St. Patrick’s Catholic Parish of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe last Sunday inaugurated the Year of Faith with Eucharist Celebration.
This follows the papal declaration that the period from 11 October 2012 to 23 November 2013 is the Year of Faith in the church.
Fathers Vincent Mwakhwawa and Gabriel Jana celebrated the mass with the parish priest, Father John Makola.
The mass started with a procession by the whole congregation from the priest’s residence into the church. All the while, the parishioners sang hymns related to the day’s theme.
The readings during the mass were drawn from Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10, 1 Corinthians 12:12-21, 27 and Luke 4:14-21.
In his homily, Mwakhwawa elaborated on the importance of the Year of Faith for the church. He told the congregation that Pope Benedict XVI, in his Apostolic Letter of 11 October, 2011, declared the Year of Faith.
He said the Year of Faith is intended to contribute to a renewed conversion to the Lord Jesus and to the rediscovery of faith.
“We must realise that faith is a gift from God and all Christians must reflect on their faith, confirm in faith, increase it and for some even rediscover it.
“All faithful who are truly penitent take Sacramental Confession and the Eucharist. They pray in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff that they may obtain Plenary Indulgence for the temporal punishment of sins, imparted by the mercy of God and applicable also to the souls of deceased faith,” said Mwakhwawa.
As part of activities for the Year of Faith, the Catholic Church in Malawi has published books in vernacular that explain the Bible, Catechism of the church and documents from the Vatican Council II.
The church is also running special programmes on Catholic radios such as Radio Alinafe, Radio Maria and Radio Tigabane.
