Catholic Church urges parents to make their children agents of peace
The national director of the Pontifical Missionary Society (PMS) in Malawi, Father Vincent Mwakhwawa, on Saturday made an impassioned appeal to parents to shape the spiritual life of their children whilst in their innocent years and help them become agents of prayer and peace.
Mwakhwawa made the appeal during the rosary prayers for One Million Children in the World.
This year’s One Million Children rosary prayers were held at Kamganga Village in Tradititional Authority (T/A) Mavwere, which falls under Guillime Parish of the Roman Catholic Church.
The day was organized so that children may come together and celebrate their calling as evangelizers of fellow children and pray for peace and unity in the world. He also said that children are encouraged as they learnt from each other.
“The rosary prayers for one million children in the world are very important because it is an initiative that helps children to gather and pray for peace and unity in the whole world. They also help the children to grow with the understanding that they need peace in their own heart and unite with others in the world,” said Mwakhwawa.
He also emphasized the need for parents to encourage children to take prayer life seriously and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
He said parents need to teach children to be missionaries and serve the church and deepen their prayer life.
“I encourage all parents to realize that children are a gift from God given to the world and to the Church. We are supposed to raise them up according to God’s will. Parents have the obligation to be first evangelizers of their children. We too are teaching them to pray for fellow children, parents and the Church,” narrated Mwakhwawa.
A representative of the children who participated in the rosary prayers, Pemphero Lungu, encouraged her fellow children to always dedicate themselves to missionary acclivities.
“I encourage my fellow children to always pray for peace and unity in their families and the whole world because prayer is very important in our lives. I also advise parents who don’t allow their children to go to church and pray together with their friends to start allowing them to do so in order for the children to grow in fear of God,” said Pemphero. –Additional reporting by Demetria Banda, Episcopal Conference of Malawi.
