Amid a subdued atmosphere occasioned by COVID-19, the Most Rev. Philip Naameh, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, has appealed to Catholic Priests to encourage one another and accept the weaknesses of their brothers in the Presbyterium with whom they minister.
At a Chrism Mass with eleven Priests due to the ban on social and religious gatherings due to COVID-19 pandemic, he called on Priests also to pray and encourage themselves in areas where they are good.
Celebrating the Chrism Mass comprising the Deans of the three Deaneries of the Tamale Archdiocese and some selected few at the Adoration Chapel of the Our Lady of Annunciation Cathedral in Tamale on April 8, 2020, he told the Priests that in this era of individualism, they are called upon to commit themselves in a joyful way to community life by bringing families which are divided together.
Archbishop Naameh, who is also the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference said Chrism Mass offers Bishops the opportunity to thank their priests for their tremendous work of evangelization, counselling and prayers they offered for the people and also to encourage them to live holy lives.
“If you minister to people who are holy, you have no choice but to be holy and if you minister to a people whose preoccupation is the pleasures of this world, then you as a priest will struggle to be holy”, he told the priests.
In this regard, he reminded priests that their human frailties are not taken away by their ordination and cited the tenacity of Peter, the leader of the Apostles who made several promises to the Lord including even dying for his sake but denied him in the end.
Similarly, he likened this to the promises made by priests during their ordination and said imbued with zeal, they would usually promise anything for the sake of the Lord.
Again, he recounted that during Jesus’ trail, his disciples’ faded away one by one leaving only his mother and John.
Among the concelebrating priests were Very Rev. Matthew Yitiereh, the Vicar General and the three Deans namely; Rev. Msgr. Andrew Tengan (central deanery), Very Rev. Fr. Hilary Pogbeyir (northern deanery), Very Rev. Fr. Alphonsus Dakora (eastern or Salaga deanery) and Very Rev. Carolus Magnus Gambogi, the Cathedral Administrator, among others.
During the Mass which was also attended by two Religious Women, one Seminarian and six lay people, the Archbishop blessed the oils of the sick and catechumens and consecrated the Chrism oil to be used to administer the Sacraments in the Archdiocese until the next Chrism Mass in 2021.
Source: Francis Monnie // Newswatchgh.com
