THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN MALAWI CLOSES MISSION MONTH “Continue with Missionary work”

By Mastone Peter

The Catholic Church in Malawi has closed the Mission Month with a call to the faithful to commit themselves and continue with the mission of Christ.

The Pastoral Coordinator for Zomba Diocese, Fr. Innocent Chiwanda, was speaking at St. Vincent de Paul-Katamba parish in Zomba Diocese during the National-level closing of the Mission Month of October.

Fr. Chiwanda, who represented Bishop of Zomba Diocese, Rt. Rev. George Desmond Tambala, said though the Church is closing the Mission Month of October, the mission must continue because the Church is Missionary in nature.

“By virtue of baptism, every Christian is a missionary, let’s empower each other to go out on various missionary assignments and work harder than before for the Gospel to reach far and wide,” added Fr. Chiwanda.

The Pastoral Secretary also stressed on the need for Christians to collaborate with each other in proclaiming the Gospel through different apostolates and charity works.

In his speech, the Pontifical Mission Societies in Malawi (PMS) Director, Fr. Vincent Mwakhwawa, expressed gratitude on how the function was conducted and applauded the Christians of Katamba parish for being receptive and ready to learn about missionary spirit.

Fr. Mwakhwawa further said that he expects the faithful to continue praying and evangelizing the people, especially those who don’t know Christ. He also encouraged the faithful to continue offering their financial resources as one way of sharing their faith with other people.

“We expect that after this event, the community here has to live the missionary spirit with commitment, they should burn with missionary zeal, they should give themselves totally to the mission of the Church through prayers,” Continued Fr. Mwakhwawa.

In her remarks, the Vice Secretary for Catholic Women Organisation in Zomba Diocese, Mrs. Cecilia Chavula, commended the Church for choosing Katamba parish to host this year’s event at National level.

Mrs. Chavula, who spoke on behalf of the faithful, said Katamba, being a new parish, has benefited a lot in terms of understanding what mission is all about.

“Before this event, we had little knowledge about mission and its importance, but now we have fully understood the meaning and importance of mission in the Church and how we can participate in the same,” said Mrs. Chavula.

She then promised to join hands with her fellow Christians and continue with the missionary work through good deeds.

Bishop George Desmond Tambala officially opened preparations for Mission Month on 27th June 2021 at Katamba parish.