New Christians

On the Feast of the Holy Family, we baptized twenty-five infants and young children and welcomed them into the Church. The pictures are of the liturgy which followed the 11:30 am liturgy. Truly a great way to end the year and to welcome the New Year. Three of us celebrated the sacrament and it was wonderful to be with the families. This was the largest group they have had at St. Ignatius. The families are well prepared by a lay leader who has the responsibility for this ministry. These new folks join the twenty adults who professed their faith on Christmas Eve.

Wedding

Yesterday I had the opportunity to witness my first marriage in Zambia. In many ways the celebration was similiar to US weddings. The bride wore a beautiful wedding gown and was accompanied by bridesmaids in beautiful gowns. The groom was formally dressed and the groomsmen wore matching traditional shirts. The bride arrived appropriately late (but fortunately, not as late as some; this was only forty-five minutes late). The wedding procession was somewhat chaotic until the bride entered with her uncle.

The couple were quite nervous, so I made it a goal to get them to smile; and finally, I was successful. The music was beautiful and in Bemba by a local church choir. Following the vows, family matrons bring forward gifts from the couple for the church (potatoes, fruit, flower, a cake). At the conclusion of the Mass, the couple and their sponsors (much like hispanic weddings) come to the altar for the signing of the wedding papers.

Catholic Apostolic National Church of Zambia

A post-Christmas news item: A splinter church called the Catholic Apostolic National Church of Zambia has been launched with Archbishop-elect, Luciano Mbewe, calling for more priests to join the church and fulfill their God-given role by marrying. Archbishop Mbewe said during the launch of the new church which has strong links with excommunicated prelate Emmanuel Milingo that the hour had come for priests in the Roman Catholic Church to start marrying and taking care of their forsaken children. He said profound pain and suffering had been caused to priests as a result of celibacy and that most of this pain and suffering was uncalled for. Archbishop Mbewe said the celibacy issue had led to some priests contracting HIV/AIDs.

Some may be aware of Milingo, the former Archbishop of Lusaka. He made the news when Rev. Moon of the Unification Church chose a bride for him and married him in one of the Unification ceremonies. At one point he rejected the marriage, but has reclaimed his bride and moved forward with plans for the new church.

As far as we can tell from the newspapers, the movement has little interest from the people in the pews. The day will come for married priests, but break-away churches are not the effective means. Especially when the new church mirrors all the old church in everything but celibacy.

Christmas decorations

The pictures show the crib and the Christmas flowers, both were beautiful. The crib was handcarved from African woods and is stunning. A woman in the parish supervises the flower arranging and they are always beautiful. There are large greenhouses near Lusaka where they grow flowers for export.

Christmas Pictures

St. Ignatius celebrated is golden jubilee on Christmas Eve. The pictures shows a listing of the parish priests who served over the years. The parish recognized one woman who has been a parish member for all fifty years.

Christmas in Zambia

Merry Christmas from Zambia! It is now Christmas Eve morning and while the day will be quiet, it means we are getting ready for the liturgies. During the Christmas Eve Mass more than twenty adults will be received into the Church. I know that the Church will be packed for all the liturgies. One of the gifts of being in Zambia is to experience the vibrancy of the faith.

Please know that I will be remembering my friends and remembering all the people, communities and places where I have celebrated Christmas Mass in the past: Sacred Heart in Bellevue, Jesuit High in Portland, St. Charles in Salmon and the times with families and friends.

I pray that the birth of Christ will bring greater peace to our world. At each Mass in Zambia, the community joins the priest for the prayer before the greeting of peace. May you know peace and may we all work to make our world more peaceable.

Christmas Concert

I just returned for the Christmas Concert/Pagent. The choir did a great job and it did give me a good taste of the holiday spirit. For years I have had Christmas customs, in Seattle it was the Black Nativity and the SU Christmas Concert and in Portland it was the Singing Christmas Tree. So the opportunity to experience this event at the parish was a real gift. The choir will perform it tomorrow evening and it should be on ZNBC, the national network, on Christmas Day. The Papal Nuncio attended this evening as well the CRS Director for the Southern Africa region. It was fun to watch the kids perform the African carols with drum accompaniment.

