By Demetria Banda
Archbishop of Blantyre Archdioceses Rt. Rev. Thomas Luke Msusa who is also the Chairman of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) has urged newly ordained deacons to always be exemplary in their vocational life.
Speaking on Saturday, 4th September, 2021 at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Zomba after deaconate ordination of 7 seminarians, Archbishop Msusa advised the newly ordained deacons and all priests to live a model life and avoid a scandalous life which may lead to loss of faith in some Christians.
“Deaconate is a major step toward priesthood, The deacons should realize that they are being called to serve and not to be served. all habits which are antithetical to priesthood like excessive beer drinking are destroying the Church, we found ourselves in difficult situations sometimes as Bishops due to a priests’ misconduct. This is not the order in the Catholic Church and it must stop. What you do, should reflect your vocational life because if not careful Christians will run away from our Church, because we are living a bad example, at all cost refrain from scandalous life,” he said.
In his homily during the Holy Eucharist mass followed readings from Jeremiah 1:4-10: 1 Peter 5:1-4 and the Gospel of Luke 14:25-33. Archbishop Msusa observed that service is central to ministerial relevance in the words of Jesus by saying embracing collaborative ministry and aligning to God’s will is a core value of their calling.
He said God works through human cooperation. He can do everything alone. But out of love and trust, He is calling all of us and the (deacons) in particular to take part in His mission,” he said citing the calling of Jeremiah, Isiah, Moses and the Blessed Virgin Mary as examples.
“You have your own worries and fears. Am I going to manage? It’s normal but trust in God and He will see you through because he said he who wants to be my Servant must be a servant to all, all you need to do is to Believe what you read, teach what you believe and do what you preach yourself,” ” Archbishop Msusa emphasized.
The 7 new deacons awaiting priestly ordination are: Elton Dzimbiri from Blantyre Archdiocese, Innocent Mlongoti and Yohane Botoman from Dedza Diocese, Damiano Chitha and Christopher Chikwezachilaula from Lilongwe archdiocese, John Chiwaula from Mangochi Diocese and Peter Tembo from Chikwawa Diocese.
Deacon Chiwaula from Mangochi Diocese becomes the first to get this close to priesthood in the past three years when there has been no new priest ordained in the diocese.