Missionaries of Africa

Mass during the day of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ

Posted on 24/12/202524/12/2025 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Isaiah 52:7-10/ Psalm 97 (98) / Hebrews 1:1-6/ John 1:1-18

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace…” we hear in today’s first reading. It is hard not to linger over these words in a moment like ours, when the grey wolf, the ancient emblem of Mars, the god of war, seems to roam through every news broadcast from across the globe. And yet, paradoxically, peace has once again become a fresh and urgent longing. The desire for peace is beginning to mark the rhythm of a new era struggling to be born.

Not long ago, when I visited parishes in Poland to animate the missionary spirit of the local Church, I would speak of Africa as a continent rising to its feet. But in recent times we have been hearing more and more about the flames of war, not only beyond Poland’s eastern border, but also from Africa itself. Even in countries long considered stable, where peace and the spirit of ubuntu stand among the highest of values, people are beginning to express anger and deep frustration, escalating their unrest into open resistance and street demonstrations. And yet, the Good News of peace proclaimed in today’s Liturgy of the Word no longer strikes me as dissonant or naïve. Why?

This Advent, I found myself particularly moved by Pope Leo XIV’s pilgrimage to Turkey, and even more so to Lebanon, a country I know little about, yet one that kept returning to my mind as I preached Advent retreats to students at the Medical University of Lublin. The students surprised me by placing an icon of St. Charbel in the chapel. They had been inspired by the pope’s pilgrimage to his tomb in Lebanon. Though I had prepared a different theme, their gesture and our conversations drew me into their fascination. They were watching the papal pilgrimage with far greater attention than many priests I know.

I realized that I knew very little about St. Charbel, only what the Pope had said about him in Lebanon. But as I spoke with the students, another Lebanese figure resurfaced in my memory: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, whose book The Black Swan I had read years ago. He wrote that it was the history of his own homeland that inspired his famous metaphor of the Black Swan, those unusual events that should not occur, and yet do occur, reshaping our reality and sometimes redirecting the course of history. And once they happen, they force us to reinterpret even those elements of life that once seemed obvious and unquestionable.

Moments like these compel us to re-examine our deepest assumptions, our habits of mind, and the very lens through which we interpret the spiritual depths of our experience. Yet perhaps it is not simply about experience alone. For as Taleb reminds us, the turkey who is fed each day at the same hour, who grows fatter and is given ever more feed, may conclude, reasonably and based on experience, that humankind is the best friend a turkey could have. And he believes so, Taleb writes, until the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving (perhaps the turkey had a US citizenship). Then the impossible happens. I quoted to the students that striking line: “The hand that feeds you may be the hand that wrings your neck.”

Taleb was inspired by the history of his country, a land that had known thirteen centuries of peace, despite political domination by Syria, despite its mosaic of cultures, despite the coexistence of many Christian rites and rival branches of Islam. Many believed, this long peace to be the fruit of some distinctive feature of their culture. And yet it all ended in a single afternoon.

As I preached those Advent retreats, I understood more clearly why the Pope chose Lebanon for his first journey. Christianity does not shield us with illusions. The God-Man came to proclaim peace; He overcame sin, but He did not eliminate sinful people, who must from time to time confront the consequences of their choices.

And there is something more. We may look upon the coming of Jesus as an event that bears every mark of a Black Swan, a divine interruption that reshapes the world and forces us to reimagine reality itself. The people of Israel expected a Messiah powerful enough to subdue the mighty and establish a new order. Instead, He comes into a poor family on the margins of an empire. He is born of a Woman who “had not known a man”; something that, by the logic of human experience, should not have happened. And yet it did. And those who believed, simple people whose humble lives had taught them to keep their hearts open even to the impossible, received a lesson that Love is greater than the power of the mighty, that Love is God.

Today’s Gospel from St. John is precisely an attempt to ponder and articulate the meaning of this great mystery. In theology we call it theology from above, an invitation to lift our gaze, to interpret earthly realities in the light of divine initiative. But such theology is never meant to be merely repeated. It is meant to stir us, people of the 21st century, shaped by experiences vastly different from those of Jesus’ contemporaries, to rediscover and rearticulate the meaning of God’s entry not only into human history, but into our personal history.

If we fail to do this, we risk becoming like the turkey who speaks of peace on the Wednesday afternoon before a feast, whatever feast it may be, depending on where we stand on the day when “the axe is laid to the root.”

By: Tomasz Podrazik, M.Afr.

