PRAYING FOR THE SICK

Rev. Fr. Augustine Deji Dada

One of the glories of our catholic tradition is the many institutions founded over the centuries to care for the sick. Heroic women and men have dedicated their entire lives to caring for the sick and elderly, and it may be that God is calling you to such a vocation. Our lord Jesus Christ ministered to the sick by healing peter’s mother-in-law (Mk 1:30-31) and many who were ill (Mk 1:34). While we are often unsure whether God wills to heal miraculously or by conventional means, we are sure that he wants us to care for the sick as a primary way to love Him and the brethren(Mt 25:36, 40).

The apostle James also tells the sick to call for the elders of the church to pray over them (Js 5:14) and Christians are also exhorted to pray for one another so that they may be healed (Js 5:16). So it is clear that Christians are exhorted to take care of the sick and to pray for healing. However, we find that we are constantly busy, we juggle with demands, pressures and deadlines which cry out for our attention endlessly every day. We try to squeeze into our daily schedules, time for God, family, work, studies and a myriad of other things. We simply find that we have no time and this tension leads us to the neglect of certain essential responsibilities in the Christian life. One of these is taking care of each other which include praying for the sick within our church. Praying for the sick is a spiritual exercise that has to do with mercy. Illness isolates people, and visits and prayers remind them that they are not alone.

What can we do to keep this aspect of our God-ordained ministry alive given our lack of time? Some of us think that we can employ others to do the job for us. However, we need to realize that this is a Christian responsibility which is part of our calling as disciples. We need to be honest with ourselves and God: are we really that busy or can we give the needy some time by spending less time on our hobbies, fun or leisure?

Perhaps we do not really like to do such things like taking care of the sick, even if it may be our own relatives, not to say someone else in the church. Perhaps we find it difficult to pray for a sick because we don’t like to deal with worrisome issues. We must remember that Jesus did not hesitate to get involved with needy people. He put others’ needs ahead of himself. (Mk 6:60-34)

May I suggest some ways to develop a compassionate heart: ask God to make you sensitive to needy people. Befriend and pray for them. Encourage them regularly. Attend monthly prayer meetings when we pray for needy folk. Join the church visitation team. Carry each other’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ (Ga 6:2)

We are told in the book of sirach: “do not shrink from visiting a sick person, because for such deeds you will be loved” (sir 7:35). The Good Samaritan gave the unfortunate man soothing medicine, and discerning care for others is Christ’s prescription, too. So it is our duty to always care for the sick and most importantly pray for them.

MACHIAVELLI'S DICTATORSHIP AND THE CHALLENGE OF LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA

TOLU' ELUSIYAN FRANCIS

4.0       INTRODUCTION

The African continent, being a mixture of various micro-nations, has repeatedly suffered from the plague of inefficient leadership. This is clearly evident in the out-right relegation of morality in political parlance, that is, the mockery of justice in judicial sphere, lack of honesty, integrity, transparency and accountability, amongst others, on the path of incalculable political leaders. Against the above, we can talk of the problematic nature of leadership in Africa as a project actualization and expression of the thoughts of the fifteenth (15^th) century Italian scholar, Niccolo Machiavelli, who by means of The Prince advocated that a dictatorial and immoral approach be employed by politicians, if they desire to record success in their political pursuit; and this is quite evident in Africa. This being the case, it becomes pertinent that we cogitate on the Machiavellian dictatorship vis-à-vis the challenge of leadership in Africa.

4.1       A CRITIQUE OF MACHIAVELLI’S POLITICAL THOUGHT

As a matter of fact, the major pre-occupation of Machiavelli is how states should be run and not how morals are to be followed. Thus, Kant’s categorical imperative brands Machiavelli’s political thoughts as unethical because, it relies on the need to preserve political power at all means or cost. The Kantian principle plays role on goodwill.[1] For him, the idea that politics necessitates the consolidation and preservation of power by all means is inhuman and unethical. Human beings are not to be used as means to an end, but rather to be seen as ends in themselves. Using the golden rule, treat others as you want others to treat you, Kant is in conflict with the Machiavellian strategy of using human beings as an instrument to achieve political power.[2] So Machiavelli should not be taken seriously.

