Rev. Fr. Isaac Benuyena, the Administrator of the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Ho-Bankoe of Ghana’s Volta Region, has asked the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church (SMMC), to let their motherly love be felt in the Church and wherever they are, just as Mother Mary whose name they bear, did.
During his Pre-Chapter talk delivered to SMMC on the topic: “Mary, Mother of the Church”, Fr. Benuyena, a Biblical Theologian, brought to fore, the role Mary played in the salvation history of mankind.
She was predicted to have “crushed the head of the serpent” in the Old Testament of the Bible and this prediction was fulfilled in the new Testament as she, being the New Eve, bore the Saviour Jesus who defeated the devil on the Cross,” he stated.
Mary who was the first to experience the Pentecost, right from the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus the Saviour, journeyed with her Son from the womb to the Cross.
She served mankind, interceded to take their shame away and mothered the Church. These he said, making reference to Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth (Lk 1:35, 39 – 56), the miracle of the Wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11) and the handing over of His mother to the Church and the Church to His mother by Jesus (Jn.19:26-27).
Fr. Benuyena traced back to history, Mary being proclaimed as Mother of the Church by St. Pope Paul VI in 1964.
In a decree, “Ecclesia Mater” by the then Congregation for Divine Worship published on February 11, 2018, the day of the 160th anniversary of the first apparition of Mary to Bernadette in Lourdes, Pope Francis inscribed a mandatory memorial day in the Roman calendar in homage to Mary, “Mother of the Church.”
Sr. Paulette Maria Goretti Ankrah, RVM, who is a Vocation Directress and a Formator, took the second input of the Pre-Chapter preparations on the topic: Formation.
She enumerated the key things Formators ought to be to the Formatees, saying that a Formator is a counsellor, advisor, mother, companion, and a guide.
She explained and reiterated that “all Sisters are Formators one way or the other”.
Pentecost is a titular Feast for SMMC Sisters where they all gather at Sokode- Gbogame, a suburb of Ho annually to celebrate; sharing their joys, experiences and aspirations, exercise and pray as a family.
This year’s celebration which took effect from May 17 to 20, 2024, was a special one as the pioneers of the Institute will celebrate their Golden Jubilee of religious life on August 15, 2024.
The year also happens to be the Chapter year of the Institute Mary Mother of the Church.
The celebration was climaxed on Monday, May 20, the memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church with a Thanksgiving Mass presided over by the Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD, Catholic Bishop of Ho Diocese.
In his homily, he urged the Sisters to critically consider and celebrate the memorial of Mary Mother of the Church as a Feast.
Sr. Dr. Lucy Hometowu, the Superior General of SMMC, thanked the Bishop and promised that marking the memorial of Mary Mother of the Church as a feast for the Institute would be considered during the upcoming Chapter.
Present at the closing Mass were Very Rev. Fr. Walter Agbeto, the Vicar General of Ho Diocese, Rev. Fr. Mark Torwoe, CsSR and Fr. Samuel Eco Kornu, the Chaplain of Mater Ecclesiae School, Sokode Gbogame.
The celebration came to a close with exchange of gifts among Sisters.
In exclusive interviews by Srs. Gifty Anastasia Blewu and Agnes Mercy Nyatsoe with the Pioneer Sisters, Srs. Georgina Fuglo, Philothea Osibe and Arcade Eleeza, they expressed joy of being Religious.
“It looks so short for me to be 50 years already”, Sr. Fuglo declared. They, as though planned, revealed that prayer and hard work are the hallmark of Religious life.
“I have never regretted being a Religious” Sr. Acade intimated.
On her part, Sr. Georgina Fuglo confessed that “there is a great difference between Sisters of ‘yesterday and Sisters of today’ in terms of communication.”
According to her, unlike the former days, where blind obedience was the order of the day, the present days Sisters ask questions.
She encouraged the young Sisters to seize the opportunity to use changes of their time to propagate the faith.
Sr. Agnes Mercy Nyatsoe, SMMC and Sr. Gifty Anastasia Blewu, SMMC
