Religious Men and Women in the Sunyani Diocese celebrated the Day of Consecrated Life on February 2, 2023.
It was celebrated at the Sacred Heart Senior High School at Nsoatre in the Sunyani West District in the Bono Region of Ghana.
The stakeholders of the School are the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, HHCJ assisted by the Government.
The celebration began with a candle light procession of Religious from different Congregations in the Diocese.
The main celebrant for the Mass was the Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Bishop of the Sunyani Diocese, who doubles as the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Also at the celebration were three Sisters from different Congregations who marked their silver Jubilee (25years) in Religious Life. They were Sr. Regina Asante, HHCJ, Sr. Mary Nkrumah, SSpS and Sr. Louis Marie Mareanu, SSpS.
Present were also Students and Staff of the Sacred Heart Senior High School(SAHESS), Handmaids Preparatory School (HPS)
In a homily, Bishop Gyamfi, welcomed and thanked particularly the students for coming and challenged them to ask what the religious life is all about and that they should be inquisitive to join so as to taste the fruits of the life.
The Bishop again congratulated the three Silver Jubilarians for chalking this feat and thanked them for their selfless services to God and his church.
Coming to the Religious who were the main people for whom the celebration was taking place, he urged the religious to be aware of unnamed evil, and deceptions that come their way or take them unawares.
He used the characters in the day’s Gospel, Simeon and Anna as people who have summarised the life of a Religious.
Simeon, according to the Bishop, was awaiting the consolation of Israel, can that be said about you ? He asked rhetorically.
The Bishop’s homily was more of questions that lead one to introspection. According to him, Simeon was associated with the Holy Spirit a number of times. What does the Spirit reveal to you as Religious? Are you as a religious, consecrated?, totally given, or there are acts superficial, external?
Are you as Religious, moved by human beings, in glory? What people want? Simeon took Jesus and blessed God. Do you receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist? Are you aware what you receive everyday and do you bless God each day for coming into you life?
Going further, he reminded the Religious that just like Simeon and Anna, Religious owe something to God and they ought to bless God instead of complaining and grumbling in the state in which they are as Religious, they should imitate Anna by being grateful and to speak about the God who has honoured them by calling them into his service.
Simeon and Anna took care of the soul. They are the perfect models and examples for each Religious. They were grateful and they died happily. As Religious, learn to acknowledge Christ in our lives so that at the end of their lives they can comfortably say the “Nunc Dimitis”
After the Eucharistic celebration, there were performances by the Students and Novices of some Religious congregations just to make the day lovely and memorable.
By Sr. Emmanuella Dakurah, HHCJ/Newswatchgh.com
