“What strategies are we putting in place to grow the nation of the Almighty God?” he posed, and continued, “You live next to a neighbour who does not pray, what have you done to help them realize that responsibility? They aren’t baptized and believe things we do not believe, what efforts have you made? That is the problem we, Christians face, a very serious one.”
The Local Ordinary of the Mwanza Archdiocese since his Installation in May 2019 emphasized the importance of life testimonies as a powerful means of evangelization and attracting others to the Church. He said, “There’s our behaviour. (If your life is characterized by) drunkenness, adultery, do you think that will lead anyone to believe? Of course not.”
In his July 7 homily, Archbishop Nkwande called upon Deacon Kwitega to be courageous in his Priestly ministry and to focus on proclaiming the word of God.
“You have been called by the Almighty God for the sake of humankind, to proclaim the things of God,” he said, and adding, “The Word of God is like a sword that wounds in some places.”
He explained, “At times, your words and your explanations, because they are not yours but God's, will seem hard and harsh, but that is your mission: to uproot and tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, all with the aim of building the Kingdom of the Almighty God.”
“We are here praying for you so that you will not become afraid. If you become afraid, you may begin to conform yourself to evil and to the carelessness of the environment around you,” he said, urging the Priest-elect to fear God, “who alone has the power to destroy both body and soul.”
He reiterated the need to focus on the proclaiming the Gospel because, he said, “the work of God, just as He Himself established it, is the same way He desires it to continue.”
Those called to proclaim the Gospel “do not carry it out by their own will or for their own purposes; they preach the Word of the Almighty God. Anything beyond that becomes a false prophecy,” Archbishop Nkwande said, and explained, “A false prophet is someone who speaks about himself; he speaks his own thoughts, says what pleases him, instead of proclaiming what the Almighty has sent him to say.”
“Sometimes we truly forget ourselves; instead of preaching the Gospel, it becomes like marketing, or we start defending ourselves or promoting our personal agendas. Preach the Gospel,” he insisted, and called on the Priest-elect to live his sacred calling of teaching the people of God “in the name of Christ Himself, who is the one true Teacher.”
“As you meditate on the law of the Lord, believe what you read, teach what you believe, and live what you teach,” the Tanzanian Catholic Archbishop, who started his Episcopal Ministry in September 2011 as Bishop of Tanzania’s Catholic Diocese of Bunda said.
