Saturday 31 December 2016

Archbishop Thabo responds to President Zuma's clarification

Archbishop Thabo was asked by The New Age newspaper to comment on President Jacob Zuma's December 27 statement (reproduced below) concerning his remarks early in December on religious leaders commenting on political issues.

The text of the newspapers questions and Archbishop Thabo's answers follow:

Do you find it strange that the Church which was not silent during apartheid is expected to keep quiet now?

I am happy with the welcome the Presidency's clarification that he didn't mean we should not address political issues.

Tuesday 27 December 2016

[Video & Audio] Archbishop Thabo's Christmas sermon

Watch and hear news reports and the full sermon preached by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba at Midnight Mass in St George's Cathedral, Cape Town, at Christmas 2016.

You can also read the full text of the sermon.

SABC News - December 25, 2016



eNCA News - December 25, 2016



News report on SAfm's AM Live, December 26



The full recording:

Saturday 24 December 2016

Sermon for Midnight Mass at St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town, Christmas 2016



Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

Lessons: Isaiah 62:6-12, Ps 97,Ttitus 3:4-7, Luke 2:8-20

Welcome to each and every one of you: I am glad you are all here, on this most holy night! 

Monday 19 December 2016

The Archbishop's Lenten Course - 2017

REFLECTING, PRAYING AND ACTING TOGETHER, a series of Bible studies for Lent commissioned by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba is now available online for downloading and printing by parishes and Dioceses.

The course comprises daily readings and six weekly teachings centred on weekly themes for personal and/or communal prayer and meditation. Excerpts from the Archbishop's preface:

...[T]his is an invitation to all of us as members of ACSA, to our friends, whether people of faith or of none, and especially to our ecumenical friends, to reflect prayerfully not only on our vison and mission statement (“Anglicans ACT”), but on God’s vision for the world. In these Bible teachings we are given an opportunity to put flesh on what I would call the eternal ideals enshrined in the Bible or in our dogma. In other words, it is an invitation to us collectively to get into the mind and heart of the incarnate Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, and to see how we as his followers can make him real by understanding his ways...

In these teachings, examples of society's failings such as inequality, corruption, unemployment, poverty and environmental degradation are highlighted. We rightly start with daily readings, for as Anglicans we need to begin with Scripture in order to apply our hearts and minds to our daily challenges, to read the mind of Christ in our readings and then to be deepened in our journey...

As I offer these Lenten studies to all of you, I hope you will be as excited as I am with this journey of Reflecting, Praying and Acting Together. I am grateful to the team of people who have prayed, reflected and acted on the challenge that I placed before them to help me construct these Bible studies and to those who have ably read and edited them.


Click here to download a PDF file (34 pages)

PDF file updated to version 7 on December 20, 2016.

Friday 16 December 2016

[AUDIO] Archbishop Thabo reflects on Advent IV

In his last reflection for Advent, Archbishop Thabo looks at the readings for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, in particular the Gospel reading, Matthew 1:18-25 and part of Psalm 80.

Saturday 10 December 2016

Thursday 1 December 2016

[Audio] Archbishop Thabo reflects on Advent II

Archbishop Thabo reflects on the Second Sunday in Advent. His reflection is prompted by the Gospel reading for the day, on John the Baptist: Matthew 3:1-12.