Africa Anglophone Delegation encouraged on Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation
MANGOCHI, Malawi - On 24th March 2021, the confreres of the General Delegation of Anglophone Africa working in Malawi had a one-day colloquium on Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) that was facilitated by Fr. Steve Mukusa, SMM. In his sessions, Fr. Steve, who is the promoter of JPIC in our entity, invited all the members who attended this workshop to collaborate with God and each other in our effort to fulfil the fundamental role of caring for our surrounding environment. His input largely drew insights from the Scriptures and other Church documents, as they provide the foundations of the Commission on Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation.
Fr. Steve stressed that in dealing with issues related to creation, we ought to perceive them with the eyes of Jesus, arbitrate on them with compassion and act upon them with love that is motivated by the spirit of the Gospel values. He therefore called upon all confreres to exercise servant leadership as a sign of greatness acquired through humility, manifested in taking good care of our common home. He then outlined some of the objectives of the Commission and its estimable values of communication, collaboration, participation and sharing. On a related topic, the facilitator talked about the spirituality of interconnectedness as he made reference to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti.
Commenting on Laudato Si, Fr. Steve acknowledged that there is a lot of harm that has been done to creation. Accordingly, he called for a swift action in building a healthy personal relationship with God and nature. To this, he denounced the spirit of greed and every form of technology that claims mastery over nature while disregarding the need for responsible use of creation. Thus, he challenged the members to take a participatory role in caring for the environment and their communities like refraining from using plastic bags, planting more trees, saving water and electricity. Drawing insights from Fratelli Tutti, he explained on the practical aspects of human fraternity and social friendship and demonstrated how the encyclical focuses on communion with one another as a family of God. He also showed how it is grounded on love that induces us towards universal communion. He emphasized saying that universal communion is the heart for integral ecology. God is communion, as such, we have been created to be in communion with Him and all creation.
Bro. Laurent Juma, SMM
Sitima Parish
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