Martin Buber, well known for his philosophy of dialogue, adds more power and analysis grease to Kant’s position. He was of the position that human relationships should not be based on the “I and It” concept but on the “I and It” entails the other being used or related to as a mere thing instead of as a person to be met (“I and Thou”). While the “I and It” is a subject-object relationship whereby one uses others as means to an end, the “I and Thou” is characterized by mutuality, real presence, respect, wholeness and humanness. The “I and It” is subjective and lacks mutuality.[3] Hence, Buber posited that the “I and Thou” relationship is supposed to be the genuine relationship among human beings. Machiavelli’s ideas, he said, are based on the “I and It” relationship which is alien to humanity and brings about dehumanization. All the evils in the world results from this relationship. For him, Machiavelli’s doctrines of dictatorship style of leadership, separates morality from politics which will result to chaos, disaster and more than anything else, the destruction of the universe;[4]and as such must not be taken seriously.

Furthermore, Machiavelli’s error is in his starting point, his premise. If the premise of an argument is erroneous, the argument is bound to end up in an erroneous conclusion. His fundamental error lies in his absolutazation of power, which he erroneously considers as the ultimate goal of politics. The ultimate goal of politics is not grabbing of power but the rendering of service to the people. That is, leaders should see the acquisition of power as a platform and paradigm to render service to the people and not for self-interesting or favouratism.

His other error (a serious error) is his view that the end justifies the means that one can justifiably use an immoral means to bring about a good end. This is morally unacceptable; the end does not justify the means. A good end does not justify an immoral means used in bringing it about.[5] Pull out morality from democracy, then so end the mortal life of democracy, because democracy presupposes morality, honesty, fairness, peaceful and decent behaviour, openness of mind, and readiness to step down when one loses. And not like Machiavelli’s idea of dictatorship, the gaining of power through every possibility, foul or fair. To this effect, Machiavelli’s idea of dictatorship, which is likening to his notorious position of the end justifies the means should be committed to flame for it is an idea that has brought a lot of predicaments to the political world.

4.2       LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE IN AFRICA

For many, especially our literary giants, the problem of Africa is fundamentally a problem of bad leadership. This problem is a thorn on the flesh of the continent, as it is complex and delicate. But one wonders why a continent as endowed as Africa should be going through such an invincible problem. It should be quickly stated that the problem of leadership is not peculiarly African, it is a human problem promoted by cultural worldviews.[6]The histories of human societies have revealed that quality leadership is very crucial in the task of nation building. Many thinkers, right from antiquity, have argued in support of the notion that there exist a nexus between leadership and the progress of any nation. While Plato maintained that “the wellbeing of a state depends on the knowledge and character of its rulers”[7], Aristotle, on the other hand, argued that “the ability of the state to produce the good life for which it exists is made possible by the behaviours of its rulers in terms of virtue.”[8]

Moreover, evidence has shown that Major parts of Africa are buried in morass of predicaments ranging from socio-political, economic and cultural to moral inadequacies, which stultify its integral development. While morality and virtue are being exiled from our political enclave; injustice, corruption, violence and all form of maladies, on the other hand, have characterized our politics, where there seemsto be an enthronement of Machiavelism (a political theory built and developed on Niccolo Machiavelli’s ideology).

From all indications, politics in Africa has generally followed the line of Machiavelli’s dictatorship of separating politics from morality and of grabbing political power by all means. One is made to believe that politics and morality do not go together; that once a person starts playing politics, he must embrace dictatorial style and ignore morality. Thus, we often hear it said that “politics is a dirty game”, meaning that by its very nature politics involves the use of immoral means. Hence, African politicians have followed Machiavelli’s dictatorship by removing morality from politics and in thinking that the best way to be successful in politics is to use immoral means and be a dictator. They have also believed erroneously with Machiavelli that the ultimate goal in politics is to grab political power by all means. They have also subscribed to his view that a good end justifies an evil means, that there is nothing wrong in using immoral means to grab political power. Machiavelli never put all these principles into practice because he was not a politician. Thus, it is not surprising that African politicians both civilian and military have used such immoral means like murder, assassination, fraudulence, rigging among others to gain political power or to retain it. They have done these things without bad feeling of conscience, believing that “politics is a dirty game” by its very nature, and that such things have to be done in politics.

