1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity
3. catholicism

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Bishop Ellison’s
new appointments
Volume 38 No 5
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2014
D50
Diocese of Banjul
NEWSLETTER
Incorporating The Catholic Newsletter
Deo Gracias!
Cathedral Centenary
celebrations climax
at Sang Marie
October:
Month of the Holy
Rosary
November:
Month of the Faithful
Departed
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October and November 2014
OCTOBER opens with the Feast of St Therese of Lisieux, a reminder to give thanks for all
that’s been accomplished by priests and people in the Parish of St Therese, Kanifing, in the sixtyseven years since the first church was built in 1947.
We should say the rosary throughout the year - in fact, every day. But October is traditionally
the Month of the Rosary. No better time to start praying the rosary again, or to take up this
excellent meditative prayer for the first time (page 20).
About 5th October, the Gambian Muslim Community will celebrate Tobaski - Eid al Adha.
We extend to them all our best wishes (see page 29).
November begins with the great Solemnity of All Saints (page 19). All Saints Day is neglected
by many Catholics, even though it’s a holy day of obligation. Several churches provide more
than one Mass on All Saints’ Day, to enable every parishioner to take part in the celebration of the saints.
We may need less of a reminder about All Souls, since so many members of the Church pray regularly for the souls of their
departed loved ones and the souls of all the faithful departed (page 19). The annual requiem at the Catholic cemetery in Banjul
will be held in the evening of Sunday 9th November.
On page 18 our Question Box feature concerns what the Church means by ‘a happy death’.
The academic year in schools, colleges and the university is well under-way. We should continue to pray for all our young
people in school, their teachers, and school administrators. Sunday 5th October is International Teachers’ Day.
Saturday 29th November sees the end of the present liturgical year. The following day – Sunday 30th November,
the First Sunday in Advent - marks the beginning of the new liturgical year, 2014 – 2015.
No doubt the liturgical year ahead will offer us all in the Diocese of Banjul many challenges and exciting possibilities for
spiritual growth and the building up of the Church. NaSa Ngùr Dika – may God’s kingdom come!
Pious
practices
Praying alone in Church
CATHOLIC churches are built for the celebration of Mass. In urban
churches the Mass may be celebrated every day; but it is on Sunday,
in particular, that local Catholics gather to celebrate Our Lord’s resurrection.
In many churches and parishes there is renewed devotion to our Lord in the
Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, not just at Mass but at services of Adoration
and Benediction.
What goes on in the church building for the rest of the week? There may
be other services, such as the Holy Hour; there may be meetings, catechism
or choir practice. When not in use by groups of people, some churches are
locked for security reasons. Others may be left open as places for quiet, private
prayer.
We can, of course, pray almost everywhere and at any time – even in bed.
Christ is always with us when we pray to him. For regular daily prayer it’s good to use a quiet corner of the home.
Better still, to pray in church, whether on a regular basis or when we happen to be passing.
A church is hallowed by the prayers of all who have used it. It has an atmosphere conducive to prayer.
In church may be the shrines or statues of the saints - particularly of our Lady - where prayer seems particularly valid,
and we may light a votive candle. We may feel companionship not only with the saints but with our fellow Christians
if others are quietly and privately praying in church at the same time as us.
Above all, in church is the Lord’s tabernacle, where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. There is nowhere better to pray
than before the tabernacle, where Christ himself is present in a particular and unique way.
Conscious of all that Christ does for us, particularly in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we feel particularly close to him
when we pray before the tabernacle, and our prayers are enriched. Those who make their own prayers before the
tabernacle at any hour when the church is open are helping not just themselves but the prayer life of the whole parish.
Visit church as often as you can. It is your home.
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By way of introduction
Sin, suffering and hope
EVER since the advent of regular newspapers in the 18th
century much of the news has been ‘bad news’ – stories of
conflict, corruption, assassination, scandal. What is it that so
fascinates us about ‘bad guys’, rather than ‘good guys’?
With the coming of radio and television in the 20th century
the daily news output of gloom and doom intensified. And of
course in our own high-tech age bad news flashes across the
world in seconds: a suicide bomb somewhere in Asia, say,
is broadcast round the world in next-to-no-time.
So much bad news every day can be depressing. Problems
in plenty in our own continent – in the Central African
Republic, for example: in Libya, South Sudan, Somalia,
Nigeria; not to mention, elsewhere, Ukraine, Pakistan, and
more other countries than we may care to think of. What is
wrong with the human race, that we can be so selfish and cruel
to each other – that we can harbour, as individuals and
communities, so much intolerance and greed? What is the
world coming to?
