The places and reasons that bring us together in our diocese are always a sign of what we believe.
Last month we came together at the Cathedral to celebrate the ordination to the priesthood of Fr Ntshangase. The place was packed.
Next month we will again come together at "Santissima Annunziata" in Florence for our annual pilgrimage. We know also the place will be crowded like the previous years.
On Saturday 20 July, our diocese came together at the Malindza Refugee Reception Centre. The visit to the refugee camp is also for us an annual event and an expression of our faith. The event is organised by the Swaziland / Eswatini Council of Catholic Women (SCCW). It brings together delegates from all the parishes.
We started with the celebration of a Mass at a very packed hall. Though Saturday morning, I chose Sunday's readings. Together with the familiar passage where Jesus was being welcomed by Martha and Mary, the first reading shared about Abraham and Sarah being hosts to people they did not know and... changed their lives!
The Bible is full of stories of people who had to leave their homes behind and of those who welcomed them.
It is also full of passages reminding us their place in our lives like the one from the book of Exodus:
Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt (Exodus 23:9)
Then, we cannot avoid remembering "I was a stranger and you made me welcome" (Mt 25:35). While the people in the parable would wonder: "when did we see you...?" (Mt 25:38), we DO know and therefore we cannot close our eyes and hearts.
After Mass it was time to share what we had collected: food, clothes, mattresses, toiletries... Part of it was stored in a room. The rest had been organised in such a way that could be distributed among the 64 families (around 360 people) being hosted at the camp. The parcels had been prepared according to the number of people in each family.
Our time at the camp is a two-way road. It is not just us sharing what we could collect. It is also them opening our eyes to the places where they come from, their fears, their struggles. We heard about the challenge they face "to trust" anyone fruit of the violence they have experienced.
In a spirit of compassion, let us embrace all those fleeing from war and hunger, or forced by discrimination, persecution, poverty and environmental degradation to leave their homelands. We know that it is not enough to open our hearts to the suffering of others. Much more remains to be done before our brothers and sisters can once again live peacefully in a safe home. (Pope Francis)
A number of the refugees are Catholics. They approached me after Mass and asked me to make a plan so that they can have the celebration of the Mass being done regularly. They had been blessed by the service done by Fr Rocco Marra IMC but he has just moved to South Africa. I promised we will find a way to do it.
The camp was born in 1974 and initially welcomed refugees from Mozambique. Later, it also hosted people from South Africa. Today, hosts people from Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo... families who travelled the continent dreaming of a better future.
Click below for photos from Flickr
