CATHOLIC MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND CABINET MINISTERS CELEBRATE ASH WEDNESDAY MASS IN PARLIAMENT BUILDING
The Catholic parliamentary Liaison and Chaplaincy Office of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi celebrated Ash Wednesday Mass in Parliament Building on 22nd March, 2023.
Presiding over the celebration, Fr. Henry Chinkanda, the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Chaplain, invited the Legislators to reflect upon the theme as proposed by Pope Francis, ‘Lenten Penance as a Synodal Journey with the Afflicted’. By coincidence, the last topic that aroused a very heated discussion in Parliament just before Mass, was on the plight of hunger millions of Malawians are currently going through in the country.
Addressing a large number of Members of Parliament and Cabinet Ministers, Fr. Chinkanda emphasized that, one of the pillars required to ensure the wellbeing of all citizens in a country are the Policies that are formulated by such people as the Legislators who were present at the Ash Wednesday Mass.
“A lot of misery, suffering and poverty experienced by the majority of people on earth, particularly here in Malawi and Africa at large, is a result of bad Political Policies made by people like you who sit in this August House. Is this not an area Christ is inviting us to look at in simplicity and love so as to enrich the citizens of this country? A good Catholic Politician, who considers being in Parliament as a vocation, will always bear this principle in mind “Thinking about the poor, journeying with the afflicted” which is one of the principles of the Catholic Social Teaching, namely; Option for the Poor!” said Fr. Chinkanda.
Lent is a new beginning, a path leading to the certain goal in life in the light of Easter that is Christ’s victory over death. This season urgently calls us to conversion. Christians are asked to return to God “with all their hearts” (Joel 2:12), to refuse to settle for mediocrity and to grow in friendship with the Lord, repent and live. Let us remember that Jesus is the faithful friend who never abandons us. Even when we sin, he patiently awaits our return; by that patient expectation, he shows us his readiness to forgive, said Fr. Chinkanda quoting Pope Francis.
He continued that politicians have an important role to play that would transform the misery many people are experiencing. He therefore, invited the Parliamentarians to journey with the afflicted people from hunger and the cholera pandemic in a synodal manner as the Church celebrates the holy season of Lent.