“Reach out”, Catholic Bishop in South Africa Advocates for Needy in Lenten Reflection

Aliwal, 01 March, 2023 / 9:19 PM

A Catholic Bishop in South Africa has advocated for the needy and vulnerable in society, emphasizing the need to “reach out” to individuals who depend on the support of others for their respective livelihood. 

In his Monday, February 27 Lenten reflection, Bishop Joseph Mary Kizito who oversees the Migrants and Refugees department of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) said, “I am calling upon you in your community, in this season of Lent, to reach out to these migrants and refugees,”

“Reach out to the vulnerable children; reach out to the women on the streets; reach out to the widows and those whom you see that they cannot sustain themselves and do the simple works of mercy and works of charity,” The Bishop of South Africa’s Aliwal Diocese added.

Charitable services and acts of mercy contribute to one’s holiness, the Ugandan-born Catholic Bishop said, and appealed, “Let us invest our time in this Lenten season, let us use our gifts, let us use our talents, let us use our resources to help the vulnerable and this will help us to be holy.”

The 55-year-old Catholic Bishop who has been at the helm of Aliwal Diocese since his Episcopal Ordination in February 2020 outlined other ways of manifesting holiness in response to the call to be holy just as the Lord is holy.

“These are the ways to be holy; reaching out to those who are feeling hungry, thirsty; to the strangers in our community the naked; those on the streets, in hospitals, and in prison,” Bishop Kizito said February 27, making reference to the Gospel reading of the day (Matthew 25:31-46).

Bishop Kizito added, “To be holy is to be consecrated; is to be dedicated; is to be separated; is to be satisfied and this is to be detached from the wealth and the goods of this world.”