From the foregoing, the question that comes to mind is: what has been the product of Machiavelli’s dictatorship principles? As a matter of fact the answer is quiet obvious, the product has been corruption, self-centeredness, favoritism, tribalism, and the likes; which presupposes the loss of morality in African politics.[9] Morality, having been removed from politics, honesty and accountability were thrown out with it. What has been the result? The result has been that, our governments have been made up of national treasury looters; men who came to politics primarily, or even solely, to enrich themselves by looting the national treasury without qualm of conscience.[10] When honesty and public accountability are removed along with morality from politics, we then have gangs of thieves in government, each with the key to the national treasury.

In addition, it would be of interest to know that Africa is a continent that is richly endowed with natural and human resources. Yet, the major parts of Africa are beggar-countries today, with a huge and crushing debt while ironically African billionaires and even multi-billionaires abound everywhere. As the continent of Africa acquires more money through the sales of her resources, the money goes into private accounts of the leaders and some sets of citizens who have link with them and as such Africa gets poorer while her citizens get richer. So long as morality continues to be removed from politics and politics continues to be seen as the surest and quickest way to become a rich person, there is no hope, at least in the foreseeable  future, unless something drastic happens, like faithfully adhering to the democratic style of leadership. Moreover, “The step taken by some of the African leaders between (1985-1993) to exclude old and corrupt politicians from politics was courageous and commendable. But it was inadequate to ensure a corrupt-free politics because there was no guarantee that the new-breed politicians who were coming to the scene were not coming primarily to amass wealth for themselves as their fathers did”[11].Hence, the only solution is to neglect Machiavellian dictatorial style of leadership by bringing morality back into politics and take very stringent measures to check corruption by government officials.

4.5       CONCLUSION

From the foregoing, it is quite obvious that the fundamental problem of Africa is the problem of leadership. And looking into the history of politics in Africa, particularly Nigeria, one would see that even though sometimes when we practice democratic style of leadership, there seems to be some traces of dictatorial style of leadership. In fact, in the political activities of African continent, it has lost morality and virtue, and that is more reason it is not making progress. We have replaced what is good with what our leaders think is good (but bad), we have followed the political idea of Machiavelli and as such, our leaders seek personal favour, luxury, security and comfort for themselves, which is clearly evident, ranging from discrimination, partiality, selfishness, misuse of public resources and the likes. However, for us to make progress, we must be ready to hold on to morality and virtue in our political activities as against dictatorial leadership style.

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[1]Immanuel Kant, The Categorical Imperative in Warurton Nigel, Philosophy: The Class (London: Routledge Publisher, 2005), p. 216

[2]Warurton Nigel, Philosophy: The Class,(London: Routledge Publisher, 2005),p.217          

[3]Martin Burber, Between Man and Man, Translated by Ronald Gregory (London: FountaniaLiberary, 1947),p.246

[4]Martin Burber, Between Man and Man, Translated by Ronald Gregory (London: FountaniaLiberary, 1947),p.247

[5]Joseph Omoregbe, Social-Political Philosophy And International Relations,pp.143-144

[6]Patrick Onojake, “Rethinking Religion And Leadership In Nigeria”, in Israel Inaede(ed), The Word of God AndSocial Justice In Africa: The Voice Magazine, (Ibadan: A Publication of Saints.Peter And Paul Major Seminary,2012),p.37

[7]Plato, The Republic, Translated by Benjamin Jowett, (New-York: William Benton Publisher, 1952),p.369

[8]Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Translated by Martin Ostwald,(New York: Macmillian Publishing Company,1962),p.265

[9]NiyiOsundare, Dialogue with my Country (Ibadan: Bookcraft Publication, 2011), p. 246

[10]John Campbell, Nigeria Dancing On The Brink (Ibadan: Bookcraft Publication, 2010), p. 13

[11]Joseph Omoregbe, Social Political Philosophy and International Relations: A systematic and Historical study,(Lagos: Joja’s Publication, 2007), p. 147

GET UP!!!

 GET UP!!!

by   Abigail Advicessi

There I was lying on my bed, wide awake. My stream of consciousness was so complicated that I could not figure out what I really wanted or wanted to think about.

There I was not there. Thinking big but lacking in implementation techniques. Big dreams but no means of accomplishing it. Yes, this was all I thought of because I was in bed.

It dawned on me that I had to get up and work. My dreams cannot be accomplished by just laying low and lying down. 

