In line with the Accra Archdiocesan 2024 theme of helping children to seek Christ – from discovery to discipleship, the Society of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ) Sisters and the Sisters of Saint Louis (SSL) have engaged the youngsters of Our Lady of the Assumption (OLA) Catholic Church and School at New Achimota, Accra, in interactions and talk on choice of career, ahead of their Career Day Celebration.
The interactions which took place, during and after the children’s Mass on Sunday January 28, 2024 also marked the children’s preparation for the celebration of the Catholic Education Week launched in all the Parishes on that day.
The Religious Sisters were invited to interact with the children because, the children had complained that they were not familiar with the Religious Sisters and hardly see them in their Parish or knew the type of work that they do.
The Nuns took the children through the various professions – medicine, law, nursing, teaching, fashion designing and others. They were also introduced to vocations to the religious life and the priesthood among other vocations.
The Sisters explained the works the various Religious Congregations do to the youngsters, educating them that the Religious Sisters work as teachers and lecturers in Schools, universities and Seminaries.
According to them, the Sisters work as administrators in schools and hospitals, as doctors and nurses and pharmacists. They do pastoral and communication work in parishes while others also serve as lawyers engaged in advocacy works for justice and peace in the world and serve as voice for the voiceless.
The Sisters therefore encouraged the youngsters to also think of the possibility of becoming Religious Sisters in the future so as to use their chosen professions to serve God and humanity. This is because; medical doctors, lawyers and other professionals can also be Religious Sisters.
Earlier, the Assisting Priest of OLA Parish, Rev. Fr. Job Plinga, MCCJ, a Comboni Missionary of the Heart of Jesus, who was the main celebrant at the Mass instructed the children on the need to resist temptations to sin in their lives.
In his homily, Fr. Plinga educated the children to first of all, resist the temptation to sin. Based on the Gospel reading of the day in which Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of the demoniac, the Priest challenged the children to always resist the temptation to be disobedient to their parents, and avoid other bad habits such as obsession to noisemaking and the temptation to steal, which he said were common to all youngsters.
He asked the children, the crucial question, “Does the devil exist?” They answered, “Yes!” He further asked them, “Is the devil in your lives?” They kept quiet. The Priest confirmed that the devil existed and can enter into one’s life through temptations – the temptation to steal, to refuse to go to school, not to come to Church, not to listen and the temptation to want to possess everything.
Telling the children that their parents were complaining of their disobedience and the other bad habits they indulge in, he reminded the children that “Jesus challenges you today to change – let the attitude of disobedience come out of you!”
He narrated to the children, the life of Dominic Savio – a young Saint, and presented him as a model for young people to follow, saying that even in his short life on earth (14 years), he was very close and devoted to Jesus and received his first Holy Communion at the age of 7.
He said that the young Dominic remained a true friend of Jesus through prayer and by going to confession and receiving Holy Communion regularly, urging the children and their animators, parents and teachers to ensure that children are encouraged to resist the temptation to sin and always visit the confessional.
By Sr. Elizabeth Mgbaramuko, SHCJ//Newswatcgh.com
