A priestly ordination

Today, Saturday 4 August 2018, I attended an ordination of Catholic priests, having previously only attended Anglican ordinations in England.

Today, 5 young men were ordained, two as deacons and three as priests. One of the newly ordained priests is Joseph who has lived and worked here in Sitima since last December and it was so very special to join in on this particular occasion with him.

For most of us the excitement probably began a few weeks ago when Joseph obtained the fabric for friends and family to wear. It is a tradition here for people to wear “uniforms” at any special event or family occasion. Uniforms generally consist of the same fabric being used but each individual creating their own unique design, usually with the help of one of the many tailors working in the area. Men and women all wear the same fabric.

For Joseph, a Malawian, his journey towards the priesthood has taken 9 years including three years undergraduate training in Kenya, a period of time spent on pastoral work with the prison service in the Philippines and of course his final placement here with us in Sitima.

Joseph loves to sing and dance during his services and he always throws in a little drama into his sermons as well. Today he won’t have been disappointed as the service was very typically Malawian with much singing, dancing and lots of cheering through this serious yet happy occasion.

The really good news for us in Sitima is that Fr Joseph is staying on in our parish for the foreseeable future and we all wish him lots of joy and fulfilment.