Faith

With help from mission appeals in the Archdiocese of Boston, the Diocese of Chipata, Zambia is able to provide relief to villagers in distress.

Propagation of the Faith

There's No Easter Sunday Without Good Friday

Friday, April 10, 2026Faith

Happy Easter from all of us at the Pontifical Mission Societies of Boston! May your Fifty Days of Feasting in the presence of the Risen Lord be as prayerfully fulfilling a time as your Forty Days of Fasting.
Last week, we received many messages and blessings from people we work with in this mission ministry. It never ceases to amaze me that in my lifetime, we've gone from waiting months for an overseas dispatch to arrive to picking up our phones and using a free app to send that same message.
Bishop Raymond in Galle, Sri Lanka, Bishop Peter Paul in Damongo, Ghana, and Bishop Vincent in Lilongwe, Malawi, passed along their episcopal blessings to all of us who, through prayerful and material support, help to make their ministries possible.
We heard from priests in Sri Lanka, Tanzania, South Africa, Ireland, and Italy as well as a sister from Trinidad and Tobago. Had we received a message from Oceania, we'd have received a World Mission Rosary of greetings!
There was one note that stood out dramatically. It was from Father Bernard Makadani Zulu from Chipata, Zambia. Father is a regular communicator with us, so hearing from him was no surprise. The pictures and story that he sent were a jolt after all the "Happy Easter" wishes.
Father Bernard had traveled over one hundred kilometers by four-wheel drive truck to a rural outstation for the Triduum. The heavy-duty truck is necessary because the roads are poor -- believe me, I've bounced and rattled over them more than once! This time, Father's truck was not only transportation for him and his Mass kit. He carried much-needed relief.
Just two short years after surviving one of the worst droughts Zambia has seen in generations, the rainy season just. won't. stop. Two rivers have overflowed their banks. People's homes and crops were washed away. They walked through knee-deep water to greet Father and receive maize (corn) flour, cooking oil, and ground nuts. Where did these supplies come from? From their meager diocesan budget, of which Father Bernard is Treasurer. They used the funds to support a small village of people, Catholic or not.
You may assume that amid calamity, services were cancelled. You'd be wrong. Father washed parishioners' feet, followed by Adoration, led outdoor Stations of the Cross, baptized villagers, and celebrated Mass on Easter as people thanked God for sending His Son to die on a cross for us all.
As Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, "Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday." The good people of Chipata are living this daily.

- Maureen Crowley Heil is Director of Programs and Development for the Pontifical Mission Societies, Boston.