Bits of the Gospel

DAY THREE Saturday, July 12, 2014 The Youth Congress has gained enough momentum. The young minds are turning more creative and the interest in what is going on around them is now almost palpable. Sr. Hellen, Sr. Cesalia, and Mr. Jackson aka Mpiganaji together with Fr Kirimo and Seminarian Stanley Kobia are also aware of the need to give the young people more and more to satisfy their hunger and thirst for the Word. MORNING ROUTINE: JOGGING, CLEANING, PRAYERS, BREAKFAST... The group leaders with the guidance of the TYCS patron Deo Gratias Kazole of The Great Lakes Secondary School are keen to ensure the morning session of jogging and cleaning go smoothly. It takes longer than expected but when the youth come for Morning Lauds in the Hall, they are ready to recuperate lost time by shortening their breaks. And true to their words, the events of the day go on without interruptions following the schedule. Father and Mother, then children as a Gift! The first topic of the day is the

Furaha ya Injili The following day, Friday, was our first full day at the Great Lakes Secondary School. The day began with a note of fun. At 5.45 AM, the bell rung alerting people of the necessity to go to the field for jogging. It was fun for all as the all-asleep lot woke up literally through this session. The theme of the day was already clear, the Joy of the Gospel. Therefore, each event was an opportunity to express that joy. There followed the usual routine, before all converged in the Hall at 8.00 AM for Lauds. The Liturgy Group was set to lead the recitation of the Psalms. The mega choir of 120 or there about, young people filled the hall with morning praise. After a Short pause of reflection, the young people took breakfast. Morning session was now set to begin. The Bible as source of Inspiration and success in life: (Fr. John Kulwa, Segerea Seminary, Dar Es Salaam) His lesson must have been the most impressive bible lesson that we have had of late with the Youth of K

Evangelium Gaudium -- Furaha ya Injili Four days of lessons, dance, plays, laughter and moments of relax. What a way of bringing together 122 young people! And their energies never dwindle. You get the loudest screams when you call for them, the most vigorous dances when music plays, and time seemed to fly! Thursday 10, July 2014 20.40 PM : Fr. Kirimo, on behalf of the Kisarawe Parish Youth Animation Team, declares open the Youth Camp, 2014, the year of the Family. He first helps the participants to identify and restate the "Rules of the Camp." Quoting Mr. Alex, the Academic Master of the Host school (The Great Lakes Secondary School, Marumbo), he noted that rule number one was respect of boundaries . Participants agreed to stay within the confines of the school and to keep time.   Rule number two was pronounced by Anna Nestory, a member of the committee on Discipline, Guests and security. She asked members to choose a clean language always! Language unites but can

Cottolengo Sisters, Bosa, Italy Inspired by one of the newest schools of Ikebana (Japanese Art of Floral Arrangements), this composition emphasizes freedom and recycling. The sticks come from an old broom, and the striking flowers are also a work of reusing flowers that would have been thrown away.  Cottolengo Sisters, Bosa, Italy Equally striking is this composition made with a dry stick and a bunch of sticks. The sunflower is particularly beautifully propotioned to the supporting base. Art of this kind speaks of love of nature. And that further explains why the human heart is made for contemplation.

The clouds up there are moving, restlessly! Taking a direction known only to them, and the Creator! What a challenge, Oh my people, to be able to foretell the future! We watch him grow, and become a boy. He walks, he cries, he laughs, he sleeps. Never loosing his smile. While all the time he bears in his body, a reason big enough to make him perpetually out of mood! The fate of the poor children, born with handicap. And those others, innocently bearing the scurge of HIV-AIDS! When you look at them grow like other children, with dreams of a bright future. Now you need faith to confirm their dreams! Well, sadly true, sorrow and joy co-exists! And I don't know how, just as I don't know how, the clouds up there move!

Introduction A Christian family, modeled at the image of the Holy Trinity, must be so much cohered that whoever sees it sees unity, sees love, sees peace, sees harmony, sees stability and security.... These are some of the aspects of a family that render it attractive to the younger generation. Needless to say, backbiting and backstabbing, outbursts of anger and the desire to revenge, separation and divorce, to name but a few, render the institution of marriage unattrative to the younger generation. Holy Trinity and the Family St. John Paul II believed the family would play a vital role in the new evangelization. What would be a family that lives these values in an heroic way? It would be a living testimony of the Gospel of Life put in daily life. This way, the Christian family would not be a mere bystander in the Church’s evangelizing mission. We are in the midst of an eroding cultural crisis. Attempts to redefine marriage and the family are more compelling now that

Je, unaichukuliaje Biblia? Kwa maoni yako … - ni tunda la busara za mwanadamu? - ni kitambu cha hadithi na nahau? - ni Neno la Mungu? Biblia inasemaje? “Maandiko matakatifu yote ni uvuvio kutoka kwa Mungu.” (2 Timotheo 3:16) Ina maana hii kwako: - majibu ya kuridhisha juu ya mambo makubwa ya maisha (Methali 2:15). - misingi dhabiti ya maisha ya kila siku (Zaburi 119:105). - matumaini halisi ya maisha ya baadaye (Warumi 15:4) TUNAWEZA KUAMINI INACHOSEMA BIBLIA? Ndio, angalau kwa sababu tatu: ü       Mwendelezo wa ajabu Biblia imeandikwa ndani ya miaka 1600 na watu kama arobaini hivi. Wengi wao hawajulikani kamwe. ü       Uwazi katika kueleza historia. Wanahistoria kawaida hujaribu kuficha kushindwa kwa watu wao. Baadala yake, waandishi wa Biblia wanaripoti kila kitu bila kuficha mapungufu yao na ya taifa yao. (2 Nyakati 36:15, 16: Zaburi 51:1-14) ü       Kutimia kwa unabii Biblia ilitabiri kuanguka kwa mji wa Babilonia karibia miaka 2