Then I began to ask questions, I began to work out. I took my first step and it was not regretful. I went on step after step. With a twinkle of an eye, I had gone far more than I could ever imagine. 

And that was my starting point.

Having a goal is not everything but working towards your goal is something and achieving your goal is everything.  So GET UP and work.. 

THE PRIESTLY ORDINATION OF WOMEN: INK OR BLOOD?

Francis Tolu’ Elusiyan (elusiyantolulope@gmail.com)

It is pertinent to note that among the most vocal controversies that have attacked the Catholic Church since the 20^th and 21^st century has been the question of the priestly ordination of women. This attack is as a result of the “ordination” of women among the protestant denomination, which have brought serious concern on the teachings of the church on all-male priesthood. Some women activists and feminists claim that the ordination of women folks is a matter of justice, since women are parts and parcel of the mankind creation of God and also part of the human society at large. Thus they are of the opinion that the church’s refusal to adhere to the voice of the women devalues womanhood.

The teaching of the church does not mean that women are less important, since they are not allowed to be admitted to the ‘presbytera’. Far from it! Rather, issue concerning women ordination is not valid. Some woman activist further hold on to their claim against the church, some women were ordained as priest. On the other hand, the church again, corrects that this practice was only practiced by the Gnostics and was condemned by the church fathers as unacceptable.

The church further gives its position on the issue during the council of loadicea. The fathers of the church in one accord disagreed on it, since, for them, masculinity was integral to the personhood of both Jesus Christ, who is the messiah, and the men he chose as apostle. St. John Paul II adds in his Ordination sacerdotalis that the priesthood of Jesus is a special role which Jesus himself sets when after praying in the desert decided to choose twelve men out of the group of male and female followers (Cf Mk 3:13-14); and also when the apostles decided to replace Judas, they were also careful in the choice of their successors (Mt 10:1, 7-8)

Additionally, on May 29, 2008 in the Vatican Newspaper, L’Osservatore Romaria, there was a decree that was promulgated by Cardinal William levada; he declares the ban of women, and also added that both the women “priests” and the bishop who performed the rite should be excommunicated from the church.

St. John paul II in 1994 stated in his ordination Sacedotalis that “therefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding matter of great importance, “I declare that the church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that the judgment is to be definitively held by all the church’s faithful” (No4)

It is important to note that the statement of John Paul II is not infallible, but it witness to the teaching which have been handed down from the apostolic foundation.

It is not as though the catholic church has no regards for sexes, that is, male and female, as many some women activist will accuse, rather it is true and factual that the ordination of men is an unbroken tradition, just as the catechism of the catholic church states, “only baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination, since the lord chose men (viri) to form the college of the tweleve apostles and the apostles in turn did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry”. (CCC1577) (also cf CIC N1024).

Pope Francis in his document Evangeli Gaudium states that only men can be priest, but women must have voice in the church. Also, that the church will not change its teaching on the position on the inadmissibility of women priests; following the injunction of the catechism of the catholic church which states that “the ordained minister is, as it were, an ‘icon’ of Christ the priest” (ccc1142), which means that an intrinsic part of this sacrament of Holy order is to re-enact the manhood of Christ.

In addition, it is necessary to note that the restriction of Holy orders to men alone does not denigrate the role of women in the church because their voices must he heard just like great female saints in history such as St. Theresa of Avila, Cecilia, and so on. St. John Paul II emphasized in his apostolic letter that the presence and role women played in the life and mission of the Catholic Church, remains absolutely necessary and irreplaceable, although it is not linked to the ministerial priesthood (No3).

In conclusion, the church recognizes herself to be bound by the choice made by Jesus Christ himself when he chose twelve men and commission them. Thus, the ordination of women as priest becomes invalid. The movement advocating for women ordination in the Catholic Church will not yield any result since the Catholic Church cannot change its doctrine and still remain the Catholic Church.

ANTONIA HATES WAR! WAR I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT YOU!

WAR! O WAR!!

……..Mot’olani Antonia Fagunwa

                            BLACK -PEN

With the breeze of the evening rain we sat

Talking, playing and laughing—all on hat

Until they came under  your instruction

I heard the air whistling our destruction

To your men with the green uniform

A strong barrier we could not form

Kids cried out blood and ran to the dell

You made many found shelter in the well

I wished you came democratically

For my black ink wailed apoplectically

The soil mourned in my left hand

For souls to be buried in our hand

The moon felt my pain and turned black

Voices drummed as we hummed our lack

We asked: how long, in our land, will you last?

