On June 21, 2026, the community of Bunju, gathered at Consolata Mission Centre in Dar es Salaam to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady Consolata. The main celebrant was Fr. Rodrick Minja, the Superior of the Consolata Missionaries for the Region of Tanzania – Madagascar.
By Paulino Madeje*
In his introductory words, Fr. Minja welcomed the faithful with these words: “Today, with great joy, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Consolata, the Mother whose presence brings comfort, hope, and strength to the faithful on their journey of faith. This feast is very special to the family of the Consolata Missionaries, because within it, we behold Mary as a Mother who accompanies us with maternal love and guides us to her Son, Jesus Christ.”
Four points to reflect on the Feast
During his homily, Fr. Superior broke his sermon down into four clear points based on the Bible readings of the day and the teachings of saint Joseph Allamano.
“The Lord is in your midst” (Zephaniah 3:14-18) Fr. Minja looked at the first reading where the prophet Zephaniah tells the people to rejoice because God is with them. He explained that Mary fulfilled this promise by saying ‘Yes’ and bringing Jesus into the world. He reminded the people that everyone faces problems like sickness, family issues, and worry about the future, but God has not left them. “True consolation does not come from the absence of problems, but from the presence of God in our lives.”
The God of All Consolation (2 Corinthians 1:3-7) For his second point, The Regional Superior spoke about Saint Paul’s teaching that God comforts us so that we can comfort others. He noted that Mary shows us how to trust God during hard times. But as Saint Joseph Allamano teaches his missionaries, a person must be holy and close to God before trying to help others. Fr. Minja then asked the congregation to think about their own actions in their daily life. “Today we are invited to ask ourselves: Am I a source of comfort for my family, my community, and those who suffer? Or am I a source of division, grumbling, and despair”? he interrogated.
“I am the handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:26-38) In his third point, Fr. Minja talked about the Gospel reading where the angel Gabriel visits Mary. Mary did not ask for a perfect plan or proof before obeying; she simply trusted God and surrendered to His will. The preacher compared this to the modern world, where people demand to see everything before they believe. “Mary teaches us a different path: to believe first, and then God reveals the way,” he underlined.
Teachings of St. Joseph Allamano for Today’s Feast. To make the sermon practical, Fr. Minja shared three simple rules from Saint Joseph Allamano on how to live out this feast every day:
- Trust Mary completely, the same way a child trusts its mother, because she listens to her children.
- Look for holiness in small, ordinary things by doing daily duties faithfully, rather than waiting for grand moments.
- Be a helper to others by bringing Jesus to them through acts of mercy, love, and service.
At the end of his sermon, Fr. Minja summarized that the feast is a call for everyone to rejoice because God is with them, to share that comfort with others, to say ‘Yes’ to God’s will, and to try to be holy every day. He invited the faithful to dump their pains, desolations, confusions, despair to Christ through the intercession of Our Lady Consolata.
“Let us pray that the Virgin Mary Consolata may guide us to Jesus, strengthen us in times of trial, and make us witnesses of hope and consolation to a world that deeply needs God’s love. Our Lady Consolata, Mother of Consolation, pray for us. St. Joseph Allamano, pray for us. Amen.” With this prayer he concluded his reflexion.
Renewal of Religious Profession
After his homily, The Superior invited the Consolata missionaries to renew their religious profession with these words: “On this day, sacred to the memory of Our Lady Consolata, in whose name we are consecrated to God for the work of evangelization, let us pray to God, from whom the gift of perseverance comes in order to be able to renew publicly our commitments.”
“In gratitude for the great love shown by Jesus Christ who was sent by the Father to give his life for the salvation of all, and desiring to answer the call of the Holy Spirit to dedicate my life to the missionary apostolate of the Church, I renew to God my vows of Obedience, Chastity and Poverty, according to the Constitutions of the Consolata Missionaries. With these words, the missionaries said ‘yes’ to their commitment to God.
May I, by God’s grace and the loving intercession of our Lady Consolata, our Mother, persevere in this high vocation and be a zealous apostle. Amen.”
Moment of sharing the mission
At the close of the Mass, The Regional Superior thanked the faithful gathered, for their active participation in the work of evangelization that is carried out by the Consolata missionaries especially in Madagascar, encouraging them to continue doing so in different ways. He had previously shared with them about the Consolata mission experience in Madagascar, and they were deeply touched by such reality, and decided to make a financial contribution to that mission for at least 10 months, culminating with the Feast of Our Lady. The collected amount was handed to the Regional Superior to help the mission in that part of the African Continent.
The faithful were then invited to have breakfast, courtesy of the Consolata Mission Centre before departing to their respective places, ready to put these simple life teachings into practice in their daily lives, emulating the life of Our Lady Consolata.
*Fr. Paulino Madeje, IMC, Tanzania and African Continent Communications Coordinator.