Midnight Mass of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ

Posted on 23/12/202523/12/2025 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Isaiah 9:1-7 / Psalm 95(96) / Titus 2:11-14 / Luke 2:1-14

Not every day is Christmas, but every day is perfect for thanking the Lord for his presence among us. Why?

In the first reading, from the book of Isaiah (Is 9:1-6), a promise of liberation and hope is described for a people living in darkness. In the past, there are many sins of an unfaithful people: wars and oppression, disloyalty and the search for “gods” who have neither eyes nor hearts. Leaving behind the dark side of history, Isaiah’s prophecy promises a hopeful future. Although it does not specify when this will happen, the New Testament identifies it with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. That same prophecy also refers to one of the greatest and most mysterious truths in the Bible: the incarnation, “For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests”. God would become part of the human race. A newborn child would be called “Mighty God, Everlasting Father”. The text shows both the humanity and divinity of Jesus, who came to save the world, to reconcile humanity with the heavenly Father, and to establish an eternal kingdom of justice and peace.

In the second reading, from St Paul’s letter to Titus (2:11-14), we read with gratitude that God’s grace has been revealed for the salvation of all humanity and not just for the people of Israel. In this text, Paul speaks briefly about the manifestation of God’s grace, but in reality he covers all aspects of it: The manifestation of grace covers the entire life and ministry of Jesus Christ, from the birth of Jesus, through the cross and to the resurrection; from Bethlehem to the Mount of Olives; from the heavens opening when the shepherds heard the voices of the angels singing, to the heavens opening when the disciples looked up and saw him disappear into the clouds of heaven.

In today’s Gospel reading from Luke (2:1-14), the coming of Almighty God contrasts with the birth of a vulnerable newborn. The baby born in Bethlehem in human flesh is the same one who comes as the Divine Word that gives life in abundance. This is the greatest miracle that God has performed: a weak, dependent, poor, simple and needy child embodies all the greatness of God the Father.

If we listen carefully to this passage from the Gospel, we see that not everything revolves around Jesus. We are told that he was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. We are told where he was born and who his parents are. We are also told that the shepherds came to worship him and that a choir of angels in heaven praised God. Jesus is silent, he does not move, and yet everyone around him moves and speaks. He is at the centre; everything comes from him and goes to him. A tiny, silent newborn, but capable of giving meaning to everything that happens around him, drawing everyone to him, to his simplicity, humility and poverty.

It is Christmas not because everything is shiny, it is Christmas because Jesus wants to and can be at the centre of our lives. We can no longer ignore our God who eagerly seeks our friendship, our response of love. In Christ, God the Father wants to be recognised today in the weak, the needy and the marginalised. Thanks to his birth, humans can be more like brothers and sisters and can also share his divine nature, because God himself shares in our human nature.

Each of us knows well what that means in our reality here and now. Let us open our hearts to him and entrust to him all our joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, desires and frustrations. Everything, for he has taken everything upon himself to heal it, reconcile it and make it bear fruit in abundance.

I sincerely believe that every one of us carries within us a seed of divinity that makes us worthy of being children of God and capable of loving according to His divine plan. Therefore, as proclaimed in today’s psalm (Ps 95 (96)): “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord; bless his name”.

By: Salvador Muñoz-Ledo, M.Afr.

Fourth Sunday of Advent Year A

Posted on 20/12/202518/12/2025 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Isaiah 7:10-14 / Psalm 23(24) / Romans 1:1-7 / Matthew 1:18-24

God can sometimes surprise us and disrupt our habits, our plans, our comfort and even our understanding of our relationship with him.

King Ahaz was somewhat shaken when God said to him, “Ask for a sign from your God”. According to the spirituality I was taught, I would have responded like Ahaz: “No, I will not put the Lord to the test.”

But here’s the thing… When God asks for something, we must respond positively, even if his request is sometimes incomprehensible or contrary to what we have learned.

Ahaz then receives this prophecy: “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, which means “God with us”.

The history of humanity is shaken. God with us will become one of us. His announcement will take a few centuries to be fulfilled, but it is already shaping the hopes of an entire people. God has taken the initiative to change the world, but it requires a considerable investment on his part. God Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth, the King of kings, the Prince of life, will one day come knocking at the door of our humanity to be born as a child, humble and lying in a manger.

The promise is fulfilled a few centuries later. We see Joseph, a righteous man, ready to send his betrothed away in secret. Mary has told him about the great mystery within her. She is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, a righteous man, believes Mary. He does not doubt her. She has not been unfaithful to him. It is too great a mystery. If she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit, he, Joseph, cannot claim paternity of the child of God. He does not feel worthy of it.