The Christian doctrine of original sin teaches us that all
mankind is prone to pride, selfishness and jealousy: in a word
(an unfashionable word), mankind is prone to sin. So general
suffering should cause us no surprise.
Although we should be thankful for the peace and stability
we enjoy in our own country, we are not free, as individuals,
from personal anxieties such as work and money problems,
family disputes, illness and death. At times it can seem
‘all too much’. But we should never despair. Despair, indeed,
should be foreign to the Christian. Ours is a faith enthused by
hope – hope in Christ who by his incarnation, death
and resurrection and the
sending of the Holy Spirit
has given each of us and the
whole world cause for hope. Indeed, through him the whole
human race is offered redemption.
Few men can have been more challenged than St Paul,
who faced vehement opposition, threats, shipwreck and
imprisonment. His faith in Christ was absolute. He travelled
the then known world enthused with hope: ‘I am convinced
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 8:
38-39)
Earlier, Paul wrote: ‘...suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope;
and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been
poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been
given to us.’ (Romans 5: 3-5)
It is not always easy to face up to our own failings and the
failings of a world disfigured by sin and lack of faith in God’s
love. We are often like Job, who succumbed to self-pity and
recrimination, rather than like Paul, who gloried in Christ.
We have recently celebrated the centenary of the rebuilding
of our mother church in Banjul. As our Bishop reminds us,
our generation has the task, like our forefathers, of continuing
to build up the faith. Let us act always - in the family, at work,
in society and in the nation generally - as people who are
enthused by the hope that God himself gives us.
iN THis issuE
Hallowe’en
Should we
celebrate it?
2
4
8
page 9
What do we mean by
‘a happy death’?
page 18
Diocese of Banjul
NEWSLETTER
Incorporating The Catholic Newsletter
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2014 Volume 38 No. 5
Published by The Gambia Pastoral Institute
33 Kairaba Avenue
PMB 296 Serrekunda, The Gambia, West Africa
Telephone: 4394847 Email: [email protected]
Editor: Fr Peter S. Lopez Editorial Consultant : David Somers
Layout: Betty Quacoo
Production: Monday Tofe, Henry Gomez, Frédéric Diatta
10
12
13
18
19
20
22
24
26
28
30
31
32
October & November 2014
Pious Practices: praying alone in church
Here & there: Bishop Ellison’s appointments
Family circle: Ten tips for October;
Hallowe’en; What we should all know about ebola
Caring and sharing: Harriet Njie
Fee moi Gambia
Sunday reflections: 4th October until Christ the King
Question box: What do we mean by ‘a happy death’?
Our friends in prayer: All Saints and All Souls
The rosary: the garland that nourishes faith
Our Cathedral and Sang Marie: Bishop Robert Ellison
Gambian Christian anniversaries: arrival of Fr Carroll
From beyond: Pope asks for prayers for Central
African Republic
Some weekday celebrations: Therese, Leo the Great
Mass readings for October and November
End-piece: Pope Francis’ advice to married couples
God and Cæsar: picture and Gospel reading
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Here
& there
NEws fROM aROuND THE DiOCEsE
Blessings from heaven
SOME say that rain on Sang Marie signifies divine
approval and blessing. If so, this year’s Feast of Sang Marie,
celebrated in The Gambia and throughout the world on Friday
15th August, was particularly blessed in our country. During
the afternoon procession from Holy Spirit Campama to the
Cathedral, the heavens were open - heavy rain having begun
the day before. It was certainly a blessing for umbrella-sellers,
who enjoyed a lively trade.
It was a notable procession in another way. This year’s
Sang Marie, celebrated at Cathedral Mass in the morning and
Holy Spirit in the afternoon, followed by the procession,
was the climax of months of festivity related to the centenary
of the rebuilding of the erstwhile Parish Church of Banjul,
which since 1958 has been the Cathedral.
The Cathedral and the Diocese of Banjul are dedicated to
Our Lady of the Assumption.
Marie bur i jama di, Signum magnat apparuit in caelo,
Mariama agalil sunu jebale, ‘Daily, daily sing to Mary’... all
day long, in church and in the streets, Mary’s praises
resounded in Latin, English and in Gambian languages.
In the Cathedral at morning Mass Bishop Ellison pointed
out that the Catholic Mission in The Gambia began in 1848,
but that its growth in the latter half of the 19th century, mainly
in Banjul, was slow, because of
the shortage of personnel.
