Rev. Fr. Chris Orji, SC, a Servant of Charity (Guanelian) Priest in the Keta-Akatsi Diocese of Ghana, in a talk on Saturday, July 6, 2024, reminded the Keta-Akatsi Religious Union (KARU) that, a Consecrated Life is a Choice and not a Force.
As a way of following the programme outline of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious -Ghana (CMSR-GH) for preparations towards the celebration of the Jubilee year, 2025, the Religious in the Diocese of Keta-Akatsi gathered at Servants of Charity Community at Abor to listen to a talk on the topic: “Consecrated Life and Today’s Challenges in Community Living”.
This topic was derived from the major theme “Spiritual Galamsey- Renewing the Face of Our Community Life.”
Dwelling on the above topic, Fr. Orji explained that Consecrated Life is a call from God to live with others.
“We are first and foremost called to proclaim the kingdom of God. This we have to do by living in communion with our community members,” he emphasised.
He said that Consecrated Life is a vocation in which one is called to give out what he or she had received from Christ and have been practicing. “We cannot give what we don’t have,” he said.
Fr. Orji explained that Consecrated people surrender their lives to God and the Church and that they are consecrated for something.
According to him, it is a call to journey with others towards God and to live in community. He threw the following questions for reflection: “What is the relevance of a Consecrated person or a Religious in his or her community and the society? What can he or she be noted for?”
He further said if the communities could not experience the Consecrated persons and know their essence, then they did not exist. He said that since the Religious have chosen to respond to the call from God to live and follow the way of life chosen for him or her, it is a choice made by him or her and he or she must be devoted to it.
Fr. Chris asserted that Religious life is a sign for salvation which must be seen in living together with others in peace and harmony; and that if this does not happen, then the life may not be meaningful.
He cautioned that the life of a Religious is to preach Christ to the people, living in the power of the Holy Spirit which should lead the Religious to make meaningful impacts in the society.
In the discussions after the talk, KARU members pointed out some life styles given in the talk that posed as Spiritual Galamsey and could endanger Religious Life. Among them were the tendency of becoming materialistic and inward-looking attitudes.
‘Galamsey’ is a nickname given to Illegal Mining that is posing danger to life in the Ghanaian societies.
The talk was concluded by praying the Jubilee prayer composed by the Pope and the Prayer against ‘Galamsey’ composed by CMSR-GH.
Earlier, Rev. Fr. Jean Claude Mabiza, SC, the President of KARU in his Welcome Address, told KARU that it was in place to come together once in a while to reflect and identify the roles they play in the society and also share their challenges to encourage one another to forge ahead.
He commended the CMSR-GH for its plans towards the celebration of the Jubilee year.
Story and Photos by Sr. Agnes Mercy Nyatsoe, SMMC (Sister Communicator)