It is then that God comes to him and entrusts him with the mission of taking care of Mary and the child who will be born. And it is he who will even give him the name Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us. In this way, he will assert his paternal authority over the child.

This is indeed the heart of Paul’s message to the Romans: “This gospel, which God promised beforehand through his prophets, concerns his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh”.

This gospel is the good news already announced by the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz. This Son, Emmanuel, Jesus, was born of the seed of David, through Joseph, who will give him his name.

And Paul announces it to all the pagan nations, to all nations other than Israel, to us who still receive the good news today.

This good news overwhelmed Joseph. He responded positively to God’s call, even though the mystery was far too great for his fragile human nature to bear.
Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. He took his wife and her unborn child into his home.

Does this good news still move us today? Does it affect our habits, our comfort, the way we understand our relationship with God?

A few days before the birth of this God-with-us, it is good to ask ourselves this question. We are so used to celebrating Christmas that there is a real risk of treating it as routine.

Let us therefore allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by this good news. God, the Almighty, became one of us, human, like us in every way except sin. God Almighty, in Jesus, is here among us, close to us, one of us. It is unimaginable! What humility from God! The risk he takes is also enormous: the risk of rejection and death! But that is love, true love without limits, without return. A completely free love is given to us in Jesus.

God’s promise was thus fulfilled in Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us. And it continues to be fulfilled day after day. God never ceases to come to us, becoming incarnate in us every day. God never ceases to be God-with-us, close to all those who labour, to those who wait for a sign of his love.

Jesus is undoubtedly there at our door, standing beside someone in need, a forgotten and rejected soul. As we walk through our city, our neighbourhood, and our village, we need to stay alert. We shouldn’t close our eyes to the unexpected, to the person who, in Jesus, will catch our attention and ask us for a sign of love.

Christmas is every day when we open our hearts and accept being shaken out of our habits, when we respond, like Joseph, positively to a mission that God entrusts to us and which takes us out of our usual comfort zone and opens us up to some unexpected love to give, a sign not to refuse when God asks us to give it.

To make sure that Christmas is not just a routine, but a new event worthy of celebration, let us open our hearts to the unexpected.

By: Georges Jacques, M.Afr.

In the Spirit of Lavigerie: Living Simply, Trusting Deeply

Posted on 18/12/202518/12/2025 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

There are moments in our missionary journey when the Gospel calls us not only to preach with words, but to speak with our lives. For me, living the missionary vocation today means striving to embody the legacy of Cardinal Charles Lavigerie in a world far removed from his but still deeply shaped by his spirit. When I consider the theme “Material life and mission,” I find myself returning again and again to one word that has become a cornerstone in our Society: simplicity.

A Simple Lifestyle: The Freedom of the Gospel

Lavigerie did not envision missionaries as mere agents of charity or doctrine. He envisioned men entirely given to Christ, free from worldly attachments, and rooted in the people they served. To him, simplicity was not an economic status; it was a spiritual orientation a freedom of heart.

For me, living simply means constantly discerning: What do I really need to serve the mission? It is not about embracing poverty for its own sake, but about aligning our lives with the values of the Kingdom. It is about uncluttering our hearts, so we may be more available to the Spirit and to the people we serve.

Simplicity as Prophetic Witness

The consumerism of our time is not only economic; it is also spiritual. It feeds the illusion that we are self-sufficient, that happiness comes from accumulation, and that comfort is the measure of success. In such a world, our choice to live simply becomes a prophetic sign.

I’ve often witnessed how local communities intuitively understand when a missionary truly shares their life. They may not articulate it in theological terms, but they recognize humility, presence, and authenticity. This silent testimony, more than words, is what draws people to the Gospel.

Poverty and Mission: Holding the Tension

Yet I must confess, this is not always easy. Mission requires resources. Formation houses, schools, dispensaries, vehicles all these need funding. How do we reconcile evangelical poverty with such material needs?

I have learned that the answer lies not in having less, but in owning less, in being stewards, not possessors. As Lavigerie once wrote, “We must have only what is necessary for the mission and no more.” There is freedom in that phrase. It allows for what the mission truly requires while keeping our hearts detached and open.

Between Autonomy and Aid: the Path of Communion

One of the challenges we face today is the balance between financial autonomy and dependence on external aid. Our Founder accepted the generous support of European benefactors, but he was clear: the mission must not be shaped by the hand that funds it.