Christmas Turkey

While I was out for a walk this morning, I came upon this turkey hen (three chicks are nearby) wandering about the grounds of a local telephone company business lodge. She exhibited great confidence that she would not come under the axe for the holiday.

Some Christmas Images

Southern Hemisphere Solstice

The summer solstice is here. I am having two longest days of the year in 2007. I have noticed the difference as there is about an hour’s difference between the longest and the shortest days in Zambia. Today has been a full day at the parish. Two weddings and a funeral in addition to the two scheduled Masses and a Small Christian Community also has their Advent Mass tonight.
I did the funeral for a commander in the Lusaka police force. There were many policemen attending the service and the first funeral with a police escort. The wife was a member of the Adventist Church and their women all wore blue and white. We rushed the funeral a bit to accommodate the wedding, but the bride was a full two hours late. So much for the solstice being used for time.

Christmas Decorations

Pictured is the Christmas tree in the Jesuit recreation room at St. Ignatius. The children's choir presents their concert on Saturday and Sunday. I hope to get some pictures of the concert. There are over fifty young people in the choir and a chime/bell choir consisting of the little ones. It will be an amazing celebration. I will add more to the blog in the next few days.

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St. Francis Xavier Novitiate, Lusaka

The pictures show the novitiate grounds. The picture of the tree shows weaver bird nests. The birds are bright yellow and build nests by weaving grasses into a nest that is entered from the bottom. The middle picture is of the courtyard looking toward the dining room and novice recreation room. The final picture shows the courtyard off the dining room. The novitiate consists of wings seven wings that surround three courtyards. The grounds are well-kept and there are potted plants on all the walkways.

Chongololo

After the first rains have moistened the soil the "chongololo" emerges. The pictured one visited my room and I discovered that they were quite adapt at crawling under a door. Behind a pair of probing antennae, a long, shiny, red-black, worm-like cylinder slithers slowly to the surface. Two groups, or clusters, of simple eyes swivel in search of rapacious predators. The chongololo is also known as the Giant African Millipede, and can grow to a full eight inches with 70 body segments with two pairs of legs on each for a total of 280 feet. To manage motion the chongololo moves the limbs forward in groups of five or six pairs at a time. The critter does not bite and has blunt teeth for grinding plant material. When touched the animal recoils and when alarmed creates stink.

An example of the many interesting insects that are abundant in Zambia. I mentioned that some insects are also a source of human protein. Caterpillars were on the menu as we concluded the retreat, but I passed. They were very popular with the novices, but the novices favored having them fried rather than with a sauce. Pretzel like is best.

Pomegranate

I think that I am correct in judging this as a pomegranate. They have a tree at Luwisha House and also one here at the Novitiate. Somehow, I do not think that it will be ripe during my time. The novitiate grounds were an old farm and they have avocados, mangos, papayas and great small bananas. We are entering mango season and so we get fresh mango at least once a day.

Jesuit Novices vs. Comboni Novices

The novices have soccer games with other novitiates. This match is with the Comboni novices (yellow) and the Jesuits (purple) lost 3-2. The Comboni were founded by Italian missionaries with a mission of Africa for Africa. The Zambia novitiate draws men from throughout English speaking Africa.

Rainy Season

The rainy season is here. We just had a sudden, heavy downpour that last about a half-hour. Now the sun is out and the steam is rising. The rains have direct effect on the insects and the termites and ants do not like their nests disturbed. The line in last Sunday's reading about John the Baptist surviving on locusts and wild honey would not seem odd here. People look forward to the rains so they can gather the termites and remove their wings and cook them. I have also heard of the caterpillar delicacies, but termites nor caterpillars have yet to touch my lips.

The novitiate has a large compound and good sized gardens in addition to the land that is farmed by some of the people living and working at the novitiate. People are grateful for the rain and have been planting and working their fields. Last year Zambia had an excellent maize crop and was able to export food.

The retreat concludes on Monday morning and I will return to St. Ignatius. The next project is a two-day workshop on spiritual leadership in early January. I may have mentioned this, but I get to work with an outstanding woman, Josephine Lungu on that workshop. It will be fun to work with her.

