A homily for Ash Wednesday

A homily preached by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba on Ash Wednesday at St George's Cathedral, Cape Town:

Readings: Genesis.1:1-10; Psalm 133; Revelation 22:1-5; John 4:1-15

May I speak in the name of God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Ash Wednesday reminds us of our need for repentance and coming closer to God. This is a time during which the whole church of God comes together to begin a journey towards Easter. The beginning of Lent calls us all to fasting and repentance in preparation for Easter, giving up sinful habits and embarking on spiritual discipline.

The Reformation - "Our inspirational GPS" for the next 500 years

A sermon delivered to a Festive Service celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation at the 36th German Protestant Kirchentag, at the Elbe Meadows, Wittenberg.

Text: Genesis 16: 13; 1 Corinthians 13

Archbishop Thabo blogs from Berlin

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba is one of the leading international guests invited to this year's edition of the great celebration of German Christians, the Kirchentag. He will preach to a festive service on Sunday outside Wittenberg, to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. 

On the first days of the celebrations, he blogs from Berlin.

DAY 1

The opening service was beyond my expectations: there were about 20,000 people at our venue and there were two others. The papers say that in total there were 70,000 people present.

Then there was a great reception, addressed by the President of the Kirchentag, Professor Christina Aus der Au, the chair of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, and Chancellor Angela Merkel.

This was followed by a dinner in which we spent the evening in her company, as well as that of Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury and other church leaders. It was a delightful evening, talking about the church in the political life of nations and the church’s vocation to care for all - including a reflection on South Africa.

DAY 2

This morning I led a Bible study in Hall 18, an exhibition  hall. There was a choir from Limpopo, which was very special. They sang Senzeni Na? and Hake Le Tjee Ke Le Mobe, then it was to an exposition of the Bible study. (You can download my notes here.)

Bishop Ebenezer Ntali of of Grahamstown is also here, in the same hotel, but we have not yet had a chance to meet. The crowds here are multitudes beyond measure.

Then we were fetched and whisked to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, where Chancellor Merkel had a discussion on faith, religion and politics with former President Barack Obama. It will remain with me as a most memorable interaction, two world leaders talking opening and sincerely in the public square about faith, willing to be vulnerable, admitting their failures and not pretending to be omnipotent. You can see a recording of the interaction below. 

I am due to pay my respects to our Ambassador, Stone Sizani, later today and to have TV interviews tonight.

Water is Life, Sanitation is Dignity - JustWater 2017

Cathedrals and churches on four continents have come together to raise awareness and activism about water by launching the JustWater website. This website is part of a new project focussed on celebrating, protecting and ensuring equal access to the gift of water for all, with an international programme organised by St George's Cathedral (Cape Town); St Paul's Cathedral (London); St Paul's Cathedral (Melbourne); and Trinity Church Wall Street (New York). Archbishop Thabo spoke at the launch of the initiative in London.

Water is Life, Sanitation is Dignity

JustWater 2017

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

London, February 2017

Thank you Dean David and your team for inviting me here to help launch this initiative. Hillary and David are spoiling me at the deanery – thank you for your generous hospitality. Barbara thanks for all the practical arrangements.

As I was preparing for this event, we learned in Cape Town that as a result of diminished rainfall over the past year, the dams supplying water for our metropolitan area are only 29 percent full, this at a time when we cannot expect our winter rains to begin before May. While I won't go here into the linkages between the El Niño phenomenon and global warming, our water crisis had the effect of concentrating my mind on how precious water is and on how devastating the effects of scarcity can be.