Mrs. Grace Mdluli and Ellen Maphalala asked me to wait a minute because the children had a surprise for me. A group of 14 /15 of them came forward and gracefully and joyfully danced the “Jerusalema.”

Mrs.G Mdluli briefly told me that these children from the 13  of May had come together on the 13 of each month to  pray the rosary together.

On the 13 of October I joined them for the prayer of the rosary. It was a moving experience !The bigger ones took it in turn to lead the rosary and most of them were holding the rosary in their hands . I thanked them and invited them to join the children of the world on the 18 , Mission Sunday ,to pray together a decade of the rosary for the end of Covid-19 and they did so .

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Being dressed for action

by Bishop Jose Luis IMC

On 20 October 2020, the clergy of the diocese came together at Our Lady of the Assumption for the first time in this year marked by COVID19. Below, the first part of my homily.

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The readings we have just heard have not been especially chosen for this celebration but are the readings of the day and, therefore, part of the continuous reading of the letter of Paul to the Ephesians and the Gospel of Luke.

I kept them because I felt they have a message for us today as we come together for the very first time during this 2020 COVID19 year.

I would like to present three images I see in them: Continue reading “Being dressed for action” →

30th Sunday of Ordinary time – Year A

by Fr Francis Huwn msfs

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Ex 22: 20-26; Ps 18:2-4, 47. 51; 1 Thes 1:5-10;
Mt 22:34-40
“Distract them so that they will not fall in love with God”

A priest found a gravestone in a cemetery with the inscription: ‘Here lies So-and-So, who died at the age of 90 but didn’t live more than three years.’ When he asked the meaning of it, they told him it belonged to a man who converted to the love of God when he was 87. So, he wanted to leave written in stone that only those years he spent loving God were the years he was ‘alive’. For he only considered worth mentioning the years he had spent in love with God.
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Reflection for World Mission Sunday

by Fr F. Huwn msfs

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Is 2:1-5; Rom 10:9-18; Mt 28:16-20
“I have no other plan; I am counting on them.”

S.D. Gordon has a beautiful story about the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. When the grand welcome ceremony was over, the Archangel Gabriel approached Jesus to resolve his doubts. He said, “I know that only very few in Palestine are aware of the great work of human salvation You have accomplished through Your suffering, death and Resurrection. But the whole world should know and appreciate it and become Your disciples, acknowledging You as their Lord and Saviour. What is Your plan of action?”  Jesus answered, “I have told all My Apostles to tell other people about Me and preach My Message through their lives. That’s all.” “Suppose they don’t do that?” Gabriel asked. “What’s your Plan B?” Jesus replied, “I have no other plan; I am counting on them.” On this World Mission Sunday, the Church reminds us that Jesus is counting on each one of us to make Him known loved and accepted by others around us.
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Witnesses to God’s love

by Bishop Jose Luis IMC

When – a year ago – Pope Francis called the Church to celebrate an Extraordinary Missionary Month we welcomed it joyfully in the Kingdom of Eswatini and decided to extend it for the whole year.

That decision was indeed Providential as “the Church called to go forth” suddenly found herself preaching: “stay home”.

Soon, though, we became aware that COVID19 could have changed the context in which we were living but not our call. We remain “baptised and sent” and therefore we all stood up once again saying: “Here I am Lord, send me” in new creative ways: Continue reading “Witnesses to God’s love” →

October 2020: The Laity’s Mission in the Church

by David Stewart, SJ

Prayer Intention of Pope Francis – The Laity’s Mission in the Church: We pray that by the virtue of baptism, the laity, especially women, may participate more in areas of responsibility in the Church.

A busy, Sunday morning at our North London parish. A request between Masses. “Please give me permission, Father, to do this certain thing (exactly what must remain private) if the church allows it.” Another parishioner, known as a forthright character, chided the questioner: “What do you mean, if the church allows it! The church is all of us.” But far from being ill-tempered, it was a lovely moment. Each felt a different warmth for their church. Continue reading “October 2020: The Laity’s Mission in the Church” →

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

by Fr Francis Huwn msfs

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By baptism we are called to the wedding feast in the kingdom of God

In every culture, food is an essential part of celebrations – from the wedding banquet to the Christmas meal. As families and friends we gather around the table, not just out of necessity, but because the time spent together there has emotional, spiritual, and human meaning. At the table, a deeper sense of unity among all is present; food unites as much as it nourishes. So, we can understand why food, and the sharing of it, is so present throughout Scripture.

We see that image in today’s readings from the great banquet foretold by Isaiah with its rich food and choice wines, to the wedding feast in the Gospel. What can a royal wedding feast tell us about God’s kingdom? The king invites people for the royal party for his son’s wedding. Surprisingly, people who are invited decline the royal invitation. What do we make of from this? In this parable, the Lord Jesus is helping us to understand the sacrament of Eucharist.
Continue reading “28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A” →