Retreats and Recollections

The picture is of the CLC members who renewed or made their commitments to Ignatian Spirituality and to CLC. CLC is a world-wide movement with deep and long Jesuit roots
and is quite active in Zambia. It is present in various places in the United States but not as strong as it is in other parts of the world. Jim McGloin, SJ is the Zambian moderator and asked me to give them a day of recollection. Jim and I entered Gonzaga together in 1962 so we have known each other for a long time. The retreat went well and it was good to be with this outstanding group.

I am at the novitiate compound on the outskirts of Lusaka. Last night we began the Province retreat for eight Jesuits who wanted a privately directed retreat. I give a conference each day and then see the men who want individual direction. The retreat reflects the diversity of this province with 2 Zambians, 2 Americans, 2 Poles, 1 Indian and 1 Irishman. One of the gifts is directing Bert Otten, SJ, who retired from Seattle University to come to Zambia to work in appropriate technology.

The novitiate, the infirmary, the library and the archives are all located in separate buildings in the compound. I am living in the infirmary in a true luxury room with its own bathroom. We eat with the novitiate community and I have a chance to get to know them. There are eighteen novices in the two years and they come from Zambia/Malawi Province and the Zimbabwe Province. We had an interesting dinner conversation talking about the Iraq War, the Zimbabwe situation and more. The novices are impressive. There could easily be a day when we will have a reverse in the missionary spirit

First Communion

Vocations

Yesterday, I gave a day of recollection for a Come & See program at the Jesuit Novitiate in Lusaka. Fifteen men participated in the Come & See and over half expressed a serious desire to join the Jesuits. The men ranged in age from grade 11 in high school to college graduates. The quiet and recollection began the program and when we finished the candidates joined the fifteen novices for two more days of conversation and come and see. The candidates were very serious when we met and strictly observed silence so it was difficult to read faces for any reactions to the talks. However, by the end of the day, the smiles returned and I know that they were ready to join the novices to ask the "real" questions of religious life.

During the Mass, I invited the men to share their reflections on the experience and it was very rewarding to hear their insights and the commitment that they had to following Christ. The Society is very alive in Africa and I am grateful for this opportunity. It was a good experience to be in a room with over thirty young men interested in the Jesuits and our way of life. And as I mentioned the smiles returned during the sharing.

At the conclusion of Mass I opened it up for questions that they might have for me. They asked questions about vocations in the United States. And perhaps the most challenging question was about the Iraq war and why the Church in the United States was not more critical. It was difficult to answer, because the press does not carry the statements of the Bishops that speak strongly against the war. I tried to answer, but I am afraid I did not come up with a good answer. I am aware that people like people from the United States, but they do not understand the ways of our government. It is also interesting to note that the Church and the Society are more influential in Zambia than they are in the United States.

Cathedral Pictures

The ambo reflects the role of drums in the local culture. The Cathedral from the side, which does not adequately show its size, which I would imagine holds 700 to 1000 people. The final picture is a detail from the copper (major Zambian export) doors.

One Month in Zambia

Hard to believe that it is December 1. I read of snow in the Northwest and then I realize that I am south of the equator, in Zambia. As we enter into the season of hope, I am grateful for the experience that I am enjoying. It is hard to believe that I have been here a month.

Last evening we had a community discussion in preparation for the General Congregation on the theme of Jesuit community life. I am fortunate to live in a happy, hospitable and grateful community of companions and friends; and I am also fortunate to have come from the same in Seattle. The men talked about the hope that they have in the young Zambians who are assuming the responsibility of leadership in community and in the apostolate. It is a hopeful time.

This weekend is very full. I am doing the end of the year Mass for the young people who have participated in the Saturday catechetical program. Later in the day, there is a wedding, a funeral of a parishioner who was also the President’s cardiologist (so the President will be here), practice for first communions (tomorrow) and a memorial Mass. And that is all before the Advent Masses begin.

Last week I had a chance to visit the Cathedral on the Child Jesus. It is a modern facility located in Pope Square. The square contains the Cathedral and all the chancery offices. I attached a picture of the copper doors on the front of the Cathedral