The feast of St Patrick’s happened again on March 17 with the usual celebration of a feast Mass, this time, led by Archbishop George Desmond Tambala at St Kizito Chigoneka parish in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe.
In the midst of growing despair that is resulting in some using bad language to destroy fellow humans, the archbishop urged members and friends of St Patrick’s Society to be advocates of calm and sober minds.
“Be the leaders in the use of constructive words on social media to build others,” said the archbishop in his homily during the feast Mass, which was attended by the Irish ambassador to Malawi, Kate Hayes Brady.
The archbishop said there is a need for everybody to examine the rationale of communication and the church to help in building informed consciousness in people, “because language normally, if it goes off the rails, it always leads to violence.”
The Eucharist celebration was also used for the renewal of temporal membership to St Patrick’s Missionary Society for Brother Joseph Nyamu on his journey to the priesthood.
Local leader for St Patrick’s society in the archdiocese of Lilongwe, Fr. Martin Mulholland, said the slowing down of personnel from Ireland in recent years has been an issue of concern but fortunately it is being resolved with increasing numbers of the youth in African countries, Malawi inclusive, joining the congregation.
St Patrick’s Day is the feast day for St Patrick, patron saint and national apostle of Ireland, credited with bringing Christianity to the island.