In his homily at the Opening Mass of the Holy Spirit held at St John Vianney Seminary, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Bloemfontein called on members of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) to invoke the Holy Spirit to guide them as they begin the January Plenary Session.
In the Tuesday, January 23 Mass presided over by Cardinal Stephen Brislin to mark the start of the January Plenary Session under the theme ‘Synodality,’ Archbishop Zolile Mpambani in his homily highlighted how the Holy Spirit is at work in every Christian.
“As we begin our Plenary Session,” we invoke the Holy Spirit “to enlighten our deliberations and guide our decisions throughout the session, particularly as we are going to be talking about the issues that touch the life and the wellbeing of the Catholic Church at large in the Southern African Catholic Bishop’s Conference region, which is South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini,” said Archbishop Mpambani.
The Local Ordinary of Bloemfontein Archdiocese also called on the SACBC members to include in their prayers “all those who have particular influence in the wellbeing of the society,” such as those in leadership positions “who decide on the laws that govern the whole population of South Africa, the people who are responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the infrastructure.”
“Those responsible for service delivery and all the civil servants who work for the wellbeing and the good of the people of our country, from the young to the old,” he added.
Archbishop Mpambani went on to describe how the Holy Spirit works in the Church, starting from the day of Pentecost.
“We are invoking the very Spirit who descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost, driving from them all fear and doubt and giving them the gift of courage and fortitude to preach the Good News to the very Jews they feared and hid themselves from, behind locked doors,” he said, and added, “This is the very Spirit we received at our baptism and confirmation. The same Spirit all the priests and bishops received at their Priestly and Episcopal ordination.”
In his concluding remarks Archbishop Mpambani highlighted the Synod on Synodality, “the journeying together, the communion, the participation and finally the mission of witnessing about Jesus Christ,” which “can never happen without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, without the Spirit weaving the whole process.”
Archbishop Mpambani said, “In the Spirit of Synodality, we are encouraged to listen to one another in the Spirit, and that we converse with one another in the Spirit. The belief is that in this way all will go smoothly and there will be peace, harmony, and tranquillity in the society and in the whole world.”
“We would not be witnessing wars like we do in Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, and many other countries where there are wars we don’t hear about. We pray that the good Lord may intervene through the power of the Holy Spirit and redirect the world to the good,” said Archbishop Mpambani in his Tuesday, January 23 homily.
