by Sister Anagladness S. Mrumah
Holy Childhood Secretary – Tanzania.
Every year, on 2nd February, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. Taking into account the fact that this feast is also regarded as the feast for those in Consecrated Life, for this year, in most of the dioceses in Tanzania, this feast has been celebrated in two days, that is, on 01st February (Saturday) at diocesan levels - specifically intended for those in Consecrated life and on 02nd February (Sunday) at parish levels for all the faithful joining in this way the Universal Church.
This brief account focuses its attention particularly on the celebration that was held on 01st February in the Archdiocese of Dar es salaam which is also the seat for the headquarters of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC). As in many other arch/dioceses, on this day, hundreds of religious women and men were able to gather together St. Gaspar del Bufalo Parish – Mbezi Beach and celebrate the Holy Mass, as the first important moment, a celebration in which the religious had also the opportunity to renew their vows to God. In fact, the homily given during the Holy Mass was deeply reflective as the Main Celebrant of the Mass, His Excellency Henry Mchamungu, the Auxiliary Bishop of Dar es Salaam, really touched on matters that are very fundamental in the life of the religious. He reminded the religious of several things that they should consider. Among these things he emphasized are: a religious has to ensure that he/she becomes a person of prayer and contemplation, living a community life, living a life of penance, living the charisms of the congregation, living a life of dedication, following the rules and regulations of the place where they are assigned and doing their mission for God’s glory and for the benefit of the whole Church.The second joyous moment that marked the day were the festivities after the Holy Mass.
Since in the archdiocese of Dar es Salaam they have the custom of congratulating the religious who commemorate their special jubilees of religious life, on this day, 12 religious women were congratulated. Two of them are celebrating their golden jubilees (Sr Edmunda & Sr Theonestina) and 10 of them are celebrating their Silver jubilees (Srs Jadwiga, Anagladness Mrumah, Idda John, Elionora Danghalo, Mariel Kazibure, Florence Pontian, Alistidia Faustine, Veronika Mikoma and Ritha Mary). The Church in Tanzania is proud to have many religious men and women who, with their various charisms, have been able to carry out different missions in the church and thus be able to manifest Christ to his people. Furthermore, we pray that the Lord of the harvest will continue to bring workers into his field. (Mt. 9:38)
