A much-needed season of hope for peace.
One of the major themes associated with Christmas is peace
captured in the song of the angels on the occasion of the birth of
Jesus: “Glory to God in the heavenly heights, and peace among all
people on earth (cf. Lk.2:14-20).
Yet, as we enter this season of peace, the reality of our situation in
the world, at the national and personal levels, is characterised by a
lack of peace with varying degrees, with some situations being
worse than others. To talk meaningfully about this season of peace,
we must be upfront in naming our unpeaceful situations.
- Absence of Peace in the Holy Land
The worst situation that confronts us daily is the images of the
destruction from the war in Gaza beamed on our television for
almost two months now. From these images, we see a portion of
Palestine country, with a concentrated population of close to two
million people, being reduced into a rabble by bombs. The
consequence of this bombardment is the displacement of over a
million people, with thousands of them dying from bomb
explosions.
Even more disturbing are the reports that in this war, every ten
minutes, a child dies, to say nothing about the number of those
injured, those separated from their families and those who remain
orphans. The people who get killed in Gaza are not only
Palestinians but also journalists, humanitarian aid workers,
kidnapped Israeli citizens and soldiers. At this present moment,
Gaza is described by many as the worst place to live on earth.
What has not been shown on television is what sparked off this war,
namely the atrocious murder of innocent Israeli citizens by a small
group of people called Hamas, claiming to be fighting for the
liberation of Palestine. It is with this group that Israel is fighting,
but its indiscriminate attack of homes, hospitals, schools and even
refugee camps is resulting in the death of thousands of innocent
civilians. - Lack of Peace in the World
The situation of war in the Holy Land is receiving comprehensive
media coverage, contributing to knowledge and sympathy about
what is going on there. Not so forefront in our consciousness are
similar situations that are occurring in the African continent and
elsewhere because they are not so well covered by the media, but
they are there. These areas include Sudan, DRC, Burkina Faso,
Tigray, Mozambique, and Ukraine. - Lack of Peace in our Country
As the saying goes, “Peace is not the absence of war”. Therefore,
those of us spared from the shuttering sounds of bomb explosions
and constant crack of gunfire are not necessarily at peace. Just
being able to manage to live, put food on the table, and wake up to
face another day is not enough to feel at peace.
Being forced to accept that services for basic needs and
opportunities for self-development are an exception rather than a
rule of life does not make for feeling peaceful. Observing that those
in leadership use the platform to enrich themselves and those close
to them engenders anger and frustration rather than peace.
Observing how our country, which was once promising to be a
model of prosperity in the African continent, is now fast living up to
the doom prophecy of being “like the rest of African countries”
makes your heart sink rather than rejoice in peace.
The lack of ethical leadership at top levels and mismanagement of
the country has provided space for the mentality and spirit of
selfishness, bullying, lawlessness, disorder, violence, criminality
and lack of respect to reign, resulting in a collapse of peace among
citizens. With gender-based violence, women and girls are not at
peace at home, on the streets, at school, at work and,
unfortunately, in the church as well sometimes.
Taxi drivers bully everybody in the streets. Drug pushing is
resulting in painful conflict between addicted children and parents
and between society and those labelled as “Maphara”. The collapsed
economy, due in no small measure to corruption, has contributed
to massive unemployment, robbing millions of South Africans of
their human dignity while a few are obscenely wealthy. The
indifference of those in leadership to complaints about the lack of
essential services has resulted in a culture of violence and
destruction of property as it is “the only way to be heard”. - Lack of Peace in our close circles
More often than not, the ambience of our family, relatives, friends,
colleagues, and fellow believers is often marred by discords. We are
habitually unpeaceful within our close circles. - The dictatorship of Materialism
Then there is the perennial challenge of materialism and pleasure seeking culture, which renders people to want to live only at the
physical level. This attitude of pleasure maximisation leads to a
break of relationships with oneself, as “man does not live on bread
alone” but also on practising values that make for a respectful and
caring relationship with others and with our maker from whom we
came and to whom we shall return. - Lack of Peace between humanity and creation
Finally, as we enter the season of peace, let us remember that there
is no peace between humankind and the environment or creation.
Through fossil energy generation, pollution and destructive
practices of mining and farming, we are waging war with creation,
and through changes in weather patterns, creation is fighting back.
The bombs and guns of the war between humanity and creation are
not so loud and obvious, but they are silently exploding, and future
generations will bear the brunt of our present war with nature.
It is in this context of lack of peace between humanity and creation,
lack of peace among nations, lack of peace between the leaders and
citizens, lack of peace among citizens, lack of peace between oneself
and others, lack of peace within oneself and lack of peace between
oneself and God that we are invited to embrace Christ who is God
among us so that we can have peace at all levels of our existence.
St. Paul invites us not only to be at peace at all levels of our
existence but also to be instruments and agents of peace in the
world when he says: “God reconciled us to himself through Christ
and has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor.5:18-19)
The end of an era for Khanyisa and the beginning of a new one
In the month of October, we bid farewell to Mr Sebatian
Vattakunnel and his wife Sara to begin their well-deserved
retirement in Australia. Mr. Vattakunnel is the founding principal of
Khanyisa High School and the Khanyisa Children’s Home. He left
while in the process of founding another institution, Khanyisa 2
School, in the Ncambedlane area.
We know missionaries to be priests and religious, but Mr
Vattakunnel and his wife have proven that lay people are equally
missionaries, capable of founding institutions that enhance
evangelisation. There is no need for me here to give an elaborate
history of the school and its success in providing quality education
to children of poor backgrounds. Comprehensive information about
the school is available at this site: khanyisahighschool.com.
Suffice it to say that as he takes leave of the school, Mr Vattakunnel
is leaving the school in the capable hands of more than 80 teachers
with some of the best facilities for a wholesome education, including
an Olympic-sized swimming pool. In his departure speech, he
confessed to being not too much of a prayerful person but more of a
practical person who is always looking at how best to advance the
fruition of people’s potential, especially the marginalised. If VK, as
he is fondly known, was more of a busy Martha that we hear about
from the Bible (Lk 10:38-42), his wife Sara was Mary, who sat at the
feet of Jesus praying for the success of her husband’s missionary
projects.
I am grateful to this couple, originally from India, for their presence
and work in our Diocese. I assure them that the Diocese will do its
best to support the staff in continuing the excellent work they
started, and I wish them a peaceful and happy retirement.
Mrs and Mr Vattakunnel
Appointments
I am happy to announce that Fr. Wency Wangila will take over from
me as the new Priest in Charge of St. Peter’s Parish in Elliotdale,
which also serves St. Othma in Mqanduli with effect from the 1st of
January 2024. We wish him well.
A joyful occasion of the final profession of five sisters
On the 8th of this month, we witnessed a historical event of five
young women making their final vows in the congregation of the
Ursuline Society. They are sisters Ambrosia, Margaret-Mary, Maria,
Ursula and Pauline. Congratulations, booSisi bam and thank you
for the joy and hope you have brought us.
The five Ursuline Sisters who made their final vows.
Reminder about Parish DATA update
With everything winding down now and with more time on our
hands, let us make sure to update parish Data in the digital
system. For the 2023 statistics, due in January, we will not collect
statistics from papers but take them directly from the system.
Contact persons for reporting experience of sexual abuse
by Church personnel
I have appointed the following people as contact persons for
reporting experiences of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable
people by a Church person, and any one of them may be contacted
when a case arises
+Sithembele Sipuka
Bishop of Mthatha