Easter After Easter

As it has been a custom and tradition in Diocese of Musoma for many many years, Easter Tuesday is a special day where priests and religious in the diocese celebrate Easter together in their respective deaneries. Holy Week, Sacred Triduum and Easter is a hectic and busy time for us, serving people. So, after Easter we organize our own deanery Easter parties, kind of get-togethers, to meet, interact, rest and share a food we prepare for ourselves with our personal donations. Today it is a turn of Sisters of the Ressurection from Buturu to host the party and welcome us to their home. Our deanery is very small - only four parishes - Zanaki, Makutano, Butiama and Kiabakari, with four priests only, three women religious convents, that's it. So, it will be a small gathering, nevertheless - very nice and joyful. Happy Easter to all!

Miodonka

So, today we had another special day of handover of the Jubilee Cross from one parish to another in our small Butiama deanery. This time we went to Mother-Parish of Zanaki (which gave birth to three others so far - Butiama, Kiabakari and Nyamuswa) to participate in the Holy Mass of farewell of the Cross in Zanaki and handover to Butiama parish. It was a great day of communion, prayer, sharing joy and happiness which ended though on low note of Miodonka...

Jubilee Cross

Since October last year we have been celebrating a Jubilee Year of a Centenary of Christianity in Diocese of Musoma, since the establishment of the very first Catholic Mission in Nyegina in 1911 by White Fathers. One of the highlights of the program of the Jubilee is a peregrination of the Jubilee Cross in all parishes of the Diocese. Since two weeks the Cross has been visiting our deanery of Butiama, first Makutano Parish and today - an official handover of the Cross to Zanaki Parish. We have been there today...

Useless Gift

I've just come back from Zanaki Parish, our mother parish, from which Kiabakari, Butiama and Nyamuswa parishes were born (the old Mama - Zanaki Parish giving birth to three new parishes in the spread of a few years in the nineties). The parish priest is on vacation, so I give a helping hand once a month there, and there is another priest from Musoma helping also once a month. The remaining two Sundays each month are covered by a resident catechist. It is so tough to get substitution in our diocese in times of long holidays. We do try our best to secure services for every Sunday while away, but it is not always possible. There are still very few priests in this diocese and things if improving, they improve in a snail's pace... New priests are being ordained every year, but others are dying or getting sick or simply finishing their service and going back home...

First Love

Today was my turn to help in Zanaki Parish (mother parish of Kiabakari, which was for a long time a center in the old vast Zanaki parish, then detached from it in 1991 when I started to work on Kiabakari center in order to make it an independent parish which happened the following year). The parish priest of Zanaki, Fr. Piotr Pawlus is on his vacation for three months in Europe, so we - his neighbors - come in turns to help with Holy Masses in the parish while he is away. My duty is to go there once a month and today was the first time I fulfilled my obligation.