Zimbabwe: Sacred Heart National Congress, a platform to enhance Synodality

Brother Alfonce Kugwa - Chinhoyi

About 4000 people from the Zimbabwe’s eight dioceses are expected to attend the congress to pray, learn, and to present their challenges and thanksgiving to the omnipotent God. The National Chairperson of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Guild, Mr Shadreck Dimingo said they have made significant progress to ensure delegates have a different experience of a life-transforming congress.

“We have made significant progress to ensure delegates have a different experience of a life-transforming congress. If I am to put it in percentage terms, I can say we are 100% ready to host the congress,” said Mr. Dimingo.

One big family praying and interacting together

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Mr Dimingo observed that a congress of such magnitude was important to connect members of the guild together in prayer, through information sharing.

“A congress is important because we get to come together to pray, learn, and present our challenges and petitions to God as one big family. Members also get a chance to interact with fellows from different dioceses and exchange ideas on how to spread and deepen their devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus,” he said.

He added that this year’s national congress has exciting topics that address both current topical challenges and different methods to enhance the spirituality of members and their devotion. According to Mr Dimingo, they have lined up practical sessions that people will continue to reflect upon in their respective dioceses, parishes, and homes. The guild members will also have a procession around the streets of Chinhoyi to evangelize and encourage others to join the Sacred Heart of Jesus devotion.

Enlarge the space of your tent

The National Chairperson pointed out that the national congress will address varying challenges of the guild including but not limited to low attendance by members at parish guild activities, different interpretations about the devotion in different dioceses, lukewarm prayer life, and devotion of members, as well as the prevalence of the problem of drug and substance abuse among some guild members, their relatives, and family members.

The national congress is anchored on the synodal theme: “Enlarge the space of your tent,” Isaiah 54:2 and encourages guild members to be proactively inclusive in evangelizing to those in the peripheries. Commenting on Synodality, Mr Dimingo expressed that the guild needs to do more to embrace the concept which is fundamental in building the church through promotion of communion, participation, and mission.

“My view is we are still a distance from embracing the spirit of Synodality. I feel that more interactions and engagements are necessary at all levels of the church in order to inculcate the Synodal spirit and way of life starting from the lowest level of the church going up,” stressed Mr Dimingo.

The Sacred Heart – all merciful and all loving

He then called upon all people to rally behind the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus who is all merciful and all loving.

“Let us all return to Him, He is waiting for us in His furnace of love. Let us cast all our burdens onto him and he will lift us up,” he said.

For his part, the Zimbabwe Catholic Commission for the Laity (ZCCL) National Coordinator, Fr. Johane Maseko confirmed the importance of the congress saying it is a time for the encounter, reflection, and journeying together.

“It is important because it is the coming together of the people of God to become the Church as they encounter and witness the love of God. It’s also a time to look back in reflection with gratitude and to re-focus so that we look forward to the future with hope,” Fr. Maseko said.

The priest affirmed that the national congress was a platform to enhance the Synodal efforts at different levels of the local church.

“The Synodal journey is one and is pivoted on participation, communion, and mission and all these are to be realized in all Synodal efforts like this Congress,” Fr. Maseko stated.