Confirmation Candidates at Angolan Catholic Parish Urged to Witness Christian Values

Lubango, 16 September, 2023 / 8:55 PM

Recipients of the Sacrament of Confirmation are expected to champion the Christian values of love, forgiveness, peace and justice in their respective communities, Archbishop Gabriel Mbilingi of Angola’s Lubango Archdiocese has said. 

In his homily during the Confirmation Mass at the St. Francis of Assisi Parish of his Metropolitan See, Archbishop Mbilingi urged the candidates he was to confer upon the Sacrament of Confirmation to seek the help of the Holy Spirit.

"Be witnesses of love, witnesses of forgiveness which has its source in God the Father,” he said during the September 10 Eucharistic celebration.

The Angolan member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans/Holy Ghost Fathers/CSSp.) added, “Be witnesses of justice, witnesses of peace, witnesses of that truth which does not remain indifferent in the face of the lies of today's world.”

“You will be Christians who are adults in the faith and who must therefore also manifest the works of the faith in their lives,” he told the 150 candidates he was to confer upon the Sacrament of Confirmation.

The Local Ordinary of Lubango went on to encourage the Confirmation candidates to put into practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

He expressed his gratitude to God for the growth of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, saying, “I'm delighted that over the last two years there has been progress, a significant evolution, in terms of the number of faithful.”

“It means that the message of the Gospel is getting through and that, by accepting it, men and women are converting; they are changing their way of being, their way of responding to the message of the Gospel of salvation,” Archbishop Mbilingi said.

The 65-year-old Angolan Archbishop who served as President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) for a six-year period that ended in July 2019 emphasized the need to acknowledge the presence of God in the lives of the people. 

He said, “The spirit of God is at work in the life of each one of us, in the life of our families, in the life of our communities.”

“I can only encourage the Priests, Nuns who work in the Parish, encourage the Catechists, encourage those responsible for the various movements, associations and apostolate groups present in our Parish to do their best,” the Angolan Catholic Archbishop said.

He continued, “Let's all try to walk together united in the same faith, united in charity and guided by the same hope that we are all called to salvation; and in salvation no one is excluded, no one is left out. Everyone is needed so that this great mission which the Lord has entrusted to his Church can really be realized.”

João Vissesse contributed in the writing of this story