War! When will you be a thing of the past?

ODE TO NIKE BISI-TAIWO

 Tolu' Elusiyan


Today, in the not too long distant past. The world for the first time knew silence

For about forty five minutes

Birds of the air stood still

And there was darkness in the heart of men

Expecting a new born whose destiny would radiate light

Nature for the first time recorded the unfounded

Voices of the sparrows

And behind the horizon of the rumbling sky rained confusion

In the darkness of doubt was the birth of doubtless light

Upon whose shoulders the empire would rest.

It is the birth of Hercules only not of zeus

But of the family of BISI-TAIWO

The birth of beauty: ADENIKE BISI TAIWO

A face seen passing in a crowded street

A voice thin and heard large and soft

Smiles like the twinkles of the stars

Uprightness coupled with brightness

Dove like nature stand! What a beauty to behold!

And from that moment life was transformed

And we became of more heroic generation

Meet to freely ask and give

Fated that is fated

Brought me to the front

Young warlock to ADENIKE BISI-TAIWO

My great friend with black beauty

Whose spoken English can dazzle the mind

No knowledge taught by unrelenting years

Can quench this untamable desire

The space in the bright teeth

Call for the worship of beauty

the woman of unquestionable virtue

Discipline is her moral

Whose self-confidence can penetrate the wall

Moving steadily to the realm of kindness

If I come to the world again and again

I would love to meet you!

MERCY FOR CHILDREN

MERCY FOR CHILDREN……………………………Elusiyan Tolu'

WHAT IS MERCY?

Mercy is necessarily identified with compassion and forgiveness. Mercy arises from the confluence of two currents of thought: compassion with the pity that it entails and fidelity with love as a requirement. Mercy comprises of love, tenderness, pity, compassion, clemency, kindness, grace or gift of God, and that offers us a more intensive generic concept.

Mercy originated from the father, and this is everywhere in the scripture. God is presented as a compassionate God who does not get angry easily, slow to anger.

Give thanks to the lord for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever (Ps 107:1). Be merciful even as your father is merciful (Luke 6:36). This is an essential condition to enter the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy, which means, if we are not merciful, it would be very hard for us too to obtain the mercy of God. For God our father always manifests mercy (Mt18:32). Because even Gods love is only present in those who exercise mercy. It is out of this mercy that Jesus Christ accepted the mission of salvation so that we can all be saved.

“Francis was shopping at the mall for Halloween candy when he was hit by a shopping cart pushed from the second story by two young boys. Francis suffered a serious brain injury, and was briefly in coma and underwent weeks of physical therapy but through it all he held no ill against the boys....” I wish them well, I do”, he said. “I feel very sorry for them. My younger brother is 13 also, and he is a very good boy. Several years after recovery, Francis was also rubbed by these same boys, he was able to recognize them and he also forgave them”.

This is the kind of mercy the church is talking about, ability to be able to forgive again and again. Though the word mercy could be too complex for you children to understand but it is always part of your activities, perhaps in school or at home but it needs to be concretized so that you can come to appreciate God the merciful father. Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain anger for ever because he delights in mercy.

Working with children, I have picked up a few critical pieces of information about how children learn. For example, children require simple explanations in terms of how they can understand instinctively. Children also have little patience for information or activities that seem irrelevant to their concerns, they learn new concepts best when they can relate to the topic personally.

Pope Francis knows this well, which is why he hopes families, in this year of mercy, will provide children with an experience of mercy.

I have tried in so many ways of describing mercy to children. The definition that works best expresses mercy in terms of power.

*Mercy means having power, and choosing to use that power to help others, not hurt them.

Those of us who knows super hero stories can relate to this easily. For example, Jetli, Jackie Chan or Commando, the actors are very powerful men in movies, he can destroy anything, he can kill any bloody person, but they can also protect people around them from evil because of the kind of power they have. So as a child of God, we are also Super heroes if we chose to be merciful to others, our friends in classroom, on playgrounds, in catechism class, in the church, at choir practices, and where ever we find ourselves.

Sometimes we often think we don’t have any power. Because our lives are heavily scripted by outside forces such as parents, teachers, societal expectations, etc. But as a dear friend of mine always tells the children in the school she heads,” the remarkable thing is that you always have a choice”.

