A December To Remember

As I count the months before I leave Damongo, each event, each encounter and activity have more significance.

A Carol’s Night

December this year was more memorable than one I had in my first year of mission.  This is especially true of the Carol’s night celebration. My first experience of the Carol’s night was at the St. Theresa’s Parish in 2022. This year (2024), I celebrated the service at the St. Anne’s Girls Senior High School (SAGISS).  While the format is largely the same, I guess the reason I appreciated it more is that now I fully understand the meaning of the activity.  In the first year my focus was on the Christmas Carols being sung by the participants.  This time around, as the night unfolded, I realized that the nine lessons traced the great history of God's redeeming work from its beginning in Genesis until the coming of Jesus as Savior.   

SAGISS celebrated their Carol’s night just before the students went for their Christmas break.  We were joined by Catholic students from the two public schools (Damongo Senior High School and Ndewura Jakpa Senior High Technical School) in Damongo. The singing of the carols and dramatization of the stories of the Gospel highlighted to us the good news of Christ's birth and helped us to connect deeply with the spiritual message of Christmas.

The specific carols sung during the service always change from year to year but the following lesson (Scripture readings) basically remain the same since its inception.

• First Lesson from Genesis 3:8-15; 17-19.  God tells sinful Adam that he has lost the life of Paradise and that his seed will bruise the serpent’s head.
• Second Lesson from Genesis 22:15-18. God promises to faithful Abraham that in his seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
• Third Lesson from Isaiah 9:2, 6-7. The prophet foretells the coming of the Savior.
• Fourth Lesson from Isaiah 11:1-3a, 4a, 6-9. The peace that Christ will bring is foreshown.
• Fifth Lesson from the Gospel of Luke 1:26-35, 38. The angel Gabriel greets the Blessed Virgin Mary.
• Sixth Lesson from Luke 2:1, 3-7. Luke tells of the birth of Jesus.
• Seventh Lesson from Luke 2:8-16. The shepherds go to the manger.
• Eight Lesson from the Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12. The wise men are led by the star to Jesus.
• Ninth Lesson from the Gospel of John 1:1-14.   St. John unfolds the great mystery of the Incarnation.

Some traditions never fade; they rather get enriched with time. And so, it was with the Carols Night at SAGISS.  It was truly a night of lessons and reflection.

A Double Wedding

In February 2024, I shared with you the exciting news that before the end of the year, we would have a quadruple wedding. Sadly, the quadruple wedding did not happen. The law in Ghana requires the couple to first celebrate the traditional wedding before any sacramental wedding could be officiated. Eric, our Secretariat driver, still did not have his traditional wedding so he could not have the wedding at the Church yet.  The same was true for Cynthia.

But the good news is that we still had a double wedding before the year 2024 ended. In a solemn ceremony held at the St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Catholic Church in Canteen-Damongo on December 21, 2024, the Bishop of the Damongo Diocese, Most Rev. Peter Paul Yelezuome Angkyier, presided at the sacramental marriage of two couples: Irenaeus Saana and Gaamale Mildred, and Evans Gogu-Nwentieru and Vivian Kuunyem.

The Bishop highlighted in his homily the spiritual meaning of a marriage by utilizing the day’s readings from Genesis 2:18-24, Ephesians 5:2a, 25-32, and Mark 10:2-9. He emphasized that marriage is not only a social contract but a divine institution designed by God as part of His plan for humanity. He urged the newlyweds to see their union as a means of witnessing God’s love to the world by forming a domestic church through their bond of love.

Practical advice for a successful and fulfilling marriage was given by the Bishop to the couples.  These include: trust and mutual respect, fidelity, good communication, patience and perseverance. Concluding his homily, Bishop Angkyier exhorted Irenaeus and Mildred, and Evans and Vivian, to accept their new roles as Christian couples fully and without reservations.

After the celebration of the sacrament, everyone joined the couples at the courtyard of the Church for food, drinks and dancing.  The SAGISS group moved to the Unity Center later in the afternoon to join Evans and Vivian (Vivian was also the Matron for the School) for a few more drinks and bonding.

This day was a joyous occasion celebrated with heartfelt prayers and blessings, leaving all who witnessed the sacred union of two couples, with a lasting memory. 

A Pilgrim’s Path to the Spiritual Heart of Italy

As I approach the end of my mission, I am becoming a bit reflective. I tend to do this at the end of every commitment or a project – look back at what I have achieved, think about what lies ahead. This year, my thoughts keep coming back to a pilgrimage I experienced in Italy recently.

