Blessed Benedict Daswa 5th Beatification Anniversary

 

Seminarians Fund collection for 2020.

 

Dear Beloved Catholics of Tzaneen Diocese,

Peace in the saving grace of our Lord Jesus be with you all.

Re: Appeal for all parishes to take up the Seminarians Fund 

collection for 2020.

The year began well and we were all looking forward to the various meetings and events we had planned for the rest of 20 20. And then suddenly we were attacked by the Covid-19 virus and everything changed with the national lockdown. Parishes were still able to take up the special collections of the Missionary Childhood as well as the Lenten Appeal to some extent. Although these contributions were very low compared to the previous years, I am still grateful to those of you who gave what you could in spite of the lockdown challenges. This year we have decided to cancel the Diocese Fund collections because of the pandemic.

However the financial support of our four seminarians is critical and cannot be postponed for next year. In spite of the pandemic, they continue in their formation and are presently studying online and doing their examinations for the first semester. They should be returning to Pretoria at the end of this month to continue with the second semester at the seminary.

Please encourage one another to make a special effort to contribute to the 2020 Seminarians Fund and aim at reaching the targets set by each parish by the end of November this year. This will be a great witness to your love for Christ and His Church in Tzaneen Diocese.

Please note that Ave Maria Pastoral Centre is closed until end of October. Remember to take all the necessary measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 in our communities. With the grace and mercy of God we shall eventually overcome this pandemic.

May God bless and protect us all.

+Joao Rodrigues

Bishop of Tzaneen

 

 

Death Announcement of Sr Malgorzata Jaglarska, FMA

Date of birth                :  17^th April 1966

Place of birth               :  Łodź, Poland

1^st Profession              :  5^th August 1993 at Pogrzebień

Final profession           :  18^th September 1999 at Garbòw

Date of death              :  12^th July 2020 - Poland       

 

Sr Malgorzata left for the missions from England in December 2005. She arrived in AFM Province, Our Lady of Peace in 2005 and was assigned to City of Hope, Lusaka, Zambia where she was Assistant to the GART girls. In 2008 she went to Kasama as an Assistant to the Aspirants and Postulants and in 2009 she was transferred to the Provincial House in Clonlea, Walkerville, Gauteng, South Africa. In January 2013 she went to Booysens, Johannesburg to Mary Help of Christians Primary School as Teacher of Religion, Art and as a Catechist.

In 2014 she went to Malamulele, Limpopo Province, as Teacher of Religion in the Primary School, Art Teacher in the Secondary School, Catechist and Formator of Catechists in the Diocese of Tzaneen, Limpopo.

2017 found her back in Booysens for a year, after which, she went to Belhar, Cape Town, in 2018 and was the Bursar of the community, responsible for the After-School Care in Delft and a Catechist in the Parish until September 2019 when she went back to Poland to get treatment for her health.

With gratitude to the Lord for the gift of the missionary life of Sr Malgorzata, we entrust our Sister to Him in prayer. May Our Lady Help of Christians present her soul to Jesus!

The funeral of Sr Malgorzata will be on Thursday, 16^th July at 12.30, at the Salesian church of St Thérèse and St John Bosco, Poland.

Opening of our churches for community worship in July 2020

2 July 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Peace in the grace of Jesus, our Risen Lord and Saviour.

Re: Opening of our churches for community worship in the Diocese of Tzaneen

This week I held a meeting with the parish priests of the Diocese of Tzaneen in order to evaluate the readiness of each parish to return to community worship in our various churches. Almost all the parishes have at least some communities that are ready to return to worship in their churches and have all the safety teams and measures in place in accordance with the Diocese of Tzaneen protocols regulating church worship during this period of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Therefore I have decided that as from Saturday 11 July 2020, all parishes will be allowed to resume worshiping in church but only with those communities that are ready to do so. 

The readiness of the particular community for worship must be officially announced by the parish priest and will include the date, time and place and all the important details of the service to ensure the safety of all the attendees. Catholics who are over 60 years of age and people of any age who have health challenges are urged to remain at home. No one must be forced to participate in community worship because we are still in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and their decision not to participate must be respected.

Parish priests and the Parish Pastoral Councils of parishes that are not yet ready for community worship will continue to engage with their local communities with the expectation that by the middle of next month some of their communities will also be ready to do so.

I wish to thank all of our Catholic members who have been helping to prepare their communities for this important change since national lockdown. Let us continue to educate one another about this pandemic and help one another to avoid infecting others as well as to avoid getting infected. We must continue to practice regular hand washing, social distancing and wearing of the face mask in our daily social encounters. We continue to pray to God for our nation and for an end to this pandemic. May the healing Spirit of Jesus restore the health of our brothers and sisters who are infected with

Covid-19.

May God bless you all and protect you.

Sincerely in Christ,

+ Joao Rodrigues

Bishop of Tzaneen

Farewell to Sr Tshifhiwa OP

It is with gratitude and with some sadness that we say farewell to Sr.  Tshifhiwa Munzhedzi OP who for the past few years has been serving in the Diocese of Tzaneen as the Promoter of the Cause of Blessed Benedict Daswa. We were still fortunate this year on 1st of February to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Blessed Daswa. Little did we know that  Covid-19 would become a global pandemic and force the whole of South Africa into lockdown.

We also congratulate Sr Tshifhiwa on her Appointment as the New Associate Secretary General of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference with effect from 01^st July 2020.  May the Lord bless her abundantly in her new mission in service of the whole Southern African region.

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come spiritually into my heart. I embrace You and unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.

We worship the Lord who is present in the Most Holy Sacrament of His Body and Blood

Heavenly Father, source of all life!  Send us your Holy Spirit, that we may recognize and grow in the love of Christ present in the Eucharist, who handed himself over for us! He is our Lord and our Master, our friend and our food, our healer and our peace.Give us the courage to take his strength and his joy to every person! Grant us, that this month of the Eucharist would serve the spiritual renewal of our community, cities, nations and the world.  Amen