In our time, I believe we must cultivate a spirit of communion both in giving and in receiving. We work toward greater financial autonomy, not because we want to isolate ourselves, but because we want to take responsibility for our mission. But this autonomy must never make us forget the grace of interdependence in the Body of Christ.

Managing Well, Trusting Fully

Finally, I believe the key lies in managing our resources well but always with a spirit of trust. Divine providence is not an excuse for poor planning; nor is planning a substitute for faith. In my own ministry, I have seen how initiatives born in prayer, discernment, and fraternal collaboration bear fruit.

I think of communities that installed solar panels, not only to reduce costs but to respect creation. Others have created local solidarity funds to support mission partners in need. Still others have opted for simple housing and limited transport, choosing presence over prestige. These are not just budgetary decisions they are spiritual choices.

Conclusion: Returning to the Spirit of the Founder

The legacy of Lavigerie is not a museum piece; it is a living fire. His vision for our Society was bold, yet grounded in the Cross. He wanted men who would be free, free from fear, free from greed, free to love radically.

I pray that in our time, we may recover this inner freedom. That our lifestyle may not only reflect the poverty of Christ, but radiate the joy of serving Him with undivided hearts. That in the way we handle money, possessions, and planning, we may witness to a God who provides, who sends, and who sustains.

By: Shiby Dominic, M.Afr.

Recycling at Christmas : A Christmas gift for the earth

Posted on 15/12/202515/12/2025 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Christ; we share and fill our homes with lights, gifts, and joy. But it is also a time when we produce more waste than usual: packaging, boxes, decorations, and food scraps. That is why it is important to remember that the best gift we can give the planet is to take care of it.

We can celebrate Christmas joyfully while caring for the planet. Recycling to create our own decorations not only reduces waste but also stimulates our creativity and encourages us to spend time with our families. Every bottle, cardboard box, or piece of paper that we transform into a unique decoration reminds us that small actions can lead to big changes. Let’s make this holiday season a time to light up our homes while giving the Earth a little rest. Because when we recycle, we’re not just decorating our homes… we’re also building a green future.

Recycling at Christmas is very simple. We can sort paper packaging, reuse bags and boxes, and dispose of glass and plastic in the appropriate containers. We can also opt for reusable decorations and more durable gifts. Giving objects a second life is also a great way to convey values.

Recycling is about cultivating solidarity: by preserving natural resources, we are thinking about the common good rather than immediate comfort. It is an act of respect for nature, for human labour, and for the fragile balance of our environment.

Recycling is about promoting hope. Hope that another model is possible, one that is more sustainable and conscious, where everyone plays a part in the solution. Through this simple act, we learn to consume better, live better together, and build a more responsible future.

When we recycle, we’re reaffirming our responsibility to the planet and to future generations. We’re showing that every little action counts and that our daily choices can have a positive impact. If we all do our part, we can enjoy celebrations that are just as magical, but much more responsible. Let’s celebrate the nativity of Christ with joy… and awareness. The planet deserves a beautiful gift too.

By: Salvador Muñoz-Ledo R., M.Afr.

Is Announcing the Message of Hope still Relevant to Africa and the African World?

Posted on 15/12/202515/12/2025 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Daniel 6:12-28/ Psalm: Dn 3:68-74 / Luke 21:20-28

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Yesterday, as I was reflecting on what I could share with you on such an important day, the day we celebrate the life of our Founder Cardinal Charles Lavigerie, a notification just popped up on my phone. And when I checked it out, it happened to be a notice about a coup d’état in Guinea-Bissau, a former colony of Portugal, located in West Africa. Then my mind started hovering over events of war, violence and destruction.

Surprisingly, going to today’s gospel text (Lk 21:20-28), I found that the same images of war, violence and destruction are being described and played out. I was, however, consoled by the last statement of today’s gospel text: “When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand” (Luke 21:28): A message of hope from Jesus himself.

Jesus’ words raised a question in my mind: “Is announcing the message of hope still relevant to Africa and the African world?” In other words, is announcing the message of hope still “appropriate to the current time, period, or circumstances” our beloved continent Africa is passing through? Or again, if Lavigerie comes back today, will he find it relevant to send Missionaries of hope to Africa?

