“I am offering you life or death,
blessing or curse”
(Dt 30: 19)
“God’s familiar words in the book of Deuteronomy calls us to choose between life and death. Even more, God invites his people to: “choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live” (Dt 30:19).
Unfortunately, in eSwatini, it is becoming more and more clear that our choice is death.” Continue reading “Bishop’s statement on violence”
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.
By Fr Ncamiso Vilakati
Many perceive the Catholic Church as a gentlemen’s club that seeks to protect those in positions of privilege. Sometimes words like mafia are synonymously equated to this esteemed institution that seeks to rejuvenate itself in modern times. Ever since the initial pontificate of Pope Francis the Church has not only been thriving to go towards the periphery, reaching out to those in need, but also calls for equal share in the governance of the Church. At the end of the Synod of Bishops on the paths for the church for an integral ecology, the Holy Father, announced on the 7th of March 2020, that in October 2023, bishops from around the world will meet in Rome to discuss the theme: “For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission.”
By: Fr Francis Onyango IMC
As a departing shot, it gives me joy to share with you, and to assure you that indeed Catechesis begins from the womb and ends in the tomb. An ordained minister of the Church can bless one whilst still in the womb, and yes on his very last moments in his/her physical reality. It is on this juncture, and the spirit of this presentation that we can posit, that indeed Catechesis is for everyone.
First and foremost, the Catholic faith is planted like a seed and then nurtured all through one’s life, no one just wakes up and becomes a Catholic. One is prepared through a catechetical process to help the person to understand the Catholic faith and doctrine. A person is said to be fully initiated in the Catholic Church when they have received the three sacraments of Christian initiation; Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. This is achieved through a process of preparation. The usual practice is that a family will bring the baby to the Church for baptism but due to certain unavoidable circumstances or individual choices, this is not always the case and so sometimes a baby grows from infancy stage to childhood without having received the sacrament of Baptism.
Continue reading “From Womb to Tomb: A journey of Catholic Faith”
