Africa, St Patrick's Missions 

March 2020, Vol. 85 No. 2

Hope is very much the dominant theme of our March issue. Fr Michael Bennett describes how in some areas of Johannesburg, South Africa, people are living in difficult situations and yet the simple and unobtrusive presence of St Patrick’s Fr Kieran Birmingham helps to sustain hope.

 

There is hope and reawakening aplenty in Fr Michael Kane’s “…in the family of things” as he alerts us to the many signs of Spring in and around our home here in Kiltegan. And in a similar vein in “From the Archives”, the late playwright, novelist, essayist and raconteur John B. Keane waxes lyrical in praise of the humble primrose which, he claims “lifts the drooping heart to extraordinary heights…reminds us that Spring is at hand and the cuckoo is thinking of booking his passage from distant Africa”!

 

In that same “distant Africa”, Fr PJ McCamphill tells of hope of a different sort in an inspiring story of dreams coming true and ambitions being realized for Kenyan athletes who can’t believe how blessed they have been. Dreams can indeed come true – as they have for generations of students who have studied at St Patrick’s Trade School, Ugep, Nigeria. The school was founded by Fr Ned Grace in 1963 and in this uplifting article, he fondly recalls the joys and challenges of those early days.

 

You’ll find no better time than Springtime to accept Fr Frankie McAuliffe’s invitation to look beyond the magnificence of our natural surroundings to the Creator who called it – and us – into being (p20). Fr Donal Dorr explains why the care of the earth is an issue of justice and in “From my bookshelf…” we have a review of an easy-to-read introduction to the life, times and achievements of John Henry Newman who was canonized by Pope Francis on October 13th, 2019.

 

As we journey through the season of Lent, we pray the traditional Stations of the Cross which this year come from the beautiful Church of St Pius X in Plumstead, Cape Town, South Africa. We observe the season with an eye to the hope and joy of Easter resurrection.

 

Our hope is that you will be inspired and uplifted by this March issue of Africa Magazine and may I wish all our readers and supporters a joyful and blessed St Patrick’s Day.

Editor

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Below is a selection of articles from our Jan/Feb 2020 issue. We will have a selection from our March issue soon.