Lent (23)

Last week Mrs Helen Kamutumbe, a woman from Chingola, was brutally murdered last week by a frenzied mob when she traveled to Kalumbila in North-Western District of Zambia for business. She was accused of witch-craft by a certain man, Mr. Prince Ntembo. The allegation that …

I’m sure we’ve all had the experience of being “blue-ticked.” Being left hanging by someone who has read your message on Whatsapp but then doesn’t reply gives enormous blue tick anxiety. We are left wondering why the person is not replying us, we wonder if we our message has …

Fr. George Smiga, a priest who ministers in the diocese of Cleaveland, Ohio tells a story about an interesting conversation he once had with his mother. His mother was not a highly educated woman, at least not in the academic sense. She was raised as a child on a farm in …

A man was flying his private plane and was forced to make a crash landing out in the middle of the Sahara desert. Although he was able to parachute to safety, he found himself without any means of communication or provisions. His only option was to walk to civilization. …

Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest and widely acclaimed spiritual writer, brought out a book a few years ago, entitled “Falling Upwards.” His main thesis in this book is that life is divided into two halves. The first half of life is all about building one’s tower. As you …

In Homer’s great Greek epic, The Odyssey, the hero of the story, Odysseus, is faced with the quest of returning to his home to be reunited with his wife and son. His journey home is plagued by obstacles, once of the most dangerous of which is to pass by the island of …

On Palm Sunday, we have the privilege of hearing two gospels, one that recounts the events when Jesus entered Jerusalem, and then a second that recounts the events that lead to his crucifixion. All too often the homily on this day focuses on the former, to the exclusion of …

In her work of counselling couples who are dealing with the fallout of an adulterous affair in their marriage, Ester Perel, a Canadian psychologist, has come to some interesting insights into the motivations behind adultery. Her work has led her to believe that when a …

This is a parable that we all know very well. I would suspect that when we hear this parable most of us are inclined to see ourselves in one of the sons. But I would like to invite you today to focus on the Father, for it was not really the son who was prodigal, but rather …

In today’s gospel, we are confronted by a certain version of Jewish theodicy. Theodicy is the branch of theology that wrestles with the question of how an all-powerful loving God might allow evil. At the time of Jesus, many Jews, following the lead of the Sadducees, did not …

Today’s first reading begins by telling us that Abraham decided to put his faith in the Lord. What does this really mean to have faith in God? Surely it means more than simply believing that God exists and following his commandments. I would suggest to you today dear friends …

Imagine that you were a car – now ask yourself what type of fuel you run on? What is the fuel that you put inside yourself, what keeps you going throughout the day. Now I’m not talking about whether you eat nshima, bread or spaghetti. I’m talking about what is the fuel that …

As a visitor to Joburg I have been amazed by the phenomenon of intersections where the traffic lights are not working. The lights not working are of course not what I find amazing, as a Zimbabwean, I am unfortunately far too used to such a phenomenon in my own country. But …

There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would …

Imagine an entirely fictional character named Musonda, who is an influencer cum politician with a large following on social media. He is something of a firebrand, priding himself on his ability to speak truth to power, and roundly criticizing the government of Zambia for its …

Two rather elderly Jesuits were recently having a conversation about dying. One of them asked the other “Are you afraid of dying?” Confident of being able to stare death in the face unflinchingly, his friend replied unhesitatingly “No not at all, I don’t mind death at all – …

Fr. Greg Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, a highly effective program that is responsible for helping to transform the lives of thousands of former members of Los Angeles’ gangs. When Fr. Greg first came to Dolores mission, a Jesuit parish in the heart of LA’s most …

I don’t know about you, but when I go shopping, I get stressed – because I am usually trying to balance two things – I want to purchase good quality merchandise, but I want to find it within the limits of my budget. So I want to get as much quality as I can, and pay as …

Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest and widely acclaimed spiritual writer, brought out a book a few years ago, entitled “Falling Upwards.” His main thesis in this book is that life is divided into two halves. The first half of life is all about building one’s tower. As you …

Some of you may know of the Pacific island just of the coast of Chile, known as Easter Island, which is known for its curious collection of great big stone statues, called moai that are dotted all over the island, numbering more than 887. What puzzled scholars for a long …

When I was a young Jesuit doing my philosophical training, I had a friend who would let me come over to his house and use his high speed internet connection to research my term papers. When he first gave me the password to his Wi-Fi: “End_2055,” I looked at him quizzically, …

Ash Wednesday derives its name from a powerful ritual that reminds us of a mortality. We are confronted by our mortality in order that we take seriously the short time allotted to us here on earth. As we journey towards Calvary this Lent together with the Lord, we start the …

Many of us, I’m sure have had the experience of being asked by a born-again Christian: “Have you received Jesus into your life as your personal savior?” It has happened to me a few times and I have been tempted to ask them where in the Bible does it tell you that …