Sr. Mary-Ann Afiakwah, SMMC, has celebrated 30 years of Consecrated Life with a thanksgiving Mass at the Our Lady of Mercy (OLAM) Catholic Church, Tema Community One in the Archdiocese of Accra.
The Mass was presided over by Rev. Msgr. Paul Larweh from St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Parish, Kpong in the Koforidua Diocese and assisted by Very Rev. Fr. John Kwabena Louis, the Vicar General of Accra Archdiocese and Rev. Fr. David Arko Amissah, Parish Priest of OLAM.
About 20 Diocesan and Religious Priests and 65 Sisters from different Congregations graced the occasion in their Immaculate religious habits.
The celebration held on December 28, 2022 was also attended by some of Sr. Afiakwa’s mates, Sr. Grace Dakudedzi, Sr. Gifty Innocentia Tettey, Sr. Genevieve Elizabeth Afordofe and Sr. Agnes Dzifa Agbeli.
Sr. Gloria Nyadanu, SMMC and Sr. Millicent Afeadi, SMMC also mates could not join.
At the celebration were Sr. Georgina Fuglo, SMMC, the first black Superior General, Sr. Georgina Irene Akoto, SMMC, immediate past Superior General and Sr. Arcade Eleeza, one of the pioneer sisters.
In his homily, Fr. Louis recalled king Herod who wanted to eliminate the Child Jesus, killed all children below 2 years in Rama and the Church calls them the Holy Innocents.
On the anniversary celebration, he said thirty stood for thanksgiving, holiness, inspiration, renewal, trials and Yahweh, adding, “As you celebrate 30 years in vows, we want to thank God for the number of people you have inspired to be priests, religious or good Christians.”
He thanked God for the life, vocation, response and sacrifice of Sr. Afiakwah and also for sustaining her and her colleagues for 30 years.
He admonished religious sisters and priests to continue to inspire others by their lifestyles, the way they walk and the cassock or religious habit they wear.
According to Fr. Louis, “We ought to be visible everywhere, we have to wear our habit every time and even sleep in it. Since action speak louder than words, we must be patient with people and be distinctive in our dealings with others.”
He said the renewal of vows was very important when one is celebrating an anniversary, praying that God who had called Sr. Afiakwah would give her the grace to continually say yes to Him.
As part of the rite, Fr. Amissah invited the sisters to come forward and renew their vows to God while the congregation accompanied them with a song to the Holy Spirit.
Sr. Afiakwah and her mates after prayers lighted their candles in a procession to the parish Grotto to offer them to Mary their role mode, to consecrate themselves and their faith journey into her hands.
Sir Richard Akpokavi, the Parish Pastoral Council Chairman, thanked the Afiakwah family for being very active and dedicated at the OLAM Parish over 50 Years.
He thanked them for allowing their daughter Sr. Mary-Ann to consecrate her life to God and spreading the faith. He congratulated the sisters for their hard work over the 30 years.
A Token was given to each of the celebrants by the parish while the family of Sr. Afiakwa also gave them gifts.
By Sr. Judith Segla, NDE//Newswatchgh.com