Africa is faced with challenges that can be traced back to her recent history. She suffered about 400 years[1] of slave trade, about 100 years of colonization,[2] and more than four decades of the Cold War.[3] Now, as we speak, she is being torn apart between the powerful of the world: USA, Russia and China, who by all means, want to extract her natural resources, mercilessly destroy her beautiful rivers and forests, without forgetting the many women and children who get trapped in the cycle of unending economic and geostrategic wars imposed on Africa. In such circumstances, announcing the message of hope becomes relevant; and Cardinal Lavigerie, with no doubt, would recommend us to continue doing so. However, it would be more relevant, if we, the daughters, sons, children and grandchildren of Lavigerie, take interest in knowing better what is happening to Africa and the African world today.

Most of us who are here today, have suffered, I argue, the consequences of the Cold War, starting from Patrice Lumumba and Kwame Nkrumah, passing through the Thomas Sankara period, to the Muammar Gaddafi time. Did we try to understand what happened to these men I just mentioned and many other sons and daughters of Africa? If we didn’t, it is high time we get re-connected to our own history. In this way, we will be able to announce the message of hope, relevant to the people of Africa, and the African world. We will be able ‘to stand erect, hold our heads high’, to announce the message of hope and true “liberation” to the African people. If we are in touch with our roots, it will make sense, to stand at the pulpit and say: “[…] hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand” (Lk 21:28).

When we hear about coup d’états, women and girls being raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in South-Sudan, Sudan; girls being kidnapped and Christians killed in Nigeria; migrants dying in the desert of Libya in their hope to get to greener pastures in Europe; when we hear about so many other atrocities being done to the daughters and sons of Africa, we are gripped with fear. However, like the prophet Daniel, we should know that even in the lions’ den, God will never abandon us (cf. Dan. 6:23).

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, to celebrate the life of Cardinal Lavigerie is to revive his legacy in us. It is to remember that Africa, which our Founder loved and cherished so much is still fighting for her true liberation. We suffered the Cold War; the generation after us, I allow myself to argue, will probably suffer more because of the current confrontation between USA, Russia and China. Unless young missionaries take time to imagine new ways and means of evangelization that empower more the African people. Young missionaries are called to move from “charity handouts” to “equity”. In other words, missionary apostolate should strive to challenge and change systems – local, national and international – that maintain in misery and hopelessness the beneficiaries of evangelization.

United with Cardinal Lavigerie, through the intercession of Our Lady of Africa, Queen of Peace, let us ask Christ to make us true messengers of hope. “When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand” (Lk 21:28).

……………………………………………….

[1] Cf. Clark, «Number of African Slaves Taken by Each Nation per Century 1501-1866», African slaves taken by each nation 1501-1866| Statista [accessed 27/11/2025].

[2] Cf. African History, «How Long Colonisation Lasted in Africa», How Long Colonisation Lasted In Africa [accessed 27/11/2025].

[3] Cf. Blakemore, «What Was the Cold War – and Are We Headed to Another One?», Cold War facts and information | National Geographic [accessed 27/11/2025].

Third Sunday of Advent Year A

Posted on 13/12/202515/12/2025 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Isaiah 35:1-6,10 / Psalm 145(146) / James 5:7-10 / Matthew 11:2-11

This Sunday we celebrate the third Sunday of Advent, the famous Sunday of joy. Before we go into the message of the biblical texts, we need to remember the logic behind liturgical texts, especially during Advent: the first reading is a prophecy: God speaks through his servants, the prophets, about a promise. The psalm (especially the antiphon) is a prayer for the fulfilment of this promise, and in the Gospel we see Jesus fulfilling this promise.

The joy to which we are called this Sunday is, in fact, the fruit of the salvation that God brings. In a time of uncertainty and turmoil, the fate of God’s people was far from guaranteed. On the one hand, Assyria threatened all the small kingdoms, while on the other, Egypt made its neighbours tremble, with God’s people caught in the middle. To make matters worse, Judah’s immediate neighbours, the Northern Kingdom and Syria, allied to force Judah to join them against Assyria. The situation was therefore critical.

In the midst of all this, the prophet Isaiah calls his people to rejoice, for the Lord is coming to save them. This salvation is expressed in a rebirth and restoration. The prophet speaks symbolically of the desert blooming again. This means that God’s glory and splendour will be visible even in nature, which was once completely dead; it is revived and sees God’s glory again.

Another sign of God’s presence and his salvation among the people is healings: the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and the dumb speak. In addition, those who were captives are set free. All these actions are sources of great joy, a joy that is eternal and will never end.

The responsorial psalm is a prayer for this prophecy to be fulfilled. Come, Lord, and save us, says the antiphon. Save us from famine, oppression and injustice, from blindness; in short, may the Lord reign in our lives.

