When I awake the second time to begin the day (the first time was at 4 a.m. due to a rude, loud, obnoxious goat outside my window that kept me up for some time) the electricity has been restored (but still no water), so bucket shower it is.

Mass in Swahili

After my shower and getting dressed, Fr. Nestor and I walk next door to celebrate the 7:30 a.m. Sunday Mass. When we arrive for Mass, the congregation (90-100 persons) has already prayed the rosary and recited Morning Prayer and the Ten Commandments.  We are assisted at Mass by two young and capable Altar Servers.
The Mass is said in Swahili, and the music is very joyful. The Mass is much longer than we are accustomed to; with some speakers after the Final Blessing and Dismissal, we finished Mass in two hours.

The speakers included Fr. Nestor, who introduced me along with sharing the history of our friendship.  Fr. Nestor also gave voice to all the good that “Hope for Tanzania” (an outreach effort of Saints Peter and Paul parishioners) is doing at the INUKA Rehabilitation Hospital. I had the opportunity to speak after Fr. Nestor (with Fr. Nestor translating). After I spoke, a member of the congregation, who is a teacher at the nearby Secondary School (7th to 12th grades), warmly welcomed me (in English) to the Parish.

After Mass, Fr. Nestor and I had a quick breakfast in the rectory, and then we set out for the nearby secondary school (some 15 minutes away) with our two helpful altar servers in tow.

Reconciliation

The secondary school is a dormitory school for 1300 students in grades 7 to 12. The students live at the school year-round with a month off at Christmas, and one week off at Easter and in September.

The area in which the secondary school is located is not heavily Catholic, but we still had about 120 students join us for a very spirited celebration of the Eucharist.

When we arrived at the school, Fr. Nestor quickly put me to work. I joined him in hearing confessions from any students who desired to go before Mass (face-to-face, not behind a screen). I heard at least 20 confessions; all the penitents spoke in Swahili except for one student who spoke English. Of course I could not understand the students speaking Swahili, but God did, and God’s mercy and forgiveness is abundant. I told each of the students their penance and the words of absolution in English, and the students seemed most pleased.

 I could not understand the students speaking Swahili, but God did, and God’s mercy and forgiveness is abundant.

In that we only had one vessel to distribute Holy Communion, I had the blessing of distributing Holy Communion to the students. Fr. Nestor taught me the Swahili words for “Body of Christ.”

After the final blessing at Mass, Fr. Nestor spoke to the students about me and our 2-1/2 years of living together in the rectory at Saints Peter and Paul. He also informed the students of the outpatient clinic that “Hope for Tanzania” is building at the INUKA Hospital. Next, I told the children that I could not understand anything Fr. Nestor said (as he spoke in Swahili), but that I hoped he had said good things about me. Many of the students laughed, which told me that many of the older students understood English. It was an absolute joy to be with the students and witness their faith and strong participation in the Mass.

As we left the school, Fr. Nestor had me notice some students from the school who were washing their uniforms/personal clothes in a nearby spring.  As you can likely imagine, there are no washing machines and dryers at the school for these 1,300 students, so all of the students need to do their own laundry in this nearby spring and another small body of water located near the school.

Fr. Nestor said the students need to collect their own drinking water as well (there is no bottled water at the school; too expensive). The students are supposed to boil the water before consuming it, but many of the students say the water loses its taste after boiling, so many drink water without boiling (and that often leads to stomach ailments for some; fyi, the cows drink out of the same water sources).

Oh, the conveniences we take for granted!