https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/79842 2026-04-04T21:36:36Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/129786 Title: Self-reliance in the life and mission of the church in the context of Mpika diocese, Zambia Abstract: The mission of the Church is to evangelize. It exists to carry forth the Good News of Jesus Christ to every sector of the human race. However, the Church requires evangelising agents and financial and material resources, arnong other important aspects, to carry out its mission. The diocese of Mpika, just like many other dioceses in Zambia and the AMECEA region, has for many years depended on foreign aid, both human and economic, for its various pastoral undertakings. However, as the Catholic population and the pastoral needs are increasing on one hand, foreign aid is decreasing on the other hand. Financial and material contributions from abroad have kept on decreasing. Foreign missionaries too, are on the verge of phasing out. The solution to the predicament, is to try as much as possible to build a self-ministering, self-propagating and self-supporting Church. The study has brought to the fore some plausible measures that could contribute to bring about human and economic self-reliance In the diocese and other dioceses In the AIVIELEA region. Description: S.TH.L. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/95680 Title: A spiritual formation programme for today's young generation : insights from Augustinian pedagogy Abstract: This work aims to offer spiritual and formative insights to today’s young generation, inspired by the Augustinian charism. The characteristics that emerge from the Augustinian spirituality are qualities that are still significant in today’s world. However, their worth needs to be rediscovered and applied to today’s needs. They are characteristics that invite the Christian on a journey of transformation from his old self to the birth of the new self while seeking meaning and discovering true happiness. This study aims to demonstrate that certain practices (such as silence and meditation), which were cherished by our elders, can still offer wisdom for today’s society, and provide recommendations for a better life. Description: M.A. Spirit. Comp.(Melit.) 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/95464 Title: Liturgy as mystagogy in a digital age Abstract: Liturgy is not only a celebration of faith but a mystagogy, a process that leads into the dual movement of God towards Man, katabasis, and consequently of Man who, filled with the Holy Spirit, moves towards communion with God, anabasis. The liturgical act is the spatio-temporal, symbolic, embodied, and communal act of worship which is at the heart of Man’s own vocation as homo adorans. In involving the whole person, body and soul, in their personal, social and cultural experience, the assembly enters into the process of being transformed, in the power of the Holy Spirit, as the communion of saints and the body of Christ on earth. Nevertheless, our age, often called the digital age, poses various challenges and obstacles to contemporary Man in experiencing liturgy as mystagogy. The contemporary age is forging a digital identity that challenges and redefines our experience of spatiotemporal reality, our understanding of the symbol and the embodied self, and our sense of community. Since all the major components of the liturgical act are being challenged, then the contemporary Christian is in a privileged position to discern his true liturgical vocation and to realise the importance of the liturgical act not only for his faith, but for his entire life: personal, social and cultural. Description: S.Th.L.(Melit.) 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/95462 Title: Pastoral care of terminally ill cancer patients in Malawi Abstract: Palliative care possesses varied facets. All these unite in the generic objective of the term, namely “serving to cover or mitigate.” This dissertation focuses on the pastoral care of terminally ill cancer patients in the context of Malawi, a country in Sub-Saharan Africa with a strained health system. Cervical cancer continues to be the silent killer of many women in Malawi, even though it is curable. Given the unavailability of fully-fledged hospices, long distances to leading hospitals, HIV/AIDS scourge, and general levels of abject poverty, the dissertation explores the best pastoral care practice for terminally ill cancer patients in Malawi. The search is done through an in-depth study of literature on cancer, pastoral care, counselling, African Religions and Philosophy and ethics. A bibliographical survey on the mission of the Church, primarily based on Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013) and Fratelli Tutti (4 October 2020), to contextualise this in the local situation in Malawi is also discussed. Pastoral care involves sensitisation and facilitates a better quality of life after terminal cancer diagnosis, and must be accompanied by counselling. Even in this case, however, it can be less therapeutic if it is done as a mere routine. Hence, it must be a part of the interdisciplinary approach with all parties involved caring for the physical, social and psychological pain of the patient and the wider family and community. This dissertation proposes a pastoral care practice that also looks at root causes of cancer that end up being terminal, to highlight the importance of implementing preventive measures. It calls for strengthening the tradition of visiting the sick while paying attention to the broader social injustices being perpetrated at all levels. Once a terminal diagnosis is made, this dissertation calls for more focus towards fostering the quality of life and its meaning for the remaining stage of life. It calls on policy makers for the local Church in Malawi to better form its ministers to acquaint themselves with the changing dynamics, spirituality and ethics of pastoral ministry. Description: S.Th.L.(Melit.) 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z