In the Gospel taken from Matthew, Jesus fulfils this prophecy. The people of God, faithful to the teachings of the prophets, knew that, among many other signs of the Messiah, he would take upon himself all our infirmities. John, in his prison cell, is going through a crisis of faith and asks himself, “Is Jesus really the Messiah?” Indeed, he is slow to bring about God’s vengeance, a vengeance that John badly needed in his prison.

But Jesus responds by pointing to the Scriptures: restoration: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the Good News preached to them. In other words, God’s promises of salvation are fulfilled in Jesus. This is the source of our deep joy. God saves us in Jesus.

Jesus recalls John’s message to the people as the messengers leave: “John is the one who cried out in the desert, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before you, to prepare the way before you’”. God’s salvation requires that we prepare the way of the Lord. God saves us, but we must accept this salvation if we are to have deep joy.
The season of Advent is not only a reminder of the birth of Jesus long ago; it is, above all, the expectation of Jesus’ coming in glory. James, in the second reading, invites us to persevere in patience as we wait for the Lord. Let us hold fast to the salvation we have already received from the Lord as we await the final salvation at the return of the Lord Jesus.

Salvation is an ongoing process. Through our baptism, we are saved from sin and incorporated into the Body of Christ, configured to Christ. Just as an application needs an operating system to function, we Christians must continue to draw on Jesus for the strength of our salvation. We need to nourish ourselves daily with his word and the Eucharist to maintain our salvation. Our salvation is past, present and future. Our joy as Christians comes from our continuous relationship with the source of our salvation: Jesus.

I will conclude with a story that took place in my home village, in a parish run by the Xaverian Fathers. There was a baptismal Mass, where a family were to be baptised: the father, the mother and their baby son. The mother was baptised first, then the baby, and finally the father. When the priest pronounced the words and performed the baptismal actions, the father burst with joy, singing a joyful song in his mother tongue. He had forgotten that the Mass was not yet over. His joy was in becoming a child of God. He took his baby in his arms and went up to the priest, asking him: “Is this baby really a child of God?” When the priest answered in the affirmative, the father sang another verse of joy, took his wife by the hand, and they began to dance together. The whole church joined in; it was the best catechesis on the joy of salvation that day.

Let us always rejoice with joy, for the Lord is our salvation.

By: Ghislain Mbilizi, M.Afr.

Dialogue? Let’s talk about it

Posted on 12/12/202512/12/2025 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

When we talk about ‘dialogue’, many people think of it as a neologism coined in a closed circle within the Catholic Church, which appeared almost concomitantly with Vatican II. Yet dialogue is what makes human beings unique; it is their defining characteristic. We are fundamentally dialogical. Take dialogue away from human beings and they will no longer be human. As a characteristic element of human beings, dialogue is part of God’s creative act. Saint Augustine asked this fundamental question: what did God do before the creation of the world? (Quid facibat Deus ante creationem mundi?). He replied: ‘He loved’ (amabat). The outflow of God’s love is at the origin of creation. And the masterpiece of God’s creation is the human being. Humans are Capax Dei and Capax amoris because they were created out of love. Therefore, he is constantly in dialogue with the Creator, his likes, himself, and other creatures. This dialogue constitutes a web with the human being at its centre, acting on and subject to the action of his environment. Despite being in relation with several entities, he/she remains simultaneously an indivisible unit, human, believing, Christian or Muslim, citizen, artist, etc.

The tendency in current teaching to specialise means that scholars look at every detail of the web. This is how we arrived at the terms ‘interreligious dialogue’, ‘social dialogue’, ‘cultural dialogue’, ‘intercultural dialogue’, ‘dialogue of life’, ‘dialogue of works’, and so on.

Before Vatican II, the Church had a self-referential outlook. She considered herself a substitute for the Kingdom of God, while many members remained by the wayside. St. Pope John XXIII deserves credit for awakening the Church’s conscience to the fact that she was closed in and inviting her to open her doors and windows. His successor, Pope Paul VI, asked the Church to enter into dialogue as a proper form of action and live up to her identity as an instrument of salvation for all. Saint Paul VI wanted the Church to once again become the centre of the network of relationships by re-establishing dialogue with humanity in general, since everything human touches the Church and dialogue with monotheistic believers, with all Christians and within the Church itself.

What do we mean by intercultural and interreligious dialogue?

