The Consecrated Men and Women of the Catholic Diocese of Keta -Akatsi who gathered at Christ the King Cathedral, Akatsi in Ghana’s Volta Region, to celebrate Mini Jubilee of Consecrated Life, were told by Most Rev. Anthony Kwami Adanuty, the Bishop Emeritus of the same Diocese, not to create their own crosses but accept the crosses Christ Himself gave them.
Bishop Adanuty in his homily on Saturday, September 14, 2024, said it was not by chance that the Consecrated people of Ghana chose 14th September, the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross, to mark their Mini Jubilee Year celebration.
He was with the opinion that it was a Divine plan of God to remind them of the correlation between their way of life and that of Jesus Christ and urged the Consecrated people not to give up on the crosses they face in their encounter with other people as they carry out the mission of Christ.
Bishop Adanuty appreciated the sacrifices the Consecrated Men and Women were making for the sake of the Kingdom of God and recalled what he preached about the Consecrated People during Chrism Mass in 2008 at Viepe in the Volta Region of Ghana, to affirm the essential role played by Consecrated people in the Church.
In that extract, he said, Jesus came to proclaim the immense love of God to humanity and He established the Church to ensure the continuation of this proclamation.
He said the Church, though assigned with this tax, has identified the importance of Religious life in this proclamation.
“Although the proclamation involved all members, the Church nevertheless shows special regard for those who freely chose to come together as a group of Religious with the purpose of proclaiming the Gospel by their deeds of self-denial, the self-denial that benefit us,” he echoed.
The President of the Keta-Akatsi Religious Union (KARU), Rev Fr. Jean Claude Mabiza, CS, explained the purpose of the Mini Jubilee Year celebration at Diocesan level.
According to him, the celebration was organised prior to the National celebration which comes off in February 2025 at Sunyani in preparation towards the climax of the 2025 Jubilee Year declared by Pope Francis.
He asserted that, “It is a blessing for a family and a town when a Priest or a Consecrated person is chosen from that family and town”.
He urged the parents present to pray for, encourage and guide their wards who aspire to the Priesthood and Religious life.
Rev. Fr. Theophilus Ayivor, the Associate Parish Priest of Christ the King Cathedral, Akatsi in a Welcome Address, indicated that the Cathedral was privileged to host the Consecrated Men and Women in marking the Mini Jubilee Year celebration of the Diocese.
He was with the view that the celebration would awake the call to Priesthood and Religious life in the youth of the Church.
The celebration was animated by a cultural display from the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) of St. Michael Co-Cathedral, Keta.
Source: Sr. Agnes Mercy Nyatsoe, SMMC. (Sister Communicator)
