News & Messages

News from Our Companion Diocese of Newala: February 2024




We often share news from Newala that we get from Sr. Debora. We thought it'd be nice to tell you a little more about her and her ministry.

Sr. Debora, CMM (Chama cha Mariamu Mtakatifu/Society of Holy Mary) went to secondary school from 1992 until 1995. She then went to Ndanda School of Nursing. Ndanda is a Benedictine enclave of various schools and workshops and a parish in the Masasi/Newala district. For eight years she was in the congregation and learned of the religious life. Besides being an Anglican sister, she is a nurse and midwife. For three days she works at the Newala District Hospital and for two days she is involved in the ultrasound clinic there.


 
In January of 2019, Sr. Debora completed the ultrasound technicians course at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center in Moshi, Tanzania. The Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee paid for this course and the related expenses. Also funded by the diocese, this January Sr. Debora attended a three-day ultrasound workshop with a two-day science conference in Arusha. That bus trip was 8 hours and 368 miles to Dar es Salaam and another 11 hours and 390 miles to Arusha.
 
Thoughts from Sr. Debora (a Kiswahili speaker, so there is some editing of her message for clarity):
 
"Really I am very happy with this short training [and] it's very useful. I learned many things that I've previously never done. It's very difficult but I hope with more scan experience, it will become easier. Asante Sana. Our training already finished, and tomorrow and Friday we will continue with the conference. I am still in Dar es Salaam buying plumbing equipment. Praise to God for your love and care looking after us. [I purchased] plumbing and all things I managed to buy here are very [good] quality and durable. And today I will go to a transportation company for payment of all the cargo to Newala .”
 
Along with this, Sr. Debora is in charge of the construction of the aforementioned St. Mary’s Newala Pre and Primary School. [See previous newsletter articles here.] The window glass and frames are done and plumbing is on the way, so now the electrical and tiling projects remain. It has come a long way, but there is more to be done.
 
To support projects in our Companion Diocese of Newala, you can send checks to the diocese with “Newala” in the notation line:
 
Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee
804 E Juneau Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53202
 
Neil Radtke
The Rev. Oswald Bwechwa
Companion Diocese Committee Members

Lenten Resources Available



Weekdays of Lent
Hoping it will be of value to some in the coming season, Fr. Richard Craig, a retired priest of the diocese now residing in Texas, has provided us with a Lenten devotional, "Weekdays of Lent," to share with you. It is in a pdf format. Click here to access it. A note about printing: All pages of this document must be printed, even blank pages, double-sided (front and back). This will ensure that the booklet is formatted correctly in hard copy form. If you have any problems accessing the file, email Sara Bitner at , and she will email it to you directly.

Lenten Meditations from ERD
Episcopal Relief & Development is offering daily Lenten Meditations throughout the 2024 season to help Christians think deeply about their faith and actions towards other people.

This year’s meditations, a compilation of daily reflections on humility, authenticity and justice, were authored by Miguel Escobar, an Episcopal Relief & Development Board member and the Director of Strategy & Operations at the Episcopal Divinity School in New York City. In his writing of the work, he has reviewed Scripture and pulled from his own personal faith and experiences as an advisor and educator to provide insights into how following Jesus Christ empowers Christians to act.

Living Compass 2024 Lent Devotional
The theme for Lent, 2024 is Practicing Forgiveness with All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind. The devotional is available in print and online, in English and Spanish. The devotional contains meditations written by several people, including a few priests from the Diocese of Milwaukee. Practicing forgiveness is at the heart of the Christian life. Our faith teaches that forgiveness is not merely an act of pardoning wrongdoing, but also a process of letting go of resentment, fostering empathy, and seeking reconciliation. Through forgiveness, we aspire to emulate the mercy of God, exemplified by the life and teachings of Jesus, as we seek to promote harmony, restoration, and the healing of broken relationships. Click here to access the Lenten devotional.

Lenten Resources from The Episcopal Church

  • Lent curriculum, sermons, lesson plans, devotionals, and meditations
  • Lent Madness
  • “Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent” – adult forum sessions with videos
  • “Prophetic Voices: Preaching and Teaching Beloved Community” podcast series
  • Sermons That Work for Holy Week and Easter
  • 40-day gratitude challenge via text
  • Publicity material, bulletin inserts, and more

Click here to access these resources.

Ask a Theologian: Anointing

Image: "Extreme Unction," part of The Seven Sacraments (1445–1450) by Rogier van der Weyden


Dear Theologian,

When my uncle was in the hospital with a serious illness, a priest came to visit him and anointed his forehead with oil. I know that this is one of the Church’s sacraments, but I’m not sure that I understand its meaning. Why is it done, and what effect does it have?

