The Metropolitan Archbishop of Ghana’s Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, the Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie, CSSp, has stressed on the need for good character formation among the Parishioners of Our Lady of Assumption (OLA) Catholic Church at New Achimota to enable them bring people closer to God through their evangelisation efforts.
During his maiden pastoral visit to the OLA Parish on Sunday, February 27, 2022, the Chief Shepherd advised the people of God to lead good lives that would draw people nearer to the Church.
Addressing 99 newly confirmed Catholics of the OLA Parish and her three Outstations of St. Daniel Comboni, Tantra Hills; Immaculate Heart of Mary, Chantan and St. Cecilia, Ofankor North, the Archbishop challenged them not to leave the Church after the reception of the Sacrament but stay to help in the evangelisation mission of the Church.
He stressed that as confirmed Catholics, they need to lead good lives and be ready to also use their characters to evangelise and draw people closer to the Church and to themselves.
Turning to the sponsors who have journeyed with the 99 Confirmandi; 49 from OLA, 21 from Tantra Hills, 16 from Chantan and 13 from Ofankor North, Spiritan Archbishop Kwofie reminded them that the Christian life and the demands that flow from the sacraments were not to be taken lightly; hence, they had the task of journeying with them in their spiritual lives.
He lamented that some Catholics leave the Church shortly after confirmation due to either marriages or other circumstances, charging the Pastors, the sponsors, parents and the entire parishioners of OLA and her three Outstations to help in ensuring the newly confirmed did not leave the Church.
“What is happening in our Church? He asked, and bemoaned the incessant absenteeism by some Catholics, cautioning Catholics not to leave the Church because of the bad character of some of the faithful or due to marriage.
“Make it a project to win a soul for Christ,” he told the people of God of OLA and her three Outstations, lamenting that the Church population was slightly seeing a downward trend, which calls for an aggressive evangelisation.
Preaching the homily, the Pastor of the OLA Parish, Rev. Fr. Francisco Machado of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ), asked the faithful to be ready to become more active and creative members of the Community.
He asked: “Are we ready to interact and collaborate with each other to bring forth a new life and breathe into our Church. Are you courageous enough to believe in God’s call and to commit ourselves to overcome illusions and disillusions, setbacks and apparent lack of meaning of our work and commitment?”
“Today’s Holy Gospel gives us the criteria for distinguishing the true “disciple of Jesus” from the false: the true “Leader” is the one who presents bold and confidently Jesus’ proposal of Salvation for the whole humanity,” he stated.
According to him, this true leader, with his witness, generates communion, fraternity and favours love. The false “Leader”, on the contrary, is the one who manifests falsehood, intolerance and hypocrisy. In this way his witness generates divisions and confusion: The proclamation of the false disciple has nothing to do with Jesus’ way of life.
“Today’s Word of God is an urgent invitation to us, disciples of Jesus, to scrutinise bold and responsibly our way of living. Only this courageous step can really allow us to verify and challenge the truthfulness and the seriousness of our Christian life.
He urged the parishioners to be bold enough to question themselves: what is it that really fills our hearts, guides our actions and comes out of our mouths? Have we really decided to be true and living witnesses to God’s love for humanity? Are we ready to pay the price for this bold and very often painful decision?
Referring to the first reading, which gives a very practical and useful advice, Fr. Machado, popularly known as Fr. Kofi, counselled the parishioners not to judge people by the first impression or by hypocritical attitudes.
“Let people speak, because words reveal the truth or the lie that is in them, in every heart. Evil words cannot flow from a good-hearted person,” he emphatically stated.
“A hasty judgment can lead us to be tremendously unfair and to marginalise very valuable people with great potential; it can also, on the contrary, lead us to trust totally in people who, invested with positions of responsibility, end up destroying things that took a long time to build…,” he said.
Adding, he said, “Life gives you back everything you say, everything you wish, good or bad, on others. Life will give you back all the blasphemies, envy, misunderstandings and lack of honesty you wished on the people around you. Your life is not a coincidence, it is a consequence of the thoughts we harbour in our hearts and, eventually, become attitudes, actions.”
He told the large faithful: “If you want love, understanding, success, harmony, faithfulness, plant them in your heart. If you act like this, life will give you happiness, success and the love of the people around you. Everything we are is the result of what we think and cultivate in our hearts.”
Quoting Pope Francis’ statement, Fr. Machado said: “How beautiful when people select their words and actions with care in the effort to avoid misunderstandings, to heal wounded memories and to build peace and harmony. Words can build bridges between individuals, within families, social groups and peoples… the words of Christians, as disciples of Jesus, ought to be constant encouragement to communion and even in those cases where they must firmly condemn evil. They should never try to rupture relationships and communication.”
Five Priests including the Archbishop’s Secretary, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Darfour Appah, concelebrated the Mass.
In a welcome, Mr. Alphonse Dodzi Avevor, the Chairman of the OLA Parish Pastoral Council, thanked God for the life of the Archbishop and prayed that He grants him good health in mind and body to continue him pastoral work.
“It is praiseworthy to note that, even in your ill health, you have reached out to the furthest part of the Archdiocese of Accra on your pastoral visits, and today we are beneficiaries of your thoughtfulness,” he stated.
He gave a brief historical background of the OLA Church which was established on August 15, 1983 at a Maternity Home called Asabea, in New Achimota, where the first Holy Mass was celebrated.
According to Mr. Avevor, the Church later transitioned to the Home Science Block of the St. John’s Grammar School, New Achimota. Soon, the Community could not fit into the available space; this necessitated the Church’s move to the 8.3 acres of land generously offered by the Diocese.
During that period, OLA was touched by the Pastoral solicitude of the several Priests from the Holy Spirit Cathedral, other Diocesan clergy and Religious., he added, saying the Parishioners started worshipping on their location under a simple shed, then moved to the classroom; to the expanded shed; and then to the basement of this structure.
“Your Grace, if today, we are in this imposing edifice, it is to a very large extent, due to the hard work and sacrifices of the many lay women and men who offered supporting services in this Church community, Mr. Avevor told the Archbishop.
He noted that the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus dedicated to ministering to the world’s poorest and most abandoned people, took over the pastoral care of the OLA community in 2001), during the period which OLA was elevated to a full Parish status on August 15, 2008.
Currently having three Outstations, St. Daniel Comboni Church at Tantra Hills, was established in February, 2003; Immaculate Heart of Mary Church at Chantan, established in June, 2003 and St. Cecilia Church, Ofankor North, established in September, 2010.
