MALAWI: Children Asked to Keep Close to Christ, Deepen Their Faith and Prayer Life
Demetria Banda
His lordship Bishop Peter Musikuwa of Chikwawa Diocese has challenged Catholic children to deepen their faith in prayer and be sources of light to the world by demonstrating Christian values.
The call was made on Sunday, the 15th of November during the national launch of preparations of Epiphany Sunday at Nkhate Parish in the Diocese of Chikwawa. In his remarks during the Eucharistic celebration, Bishop Musikuwa told the children to be sources of light to the world by demonstrating their Christian values hence build a strong foundation for their present endeavors in spreading the Gospel to fellow children to become responsible future leaders in the society.
“I urge you all to be good and do not allow the non-spiritual ideas to deceive you. Keep close to Christ through prayer and charity so that you can sustain the light of Christ in your life” said Bishop Musikuwa.
According to Bishop Musikuwa, the Church is relying on the children today to evangelize fellow children and adults, on top of preparing them to take up leadership positions in the future. He urged parents to take good care of their children as a way of building a reputable foundation on them and protecting them from being spoiled.
“Kindly let me appeal to you parents to take care of your Children and love them. Let us not forget that children are gifts from God, hence the need to educate them to grow with Christian values and become responsible future leaders,” Bishop Musikuwa explained.
Adding his voice, National Director for Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) Fr. Vincent Mwakhwawa advised the children to use prayer as a weapon for their day-to-day success.
“Prayer is a powerful tool for your success. Pray the Rosary every day and pray for your fellow children who are suffering elsewhere so that they see the light of the Lord at the end of the day,” said Fr. Mwakhwawa.
Fr. Mwakhwawa explained that on the day of Epiphany the Church prays for all children in the world so that they should be under the protection and guidance of the Child Jesus hence the name Holy Childhood.
Fr. Mwakhwawa in a separate interview appealed to all people to stop abusing children in any way. He also begged the adults to see the child’s body as the temple of God which need to be respected.
One of the children who represented fellow children requested parents and guardians to treat them with love and care, and to protect them from all kinds of abuse.
“As children we face a lot of challenges that affect our spiritual life as well as our physical life, some of us have stopped going to Church because our parents do not encourage us to do so, some don’t go to school because their parents do not want to support them and some of us face things that I can’t even mention here. I therefore ask all you our parents to protect us from any harm and to love us,” he said.
