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.