Truly as children we have a choice. We have all kinds of power to choose our behaviour, attitudes and words. If i may ask you, “do you have power over your parents? Do you have a choice when your mom tells you to set the table? I know many of you would say NO, but then we reflect on several options:

*I can refuse to set the table

*I can set the table, but only after mom asks four or five times

*I can make my younger brother set it for me

*I can start setting the table, but leave it half done

*I can set the table and complain about it

*I can set the table and be cheerful

*I can work hard, setting the table as best I can

*I can set the table, and then ask what else I can do to help.

As children we are very powerful, because we have that choice to do whatever we want to irrespective of the forces around us; but the choice we make in life has a long way in determining what we become. That is why we must not be selfish; we must learn how to share our milk candies, our sweet, our pencils, our pens with others. We must learn how to relate with everybody, we must be ready to share our knowledge.

Sometimes we might fall victim a bully. We must learn to be merciful and see everything in the light of mercy and we that have that kind of tendency to bully people as well we must learn to be super heroes for Jesus by showing mercy to others even though they have wrong us, we must learn to bear wrongs patiently.

HOW CAN WE SHOW MERCY?

As children we can show mercy, some of you might be thinking mercy is meant for our parents, it is meant for all of us, as children we have to be compassionate, we have to show love to others, we have to be kind and patient, we have to be humble, we have to learn how to speak politely to people, we have to learn from our parents, we have to live like a child of God, we have to be merciful, we have to be prayerful, we have to pray for our parents, we have to pray for our friends, most especially those who are sick who couldn’t come to church or school, we have to be of our best behaviour, that is our mandate. And by playing those roles, we are been merciful both to ourselves, our environment, and the people around us.

And parents you also have an important role to play because often, all these things are learnt from parents, when your child does something the next thing is to shout at him or her. No, sometimes you have to scold gently, sometimes you have to admonish and overlook it, and these are the ways in which we can teach our children to be merciful.

And we too children; that we are often been forgiven does not mean we should always misbehave; for whenever we are of our best behaviour, we are also replicating that act of mercy to our parent, to God and to our surroundings or people around us.

That pencil, no matter how beautiful it is, learn how to borrow others, that food, no matter how delicious it may be, learn how to share it with others.

We as children we should also love the word of God, we should always ask our parents to discuss with us about the word of God, we should learn from them what mercy looks like to Jesus.

*The call of Matthew (Mt9:9-13)

*The lost sheep

*The unforgiving servant

*The cleansing of a leper

*The Good Samaritan

*The lost sheep

*The lost coin

*The lost son

*Zacchaeus the tax collector

*The good thief

*The Samaritan etc.

We should learn more from our parent about those scriptural stories; if we do, we would continue to grow in the knowledge of mercy.

In school there might be some of your classmates who eat alone, do things alone, or sit away from the action at recess. Perhaps a child is unpopular, poorly dressed, awkward, or in need of deodorant. God’s mercy might be calling you to offer friendship.

As children we should be aware that we learn much more about God’s mercy when we show consistent tenderness for unlovable, ungrateful, or wilful people in our lives.

As children, let us also know that the year of mercy invites us to consider all the indirect ways God attracts us to himself (nature, music, art, literature, laughter, tears). Mercy never gives up. Mercy looks for back doors, cracked windows, or even broken roofs to bring spiritually crippled friends to Christ, remember the story of the paralytic man in Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:18-26

Conclusively, we as children of God, we must be aware that this year of mercy in the church now is a treasure of immeasurable value, a means of learning how to be more human and Christian, how to live like the saviour Jesus Christ, how to live more like a catholic, how to show love to others in a very much exhaustive ways, how to help our parents, how to be kind, tender in heart and be compassionate. If we have compassion on our friends by helping them out, if we have compassion on our parents by behaving and listening to instructions, if we have compassion on God by helping others in their little tasks, if we have compassion on our teachers by not making noise in class, if we have compassion on God by obeying his precepts and truisms, then God would grant us mercy as well.

May the mercy of God continue to abide with us and as we have gathered as one family, as a community of Gods people to learn more about this all important event in the life of the church, may his mercy never depart from us and may He give us the grace to have the spirit of compassion, forgiveness, kindness and love of others through Christ our lord. Amen.