I'm in the house of a wonderful couple, Renato e Regina. The house located at Cislago in Varese, near Milan, is a true haven of joy. The couple talks of their days as workers (40 Years!). Now double that! Regina paints. I will share those paintings later. Renato is a musician, technology geek, and all. Believe me! Their two sons (now grown up, Beppe and Matteo) are still a great source of joy. I have spent my day with them today. They simply radiate joy. And their house, believe me, is an expanse of art. You can see it from every angle. Charity is an hallmark for them. The other couple is Luciano and Patrizia. Here is evident in talking, in eating, in arranging. Waoh! And the open sincerity of the two! You can see how they love each other. Patrizia fascinates everybody with her cookies (dolci). You are welcome into her home just to find her art there on the table! Luciano, the worthy husband to this noble woman, keeps everybody laughing. His generosity is immense. May be he go

Flowers. You think of them as part of nature; and their place in the world of joy! (Well, the other side of this dream is that flowers are a language!) White roses speak of purity, of character and life; and you got to know how, the lilies speak of that too! Sometimes, there is truth in this: whither you go, nature speaks anyway!

Injili ya Kwaresima: Utangulizi Nafikiri sio rahisi sana kutoa tafakari kuhusu Mwana Mpotevu. Inaitwa pia Injili ya Baba mwenye huruma. Tutagundua kuwa ina majina zaidi ya haya leo. Mojawapo ya vipengele vinavyovutia zaidi vya Maisha ya Kiroho (mafundisho) ya Mt. Joseph Cottolengo ni msisitizo anaweka katika “Kuwa katika uhusiano mwema na Mungu”. Alitaka ziive kati ya wafuasi wake na Mungu. Na Injili hii (Luka 15:11-32) inatusaidia kutathmini kama tupo sawa. Labda inafaa kufikiria ni wana wawili wapotevu. Hebu tuitafakari pamoja kama Walezi wa Watoto Wa Shirika la Kipapa la Utoto Mtakatifu. Kupotelewa na Mwana! Huzuni. Niaminini kweli. Unaweza kuvumilia mara mia kupotelewa na kondoo au hata hela (haya 1-10) kuliko kuvumilia kupotelewa na mtoto. Injili hii utumika mara nyingi kama maandalizi ya maungamo. Inaonyesha picha ya Baba asiyekata tamaa, mwenye huruma kubwa. Hisia tunazopata kuhusiana na tabia ya huyu kijana aliyepotea, na kule kurudi kwake

Coming up soon is Paa Langu Initiative. An undertaking for livelihood support of the poorest members of our society. We hope to raise funds to put up decent houses for the poorest members of our society, beginning with widows who are left to fed for themselves. Paa Langu is swahili for my roof. It is meant to answer to a request by one of the widows in our parish who showed up in my office one day and said, "Paa Langu limeanguka jana usiku", The roof of my house has caved in last night. Sobbing uncontrollably, she narrated how she had moved from one corner of her house to another when the heavy down puor was at its peak. Then, what she was fearing happened. The roof caved in. The sad story has made the Cottolengo Trust Tanzania think of ways of helping such people find a decent home. We are in the course of fundraising for such victims who have nowhere to go. We hope to support them put up houses that can stand the harsh weather of the Coast region of Tanzania. More wil

Deliberately. By my own choice, having made up my mind. It's a choice with consequences! You choose joy, you may choose sadness. All will not be well anyway. If you are sad or happy, It is by choice. Look through the window, see the coming and going of people. My friends, that's a choice, for happiness or for sadness. You're your own maker. Literally! Some find what they're looking for, other fail to achieve their goal. Yet, how they live is a choice, for happiness or for sadness! Wait is good news for some, bad news for others. And you? What's your focus? Happiness or sadness? Deliberately. Be happy!

Katika kutafuta kufuata sauti ya Mungu, inakuwa vizuri kujua mashirika mbalimbali. Hiki hapa kipeperushi cha Shirika la Mt. Joseph Cottolengo Kipeperushi.Miito

PAROKIA YA MT. STEFANO SHAHIDI, KISARAWE               Mwaka wa Familia       “Tumaini lenu liwaweke daima wenye furaha; muwe na saburi  katika shida, na kusali daima” (Rom. 12:12)             JANUARI 01/01/2014                MKESHA MWAKA MPYA 12/01/2014                UBATIZO WA BWANA 16/01/2014                KUMB. UZINDUZI KANISA (MISA )   FEBRUARI 15/02                                           SEMINA-UJASIRIAMALI 23/02 Uzinduzi wa Filamu - “Imani Iliyooza” KUFUNGUA TAWI—MARUMBO MACHI 01/06 GRADUATION F.6 05/03 JUMATANO YA MAJIVU 22/03 HIJA, VYAMA VYOTE, MSIMBAZI 29/03 HIJA-BOKO   APRILI 05/04 MAFUNGO—VIJANA WOTE 06/04 MATENDO YA HURUMA 13/04 MATAWI—SIKU YA VIJANA, UPANGA 19/04 MKESHA   WA PASAKA 30.04 MT. COTTOLENGO, SHEREHE   MEI MWEZI WA MARIA 01/05 SOMO WA VIJANA— UPANGA 18/05 SAFARI YA UINJILISHAJI, KIGANGONI