By the Office of Communications
It was a busy day for the youth of the Diocese of Mangochi on 24th June, 2023, when they had a diocesan youth rally which was held at St. Augustine’s (Mangochi) Cathedral parish. This rally was part of various preparations for the celebration of the golden jubilee of the Diocese of Mangochi, whereby each church group is having a meeting at the Diocese level while journeying towards an actual celebration which will be in September.
All activities started with a jubilee talk, presented by Fr. Joseph Kimu, who helped the youth to understand the meaning of the theme of this golden jubilee celebration and the expectations of the diocese from the youth after the actual golden jubilee celebration. After him, Fr. Mlava, the Pastoral Secretary of the Diocese of Mangochi, came to consolidate the findings which he managed to get from the meetings with the youth in their respective deaneries. According to Fr. Mlava, over 60% of all the Catholics in the Diocese of Mangochi are the youth. “If they are properly evangelized and if they have been properly catechized, it means the diocese of Mangochi will make a good church in future,” said Fr. Mlava.
After his talk, the Eucharistic celebration followed, presided over by Rt. Rev. Montfort Stima, the bishop of the Diocese of Mangochi. There were two choirs which led in singing during liturgy: St. Monica girls secondary school and the youth from Balaka parish. The other youth from various parishes and institutions also took part in it like dancing, scriptural readings and prayer of the faithful.
The bishop, taking advantage of the solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist on that day, advised the youth to strengthen their faith in God especially in today’s world, where Satan is evangelizing in different ways. He said that God created man and woman for a purpose; John the Baptist leaped with joy in the womb of his mother when he saw the Lord his savior- a sign of existence of human life even before birth. To the contrary, the world of today proclaims homosexuality and abortion, to say that it is human freedom to marry fellow women or men and it is not a sin to abort because one becomes a human being at birth. John the Baptist preached about preparing a way for the Lord through repentance, but nowadays, the youth receive the Holy Communion even without the sacrament of confession. Finally, the bishop said that the journey of the diocesan golden jubilee calls the youth to the life of holiness which can be attained through repentance of our sins.
Remarking on all activities that took place at the cathedral, Fr, Bazilio Msuli as the diocesan youth chaplain, thanked the bishop for ‘breathing a fresh air’ to the youth. He also applauded all members of the organizing team, who were fully cooperative in the preparations for this event.
On the same occasion, there were also some pieces of entertainment prepared by the youth from different parishes and secondary schools. Further to this, there was also vocation promotion of priesthood, sisterhood and family life.
