A Grace-Filled Priests' Retreat - Thank You for Your Prayers

Last week's priest retreat went very well, praise God. I found the clergy of Torit to be very receptive to what I shared, and the response was positive. The overall theme was "Friendship with Christ," using the Beloved Disciple in the Gospel of John as a model. That theme was developed in three "contexts:" the Year for Priests, the recent special Synod of Bishops for Africa, and the current situation in Sudan (which I compared to that of the Israelites returning to the Holy Land after the Babylonian Exile). In addition to the conferences, each morning we gathered for Mass, and each evening spent time in Eucharistic adoration. For me it was a real experience of what the Compendium of the Catechism of Catholic Church calls the "sacramental brotherhood" of the priesthood. These are men who have pursued their vocation at a high personal cost, have suffered a great deal - especially during the war - for the cause of Christ and the Church, and exercize their ministry in very challenging circumstances, often with insufficient resources.

Below are some photos from the retreat: Bishop Akio Johnson celebrating Mass, and the rest of us concelebrating, and a group photo on the last day (I'm pretty easy to pick out of the crowd):




Below are three sets of photos showing the two most senior priests of the diocese on top: Fr. John Baptist Lohito of Imatong Parish and Fr. Julius Ido of Loa; two priests from the "middle" age bracket of the clergy: Fr. Joseph Mawa of Nimule Parish, and Fr. Joseph Otto of Palotaka/Magwi Parish; and the two youngest priests: Fr. Darius Modi, pastoral coordinator, and Fr. James Taban, stationed in Isohe.






































This Past Weekend

I returned to Katire for Sunday Mass today, and it was a real joy to give Holy Communion to so many of those who were just baptized and made their First Holy Communion on November 3. The community there has really responded to and is flourishing as a result of steady pastoral attention and weekly Sunday Mass.

This evening at the House of Mercy we showed two documentary films on Sudan produced by Aid to the Church in Need depicting aspects of life in the country during the civil war. It was a providential reminder of the recent painful past and the need to take responsibility for the future as the country goes through the process of registering for general elections next April.


This Coming Week

With the conclusion of the priests' retreat I will now be moving ahead as quickly as possible with hunger relief efforts for suffering villages in the Ikotos and Chukudum areas. Funds transferred from the US for that purpose reached me last weekend, and I'll be heading to Magwi later this week to begin to purchase grain with the help of Fr. Joseph Otto (shown above). On Friday I'll be travelling with Dennis Kiyimba and a couple of youth from our group in Torit to meet with Fr. Julius Ido and Fr. Joseph Mawa (also shown above) and representatives from their communities in Loa and Nimule to plan for the visit of a mission team in January and the parish missions and youth retreat that will take place at that time