Day 9, Sunday Oct. 9th
This morning we celebrated Catholic Mass at the church of
Regina Mundi (Queen of the World). My
homilies have nothing on the Priests here!!!
Fr. Anthony’s homily was about 40 minutes and included singing and
dancing. He alternated between about
three languages so we could only understand parts of what he was saying.
The music was fantastic.
There was a choir of 20-30 people up front who sang in beautiful
harmony. Although there were no
instruments except the human voice, they filled the Church with music. In total the Mass lasted over 2 ½ hours. We were told that is very typical for a
Sunday mass.
After mass we ate lunch at a typical African
restaurant. I ate Chickens feet! I won’t say that they were delicious, but
they were alright. “When in Rome,” as
they say.
In the afternoon we toured many placed in Johannesburg. We prayed at the sight of a Student uprising
in 1976, where a young student named Hector Peterson was shot and killed by the
Police during a protest march. We
visited the home where Nelson Mandela and his wife Winnie raised their family,
the finally the Apartheid Museum. The Museum
was an emotional journey through the history of South Africa for the past 100
years. Many photos and videos told the
grim tale of oppression and segregation, through to the liberation and election
of Nelson Mandela as the President of South Africa. It is a troubled history yet with many
inspiring people who gave everything they had to bring justice and peace to
their beloved country.
Sunday evening we were invited to the home of a man named Mbika
and his wife Selia for a “Brie” (cookout).
Mbika is a good friend of one of the Directors of the Wabash Pastoral
Leadership Program, and lived with her family in the United States during
college. He invited us to experience a
traditional home cooked African meal.
The meal was great and the conversation with he and his wife and friends
was very nice. The people of Africa
have been extremely gracious and hospitable.
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