As part of celebrations to mark the Jubilee Year of the Consecrated Persons, the Religious of Donkorkrom Apostolic Vicariate in the Afram Plains, Eastern Ghana, have converged at the Convent of the Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) at Kwesi Fante, to carry out a sensitization campaign against plastic pollution in the village community.
The campaign characterized by the picking up of plastics littered along streets, homes, and market Centres by the Religious persons, as well as conscientising villagers in their homes and passersby on the need to protect and care for the earth by not dumping plastics on the ground.
It culminated in a solemn Holy Mass at the SSpS Chapel celebrated by Rev. Fr. Vincent Amuzu Asafo, SVD, Bishop Secretary and Assistant Cathedral Administrator of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Donkorkrom.
Reflecting on the Gospel passage about Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus (Lk.19:1-10), Fr. Amuzu urged his fellow Religious to learn the example of Zacchaeus, to seek to do something new and different after encountering Christ, saying that “when we meet Jesus, there will be something different that would definitely happen to us”.
He further challenged the Religious with some thought-provoking questions: “How much do we put into trying to make our communities vibrant again; into making our apostolates interesting again?”
He highlighted the fact that Zacchaeus did everything he could to meet Jesus, neither minding his height nor the crowd and when he did meet him, there was a transformation, which prompted him to seek to put something right in his life.
“Zacchaeus is an example for all of us today that we can still write our stories well again, even when things go wrong. And whatever energy we need to put into that restitution we should do it. When we encounter the Lord, transformation occurs and when the transformation does occur, it doesn’t just limit itself to us. It must transcend beyond us,” the homilist underscored.
“Let us pray and ask the Lord to help us that when the time comes for us to make restitution, we will be able to do that. He should strengthen our resolves. Help us in our vocation journey so that our lives will be a leading example to our brothers and sisters, he implored.
For the campaign carried out earlier in the day, the SVD priest prayed that God may bless the efforts of the Religious, saying that “we went to sow the seed; the seed of taking care of the earth in the hearts of people. We ask the Lord to bless it so that it will bear fruit, and our Earth will be respected”.
Rev. Fr. Bernard Adjei Appiah, SVD, President of African Religious Union, Ghana (ARUG), and Cathedral Administrator of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Donkorkrom, disclosed the purpose of the gathering saying that “We the Religious of the Apostolic Vicariate of Donkorkrom are here today to do a mini durbar of our Jubilee; to celebrate as a sign that we need to take care of the earth, especially plastic waste”.
He added that plastic waste has taken over everywhere, thus endangering human health, the world at large and “God is not happy,” hence the need to celebrate what God has given to us to take good care of.
According to the ARUG President, care of the earth is a mandatory duty for all Religious because “if the environment is clean, you will be able to propagate the gospel, if the environment is clean and you are a teacher, your children will be healthy enough to come to school.”
“If your environment is clean, you can move to the market and interact with people,” he stated, adding, “We have to befriend the environment so that we will live healthily,” the priest emphasised.
Fr. Adjei underscored that the November 19, 2024 mini-celebration was the third activity the Religious of Donkorkrom Apostolic Vicariate were carrying out since the Holy Father declared the year for the Religious. The first was the June 15, Candle-Light Procession at Donkorkrom, followed by the Webinar on Spiritual ‘Galamsey’, centered on Counselling, he added.
He further mentioned that the Jubilee Year celebration at the National level had been launched in a Solemn Holy Mass officiated by Bishop Anthony Narh Asare, Auxiliary Bishop of Accra, at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Accra, on May 1, 2024, under the theme “Be Friend to the Earth, a Creation that God has given to us”.
The Divine Word Missionary Priest further reported that various symbols of the earth had been presented during the launching ceremony at Accra, name: water, symbolizing the polluted water bodies, due to neglect and indifference, a rock, representing minerals, that are meant to support humankind, but which have been destroyed.
According to him, there had also been the symbol of a tree, reminding humanity of the need to keep planting trees and reduce the felling of trees for charcoal burning, and the symbol of an animal, “to remind us that the earth is not for us alone, but it is supposed to be lived in with other living things that God has given to us,” he emphasized.
The ARUG President announced that the next and final celebration to mark the Jubilee year would take place at Sunyani Diocese from January 31 to February 2, 2025, under the theme “Pilgrims of Hope, Renew the Face of the Earth”, coined from the worldwide theme “Pilgrims of Hope, with Peace”.
Alluding to what the Scripture and the Quran say about the care of the Earth in Deuteronomy 23: 12-13 and Sura 74:4, respectively, the SVD Priest called on Christians and Muslims alike, whom he claimed make about 94 percent of the Ghanaian population to take it upon themselves to take care of the Earth, which is God’s gift to them.
“If Christians and Muslims are able to take care of the environment to the mosque and then religious life, and others, our world will see peace,” he opined.
Fr. Adjei further charged the Religious to make it a point of duty to see to it that wherever they are, they should make sure that the place is clean, especially in relation to the plastics in the Afram. They should try to plant one tree and take care of it, he added.
Participants at the celebration featured Religious from 5 different Congregations within the Vicariate: Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), Divine Word Missionaries (SVDs), Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church (SMMC), Handmaids of the Divine Redeemer (HDR) and the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary (MSHR).
Also present was Rev. Fr. John Armah Koufie from St. Joseph Parish, Maame Krobo, and some children from the village who joined the Religious in the course of the campaign.
The planning and coordination of the mini celebration for the Religious at Kwesi Fante had been spearheaded by Sr. Cecilia Kudexa, SMMC, and Sr. Stella Nwosu, MSHR, who was unavoidably absent for the programme.
By Sr. Sylvie Lum Cho, MSHR (DEPSOCOM, Donkorkrom Apostolic Vicariate & Sister Communicator)
