Vicariate Apostolic of Ingwavuma

INTER SERVOS - APRIL 2013,

"Easter glory fills the sky, Alleluya. Christ now lives no more to die, Alleluya."
Whatever about the "glory filling the sky" at the end of Easter day, I was left with a certain inner glow. The long haul of Lent with its various activities was over for another year. We survived somewhat exhausted (it becomes more of an endurance contest each year), but we had the consolation of sitting down to a nice pasta evening meal prepared by our maître de cuisine, Declan himself. Our bishop, Jose also graced our table and stories were told about Papa Bergoglio and a few glasses raised to him (he might have frowned on that extravagance).

Of course the glow did not come out of the blue. There were a number of sparks along the way. There were also some more sombre and grim moments. Like the Saturday, early on in Lent, when I officiated at the funeral of a young woman who fell victim to the HIV virus. Her names, Nozipho (the gifted one) and Jabulile (the joyful one) belied her final battle with the epidemic. As I sat in the crowded tent listening to various speeches and tributes to her (and under the constant threat of being smothered under many kgs of canvas, such was the wind) I could not help but be struck by the irony of the situation. Here was a young woman, who after almost dying some years ago, rallied with the help of ARVs provided by our AIDS project, later defaulted on her treatment, and when she returned to it was too weak to survive. And this drama took place almost in the shadow of the big AIDS research unit, Africa Centre, just about 500m across the valley from where I sat. May she rest in peace.

Whenever you see them adorn their black skirts, white blouses, black headgears, and blue overcoats with a red lining, you definitely know who they are and where they belong. You know that they are Catholics and that they belong to the sodality of the Sacred Heart. You may never know what they are up to until when you get a chance to interact with them. I may not know what they do in other parishes, but I know what they do at Our Lady of Ingwavuma parish – in the Vicariate of Ingwavuma.

People join various sodalities for different reasons and motives but these women became members of the Sacred Heart at Our Lady of Ingwavuma parish so as to keep the faith alive. We live in a world where people have no time for church anymore. We are so much preoccupied with our daily activities that we have no more time left for church activities. Even on Sundays when we go to church, we keep checking our watches wondering when the celebration would end.

The Sacred Heart women at Ingwavuma have freely chosen to live their faith and to share that lived-faith with others. They have heeded the call of Jesus to go out and touch the lives of others by their works. While many of us would rather spend our free time chatting with friends on social networks, going to the malls to do shopping or spending time at home watching soapies, these women would rather go out of themselves to do something for others. This does not mean that they have nothing to do; like all of us, they are busy too, but in their business, they have managed to create time for God and for others.

To all of you, who in one way or another are supporting emotionally, spiritually, physically, financially. Thank you for your great heart, and your endless generosity.
I wish you a Holy week full of blessings, and a glorious Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I would also like to share with you some of the activities and progress of the Vicariate Orphans Project.

Last year we were privileged to celebrate with Gogo Manqele her 100th birthday. She was so happy, and she told us that it was the first time she ever had a birthday cake. The children made her day a special one with joyful songs and dance. She herself was a dancer. Even though she couldn't walk properly, in April 2011 she was dancing on her knees when she went into her new house, built by Home-Plan.
Unfortunately she slowly started losing strength, and she got sick and died in December. We miss and remember her tenderly. May she enjoy fullness of life with God our Creator.

During the last three months we were very busy preparing the children for school. Some children had their graduation feast (pre-school, grade 7 and the matriculates). They needed decent clothes for the occasion, money for the farewell party, and somebody to accompany them in such happy moment in their life. The caregivers did good job and at the same time enjoyed it with the children.