It's time for Africa

Kinshasa choir member

Youth Choir from Kinshasa preparing to perform at World Youth Day.

Kinshasa – At the University of Kinshasa a group of young Catholics are praying and singing to make sure they get to Madrid this August. The group, made up of about 50 youth, is known as the Luc-Gilon choir. They belong to Notre Dame de la Sagesse Parish, the official parish of the University of Kinshasa. They are not only pilgrims, they have also been accepted as performers for the World Youth Day Cultural Festival.

For most of the group this will be their first time travelling outside Congo and August can't arrive soon enough. However, before they can pack their bags and head to the airport there is much work to be done.

Because WYD is self-financing there is no budget to pay performers so all groups, including the Luc Gilon choir, must pay their own way to Madrid and if necessary any costs associated with their assigned venue. To make sure all members of the choir can make the trip to Madrid the choir is fundraising using their greatest skill – their voices.

Luc Gilon has held several benefit concerts to raise the funds they need. They have worked hard promoting themselves as a choir for hire and when foreign dignitaries have come to visit, the government has called upon Luc Gilon to sing the national anthem at the welcome ceremony.

While they continue their fundraising efforts they also rely heavily on faith. During a recent visit by a WYD delegation to Kinshasa, the choir closed their celebration of a Mass by singing a traditional song to Mary known as “Mama Maria” asking for her intercession and help getting to Madrid.

The Luc Gilon choir is one of 255 groups that will be presenting during the WYD Cultural Festival. For more information keep watching the WYD website for a full list of performers and schedules. To help groups like the Luc Gilon Choir make it to Madrid visit muchasgracias.info to make a donation.

Last Supper was a day earlier, scientist claims

Christians have long celebrated Jesus Christ's Last Supper on Maundy Thursday but new research released Monday claims to show it took place on the Wednesday before the crucifixion.

Professor Colin Humphreys, a scientist at the University of Cambridge, believes it is all due to a calendar mix-up -- and asserts his findings strengthen the case for finally introducing a fixed date for Easter.

Humphreys uses a combination of biblical, historical and astronomical research to try to pinpoint the precise nature and timing of Jesus's final meal with his disciples before his death.

Researchers have long been puzzled by an apparent inconsistency in the Bible.

While Matthew, Mark and Luke all say the Last Supper coincided with the start of the Jewish festival of Passover, John claims it took place before Passover.

Humphreys has concluded in a new book, "The Mystery Of The Last Supper", that Jesus -- along with Matthew, Mark and Luke -- may have been using a different calendar to John.

"Whatever you think about the Bible, the fact is that Jewish people would never mistake the Passover meal for another meal, so for the Gospels to contradict themselves in this regard is really hard to understand," Humphreys said.

"Many biblical scholars say that, for this reason, you can't trust the Gospels at all. But if we use science and the Gospels hand in hand, we can actually prove that there was no contradiction."

In Humphreys' theory, Jesus went by an old-fashioned Jewish calendar rather than the official lunar calendar which was in widespread use at the time of his death and is still in use today.

This would put the Passover meal -- and the Last Supper -- on the Wednesday, explaining how such a large number of events took place between the meal and the crucifixion.

It would follow that Jesus' arrest, interrogation and separate trials did not all take place in the space of one night but in fact occurred over a longer period.

Humphreys believes a date could therefore be ascribed to Easter in our modern solar calendar, and working on the basis that the crucifixion took place on April 3, Easter Day would be on April 5.

Viwawa Upanga waongoza katika makusanyo ya Tegemeza Viwawa Jimbo

Tegemeza Viwawa Jimbo kuu la Dar es salaam

Viwawa Upanga waongoza katika makusanyo ya Tegemeza Viwawa Jimbo kuu la Dar es salaam....

Leo ilikua ni siku ya mwisho kwa Maparokia yote walio chukua kadi za Tegemeza Viwawa Jimbo kuu la Dar es salaam Kuwasilisha kadi na Michango yao, katika Misa ya Matawi Iliyo adhimishwa na Mwasham Baba Askofu Msaidizi wa Jimbo kuu la Dar es salaam baba Libena katika Ukumbi wa Don Bosco - Upanga ambapo Viwawa parokia Ya Mt Immaculata Upanga walishika nafasi ya kwanza kwa Kuwasilisha jumla ya Sh 433,000/= fedha taslimu, Nafasi ya pili ilikua ni Parokia ya Mkuza kwa jumla ya Sh 300,000/=, Nafasi ya tatu Parokia ya Chang`ombe Sh 245,000/= na nafasi ya nne parokia ya Magomeni kwa jumla ya Sh 206,000/=....Fedha hizi zilichangwa na Vijana katika Jumuiya zao na Wakristu wengine wenye mapenzi mema..Tunazishukuru Jumuiya zote za Parokia ya Upanga, Baba Paroko Fr. Francis Borri, Baba Paroko Msaidizi Fr. Silvanos, Masista wa Parokia, Viongozi wote wa Kanda na Wanaparokia wote kwa Ujumla kwani bila ninyi Viwawa Jimbo Kuu la Dar es salaam Lisinge weza kupata Fedha Hizi..Tunasema Asanteni.