Bishop Urges Hope, Prayer for Soldiers’ Families

The Catholic community surrounding St. Paul’s Outstation of Salima Parish (MAFCO) celebrated the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with a Eucharistic Mass presided over by the Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe, His Lordship Vincent Mwakhwawa.

During the service, Bishop Mwakhwawa delivered a homily emphasizing the importance of daily prayer, particularly for the families of Catholic soldiers stationed at MAFCO, PARA and Staff College, including those deployed on peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bishop Mwakhwawa’s message centered on entering the new year with hope and confidence in God.

“We have encouraged our Christians to enter this new year with great hope because our life is in the hands of God,” he stated. “God is the one who keeps and moves this world, and therefore we need to know that God provides all that is good in us.”

His Lordship urged attendees to not only maintain hope but also to become “agents of hope” themselves.

“They should act accordingly, be just, but also love one another,” he explained. “Do the best you can in life so that you can deliver good things to other people. That means we become agents of hope to our fellow human beings because God uses us also to be a source of goodness to others.”

Practical advice was also offered, with Bishop Mwakhwawa encouraging increased commitment to prayer life, self-reliance, and promoting vocations within the community.

“First of all, we encourage them to be more committed in their prayer life because the palace doesn’t just come, it is a gift from God,” he said.

He also called for improved offerings, organization, and commitment to build infrastructure.

“At the same time, we are also encouraging them to promote vocations and send more young people to the seminary so that they should be priests in order that they can serve in the parishes.”

The Archdiocese of Lilongwe is also focusing on outreach and development, according to the bishop.

“As a [Arch]diocese, we are working hard to listen to people,” he said. “We want to be able to move around to see all those needs so that we come close to them through new parishes. So we are ready to be able to come close to them by opening new parishes. At the same time, we need also to work hard to build enough infrastructure but also prepare very well so that the parishes are self-sustaining.”

Echoing the community’s desire for greater spiritual support, Anthony Phungulume, Catechist of St. Paul’s Outstation, expressed the community’s strong desire for resident priests.

“These people are very willing to have priests within their community,” Phungulume said. “Hence the need for sacraments, because we as Christians, we depend upon receiving sacraments to have that spiritual life alive. So, without the sacraments, there is no life in the spirit. So, there is that need, there is that hope that one day we have those priests within us, or we establish a parish within our area, within our church, so that we can increase our faith in God.”

All these Military Outstations are under chaplaincy of St. Mary’s, Kamuzu Barracks Parish.