Unsure


Dear Unsure,

To answer this question, we have to look briefly at the history of anointing in the Church. The classic text for this practice is in the Letter of James:

“Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the Church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.” (Jas 5:14-15)

The symbolism of anointing with oil is easy to appreciate, since this is clearly an act of soothing and comforting. There is, however, hardly any evidence that the anointing of the sick was practiced as a liturgical ceremony performed by priests during the first eight centuries of Christianity. There is evidence that oil was blessed by the bishop and was used by the faithful as a kind of remedy for illness (not merely by anointing the body, but even by tasting and consuming the oil). The significant thing was the blessing of the oil by the bishop, which made the oil itself the bearer of sacred power.

Beginning around the ninth century, there was a formalizing of the ritual of anointing, and it was reserved for the priest to perform. Around the same time, this anointing began (apparently for the first time) to be closely associated with deathbed penance and the immediate preparation for death.

This development was complete and taken for granted by the time the theology of the sacraments was worked out by the scholastic theologians in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Hence, the meaning attributed to this anointing was almost exclusively the consecration of the person for death, the “last anointing” (extrema unctio).

This understanding of anointing made the appearance of a priest at the sickbed an omen of impending death. Hence, people postponed the anointing as long as possible, since having it done was equivalent to giving up all hope. Thus, what historically was originally a sign of comfort and hope had become a sign of death, inspiring terror.

It must be recognized that the concept of “last anointing” was a secondary development, to be understood in terms of the historical circumstances of the Dark Ages. The theology of the scholastics was simply an interpretation of a practice that they took to be immemorial. But now—with the aid of better historical knowledge—we can see that this theology is not well founded in either Scripture or the first eight centuries of the Tradition.

Therefore, a contemporary theology of the sacrament of anointing puts the emphasis once again on the healing and strengthening of a person who is seriously ill (whether or not at the point of death). But how are we to understand this ritual, and what effect is it thought to have?

When one is seriously ill there is weakness, pain, a sense of mortality. Even if one is not in immediate danger of death, the fragility and finitude of one’s human condition is experienced very strongly. The ultimate reality of death is somehow present in one’s awareness. At the same time, one is estranged and alienated from the normal world of work, play, interpersonal contacts and interactions. One lies isolated. One is dependent on others, yet somewhat cut off from them.

In such a situation the believer very much needs to interpret all this in the context of explicit Christian faith. But it is precisely when one is ill that prayer and faith sometimes become difficult, if not impossible. One feels the need for a vision of faith, but is often unable to rise to that level of awareness.

In view of this general situation of the sick person, the Church has a “ministry” to those of its members who are sick. This ministry involves “visiting the sick,” in order to take care of that person’s needs in whatever way is most appropriate. Medical attention is normally provided by health-care professionals. What is not ordinarily provided by doctors and nurses is meaning. What does all this suffering and helplessness mean? How can one understand his or her situation in relation to God?

The Church ministers to this need for meaning when its members come to visit the sick person. In many cases, it is the priest or deacon who comes, representing the entire faith community. He or she does not provide glib, ready-made answers, but makes present the good news of Jesus through conversation and reading of Scripture, and by praying with this person.

All this ministry receives a ritualized, sacramental expression in the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. This ritual will be most meaningful, in fact, only if there is such a context of pastoral care of the sick person. Without such a context, the simple action of anointing will probably not have the same depth or resonance of meaning.

The sacrament of anointing, therefore, communicates meaning by relating this person’s suffering to the Paschal Mystery of Christ (his death and resurrection). Moreover, the representative of the faith community who comes to visit helps the sick member to overcome the experience of isolation and estrangement that goes with being sick. The visitor embodies for him or her the faithful love of the Father, as revealed in the Son.

Now, instead of experiencing estrangement, one can experience connectedness, acceptance, love, and oneness with the community. Through this, he or she can be reassured of being enfolded in God’s love and cared for. He or she may be brought to the point of surrender in faith, of abandonment to God’s love.

In this attitude of faith, one is open to the healing power of God, and physical healing sometimes follows. The same attitude of radical openness to God can, however, also lead to a peaceful sharing in the mystery of Jesus’ death, as one hands over his or her life completely to the God who has raised Jesus from the dead.

All this is appropriate to any situation of serious illness, even if there is no question of the immediate danger of death. Of course, it is also appropriate if a person is near death. In fact, the mystery of death announces itself in any serious illness, and the logic of faith is always the same.

Faithfully,
The Theologian


The Rev. Wayne L. Fehr writes a monthly column for the diocesan newsletter called "Ask a Theologian," answering questions from ordinary Christians trying to make sense of their faith. You can find and purchase his book "Tracing the Contours of Faith: Christian Theology for Questioners" here

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