By intercultural dialogue, we mean the following attitudes:
-Openness to a plural world: considering oneself as an element among many others;
-Having a positive view of others who are different from ourselves: getting rid of prejudices and seeing others as people with values;
-Accepting to learn from others: looking at others as complementary to oneself;
-Respecting others in their differences: let others be themselves without wanting them to be how we want them to be. The other becomes a gift to be received and not a threat.
Interreligious dialogue is a quest for Truth. Neither I nor the other person possesses the Truth. It is something that emerges in the intersection of our discourses. The Truth is God himself: he is not the prerogative of any religious tradition or theology. He reveals himself to everyone in ways that human intelligence cannot fathom.

As witnesses to God’s love, how can we address the issue of intercultural and interreligious dialogue?

By listening to each other, we can enter more deeply into the knowledge of the mystery. We should approach dialogue like Moses before the burning bush: removing our prejudices about others and allowing ourselves to be instructed by the All Other. To sum up the meaning of the verb ‘to dialogue’, Pope Francis uses the following verbs: approaching, speaking, listening, looking at, coming to know and understand one another, and finding common ground. (Fratelli Tutti, 198).

In the light of the Gospel, how can we promote universal values that transcend cultural and religious differences?

Jesus is the model for engaging in dialogue. He reached out to the pagans and discovered in them a ‘great faith’ that he had not found in those deemed to have it. Dialogue is an act of love that draws us out of ourselves and towards the other, who initially was seen as a stranger but eventually became a brother. Pope Francis says: ‘Those who dialogue are benevolent, recognising and respecting the other’. It’s a journey from ‘us and them’ to a fraternal ‘we’.

How can we encourage creating an environment conducive to peaceful coexistence and collaboration between different communities?

Is peace the aim of dialogue? Peace is the consequence of the attitude of those who sincerely seek the Truth. Dialogue is, therefore, the vital element that fosters harmony in God’s creation, differentiating between day and night, heaven and earth, dry land and sea, man and woman, and so on. These differences are not antagonistic opposites but complements. Cardinal Lavigerie had a clear vision of the complementarity of differences when he warned the first novices: ‘I would not keep any of you who did not have the same love for all the members of your Society, whatever their nationality’. Our Founder thus made our Society a laboratory for intercultural dialogue, a sign of the Kingdom.
Let it be clear that we do not enter into dialogue with a spirit of dogmatism. We need to have an open mind ready to give our point of view, welcome the point of view of the other with respect, and, above all, detect the transcendent value of both.

By: Pascal Kapilimba, M.Afr.

Roman Stäger R.I.P.

Posted on 11/12/202511/12/2025 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Society of the Missionaries of Africa
Father Josef Buholzer, Provincial Delegate of the sector of Switzerland,
informs you of the return to the Lord of Father

Roman Stäger

on Wednesday, 10^th December 2025 in Riaz-Fribourg (Switzerland)
at the age of 91 years, of which 67 years of missionary life
in Tunisia, Algeria, Liban, Great Britain, Yemen, Italy and Switzerland.

Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.

Download here the announcement of Father Roman Stäger’s death

Milestones in the life of Father Roman Stäger

Born in: Baden on 12/07/1934	Spiritual Year	Missionary Oath	Priestly Ordination
Diocese: Bâle-Basel	27/09/1954	17/06/1958	01/02/1959
Citizenship: Swiss	Maison-Carrée (Algérie)	Carthage (Tunisie)	Fully (Suisse)

Bionotes

01/09/1959	Etudes Islamiques	La Manouba	Tunisie
15/12/1961	Professeur	Ghardaïa, D. Laghouat	Algérie
01/01/1966	Direct. C.E.C.	Ghardaïa	Algérie
02/10/1967	Anim. Missionnaire	Lucerne	Suisse
01/09/1972	Dir. Centre Pré-Form.	El Oued, D. Laghouat	Algérie
30/06/1973	Dir. Centre Form.	Biskra, D. Constantine	Algérie
01/01/1975	Conseiller Régional		Algérie
01/03/1976	Projet Réfugiés	Choukine	Liban
01/09/1977	Etudes d’anglais	London	Grande-Bretagne
11/01/1978	Ecole Enf. Délinquants	Sana’a	Yemen
02/02/1984	Réside à	Roma, M.G.	Italia
01/06/1984	Carit. Int. :Vatican	Roma, M.G.	Italia
06/10/1992	Econome diocésian	Laghouat, D. Laghouat	Algérie
15/06/1994	Vicaire Général Prov	Ouargla	Algérie
01/10/1995	Econome diocésain		Algérie
12/01/1996	Sec.Gén.dela CERNA		Algérie
01/09/1996	Econome Diocésain	Ouargla	Algérie
01/07/1998	Econome Diocésain	Gardaïa, D. Laghouat	Algérie
08/10/2001	Econome	Roma, PISAI	Italia
01/07/2005	Retour Province		Suisse
28/10/2005	App. Econ. Secteur Sse	Fribourg	Suisse
03/07/2006	Elu Conseiller		Suisse
01/07/2012	Administration	Fribourg	Suisse
10/12/2025	DCD (91)	Riaz-Fribourg	Suisse