The thing with pilgrimages is that it is generally about the psychological more than the physical. It gives you time to think.  I had the feeling that each stage of the journey brought me closer to the destination and perhaps closer to some form of enlightenment. This pilgrimage gave me an opportunity to think about a lot of things. Many of them ultimately relate to my mission here in Ghana – therefore, to the core of my current life.

This journey was different to the other ones I had taken in the past.  It was not about the destination but about each place that are significant in its story.  Each day took me to a new setting where my understanding about the Catholic faith and its teachings grew. Spending time getting a better understanding of one site is more rewarding than scratching the surface of many. More often than not, in my travels, I go about trying to do as many things as possible, sometimes missing the link to them all.

I shall not dwell here on the places we visited, let me at least share with you briefly the journey we took.

 

Rome

The trip took us to the 4 major basilicas in Rome, St. Peter’s Basilica, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul outside walls.  In these Churches I was able to see the Holy doors before they were opened by Pope Francis for the Jubilee.  The Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, the Holy Steps and of course, the papal audience with Pope Francis were truly a spiritual experience.

On the way to San Giovanni, we took a short detour to the Domitilla Catacomb spread out into about 17 kilometers with galleries laid out four levels. To see a Chapel underground is amazing.  Visiting this site and understanding the lives of the early Christians - their faith in Christ, their hope in the resurrection and eternal life is indeed something to marvel at.

San Giovanni

Here we visited the tomb of St. Padre Pio and saw the crucifix from which he received the stigmata in 1918.  En-route to San Giovanni we stopped at Monte Cassino to see the Benedictine Abbey founded by St Benedict in 529 and enjoyed a breathtaking view of the Gargano Peninsula.  We visited the Grotto of Michael the Archangel, the most celebrated shrine of early Christianity, a shrine consecrated by St Michael himself in 490.

 

 Assisi

On the way to Assisi, we stopped by at Lanciano to marvel at the 8^th century Eucharistic Miracle in the little Church of Lagontial, the miracle where a monk found himself holding a host that had changed into flesh and wine that had changed into blood.

 

Continuing on our passage, we then traveled through the Italian countryside to the town of Manoppello and visited the Santuario del Volto Santo where the miraculous image of Christ’s face on a veil, the “veronica” (true icon) was kept. We were told that this is the only case where the image is visible on both sides of the cloth.  Scientific tests, observations under ultraviolet light and under a microscope show no pigments and no paintings on the veil.

Following the Adriatic coast, we travelled to the great Marian shrine of Loreto to visit the Holy House of Nazareth and the beautiful Madonna of Loreto. Tradition has it that this is the house in which Mary prayed the Magnificat, in which Jesus grew to manhood, and in which the Holy Family lived. Legend says that angels carried the house from Nazareth to Italy.  

In Assisi, we visited the tomb of St. Francis.  We explored the huge 13^th century Basilica where many of St Francis’ possession and a series of frescoes depicting his life were displayed. We knelt before the crucifix from which Jesus spoke to St Francis, asking him to rebuild His church. We also visited the St Mary of the Angels Basilica where St Francis spent most of his life. Here we visited the Chapel, Portiuncula, the rose bush, and the cave where the saint retired for prayer.  Our next stop was the Church of St. Clare of Assisi where St. Clare’s incorrupt body lay.

The following morning, we were off to the beautiful town of Sienna, the birthplace of Saint Catherine.  Here we visited the Cathedral and the Basilica of St. Francis, containing the miraculous consecrated hosts that remained intact since 1730. We also viewed the incorrupt head of St. Catherine at the Basilica of St. Dominic.  

Whie my planned visit to Florence and Venice on my own did not happen due to an injured knee, it was providential. Instead, I went to Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the Popes. Located just 24 kilometers from Rome and accessible by local train, the Papal Palance of Castel takes one through the Papal Apartment and the history of the Popes.  The Gardens of the Pontifical Villas offers another opportunity for reflection.  The well-kept gardens and the breathtaking view of the lake are a sight to behold.  The serenity of the place was a continuation of the spiritual journey I began in Rome.

The journey ended when I returned to Accra spiritually renewed and invigorated in my faith.

While each of us may have a different definition of “spiritual”, for me ultimately it meant personal growth.  It is about starting a journey and ending up somewhere – and I think that’s something I would like to do more of in 2025.