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 2025

Posted on 07/12/202507/12/2025 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Conceived without sin, without deceptive or manipulative mind

Genesis 3:9-15,20 / Psalm 97(98) / Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12 / Luke 1:26-38

Today the Church celebrates the very important solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We celebrate it to honour mother Mary as the only human person conceived without sin. Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary, were wealthy people, yet chose to live a very simple life by sharing their wealth with the poor, and living in piety. They kept praying to God for a child with the promise that if God gave them a child, they would dedicate it to the service of God. God couldn’t have doubted that promise, because though they were rich, they didn’t allow pride to destroy their faith. Indeed, they recognized God as the source of riches, which they used to his glory. They were ready to be Mary’s parents, because their faith and intentions prepared the grounds for Mary’s conception This became the foundation on which God would build His plan for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. When we reflect on Mary’s life, on her simplicity, humility, perseverance, etc. we can more easily believe that she truly was conceived without sin.

The first reading of today reveals the roots of evil: deception, manipulation, pollution, distraction and other shrewd ways which draw people away from God’s love. These are often used by people who appear outwardly good and innocent, but in fact destroy the social order.

In this reading four characters appear: God, Adam, Eve and the serpent. God desires a life of grace for Adam and Eve (humanity), but the serpent (the devil) seeks to destroy this plan. He claims to offer better advice than God. He deceives the woman who is receptive and through her Adam also agrees. After this, the serpent disappears. Once traitors achieve their goal they disappear from the scene, leaving their victims to face the consequences. This was now the situation of Adam and Eve, and guilt begins to torture them immediately. They try to escape, but don’t know where to go. In our days, too, there are still traitors. It could be our own desires or other people, or external things such as money, power, wealth, fame, etc. All these things entice us and lead us astray.

This reading raises the issue of responsibility. God calls Adam, and asks him where he was. Adam had to bear the greater blame. Despite his attempt to shift blame, God still held him accountable because he was entrusted with the garden and with Eve. God then condemned the serpent for deceiving Eve and Adam and destroying the trust God had built with them. In most cases, traitors believe that they will escape unnoticed but eventually their actions expose them and they suffer the consequences of their actions. God allows them the freedom to act, and they think that they are the winners but justice comes in due time. Once trust is destroyed, enmity replaces friendship. solidarity gives way to egoism, unity to division and harmony to chaos.

The gospel of Luke tells the story of the Annunciation, introducing to us Mary as the woman chosen to bear the Son of God, who will restore our broken relationship with God. The message was overwhelming and frightening, yet Mary recognised the voice of God in it. Like her parents, she acknowledged God as the source of her life. This is how Mary was prepared to be the mother of God.

A good action or decision taken, is a seed sown, which will grow from generation to generation and bear lots of fruits. Parents have a huge role to play in promoting good moral values for their children and policy makers in enacting good policies, thereby shaping the direction society should take. Leaders in general have to enact good laws and social norms, not for selfish gains as Adam and Eve did, but rather for the sake of posterity as Mary demonstrated. God gave humanity the task to subdue the world, not only for the sake of one’s own family, or community, but in a way that makes the world a true home for all peoples and generations. Saints Anne and Joachim sowed the seeds of piety and generosity, producing abundant fruit in Mary. Mary’s faith bore immeasurable fruit in Jesus. When we recognize that all that we have comes from God and that we are stewards, rather than owners, then God can work wonders through us. We are therefore blessed with Mary, for through her God’s love for humanity reaches its fullness in Jesus Christ.

As the second reading reminds us, God sent His Son out of love for us so that through Him we all might be saved. The world may at first sight seem to be full of evil, because of the many challenges there are, but on the contrary, it remains full of goodness and blessings. That is why we are grateful to God for his son Jesus who has shown us how to cultivate good morals and good habits because they enable us to enjoy the riches God has given us. Mary, the saints, the martyrs, and also our founder Cardinal Lavigerie have shown us the path of sacrifice, charity and selflessness which leads us into the hidden mystery of God (Mt 10:39).

By: Josephat Diyuo, M.Afr.