Work on the new church in
Bathurst began in 1910, the
original church of 1850 having
become too small. The
rebuilding was undertaken by
the Superior, Fr John Meehan,
who had served in The Gambia
since 1905 and was to die here
49 years later, in 1954. The
rebuilt church was consecrated
in March 1914 by Monsignor
François Jalabert, VicarApostolic of Dakar ( left)
From on high...
Bishop Ellison delivered his
homily high above the
congregation in the distinctive
pulpit - not used for many
years, and now restored.
Family descendants of the
original wood-carver, Gabarr
Njie, were present to hear the
Bishop pay tribute to him and
to all those who participated
in the building of the present
church in just four years:
‘men, women and children all
put their hands on board’.
Bishop Ellison described
the Cathedral as ‘an edifice
truly worthy of God, and a
place where the Catholic
community has been able to
worship God in spirit and in
truth over the last one hundred
years’.
Carrying on the heritage
The Bishop stressed the
responsibility of Catholics
today to carry on ‘this great
heritage’.
He pointed out that the
Banjul church and mission
were consecrated to Our Lady
of the Assumption as long
ago as 1850, and that this
dedication was applied also to the Diocese of Banjul, created
in 1958.
Bishop Ellison described the Virgin Mary as ‘our supreme
witness to what all the faithful will enjoy in their turn at the
end of time’ and a ‘sign of hope and comfort... as we make
our pilgrim journey here on earth’.
The Bishop said that popular devotion raised Mary high
above all other human beings. Devotion to Mary largely
centred on Mary’s unique privileges such as her Immaculate
Conception, her Assumption, and the title, Mother of God.
He went on, ‘We can never disown these special titles by
which we still venerate Mary... We still believe in them fully.’
The Bishop continued that such devotions alone could not
do justice to the day-to-day earthly life of the virgin from
Nazareth who became the mother of the Son of God.
Mary is indeed the ‘highest honour of our race’. But she was
redeemed in the same way as all of us by the death and
resurrection of her Son – albeit in anticipation of his foreseen
merits. ‘Let us not forget that Mary belongs to the offspring
of Adam, and therefore is one with all human beings in their
need of salvation.’
The Bishop’s homily is given in full on pages 22-23 of this
Newsletter.
* Earlier Centenary events included a sports day (6th June),
a choral night (20th June), a sponsored walk (3rd August)
and the official opening of Centenary House (14th August).
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a crucifix in every classroom
THE CATHOLIC Education Secretariat is to provide
portraits of the Pope and Bishop Ellison to all Catholic
schools, which should also display a crucifix in every
classroom.
These were among resolutions at a retreat in Kartong in
June at the Sandali Eco-Hotel.
Participants stressed that every school should celebrate the
feast day of its patron saint and that the Catholic catechism
should be taught at least twice a week. They urged school
managers to stress that Christian parents should send their
children to Catholic schools.
They also passed resolutions on the planting of fruit trees
and flowering plants, and on the control of litter. Plastic bags
could be re-used to grow cashew, lime and orange seedlings.
Those at the retreat declared that teachers should accept
postings, wherever they may be.
Presentations were made to four retiring administrators:
Malamin B. Bojang, Marie Sagnia, Pierre F. Gomez and
Fr Jaques Coly.
The Vicar-General, Fr Emile Sambou pointed out that some
Catholic schools have few or no Catholics, but because the
school is part of the Church, schools should engage in
evangelisation. He added that all teachers, irrespective of their
religion, should be role-models. Schools should not betray the
trust of parents who seek places in Catholic schools, so
schools should not betray their trust.
Participants were told about the importance of the
management of resources for school improvement and
sustainability, and Modou Bah of the Government’s
Educational Planning Division spoke on the preparation of
the School Improvement Plan and the utilisation of the School
Improvement Grant.
Andrew Gomez of the Human Resource Unit, Basic
& Secondary Education, talked about the Revised Education
Act; and Daniel Gomez, Principal of St John’s School for the
Deaf, spoke on Special Education.
‘allow the Holy spirit to take control’
FORTY-FIVE Christian teachers from eight Catholic
schools met in retreat on 5th April at St Joseph’s Lower Basic
School, Basse.
Edward Gibba of the Catholic Education Secretariat urged
teachers to allow the Holy Spirit to take control of every
situation in their lives.
Fr Joseph Emile Coly, Parish Priest at Soma, quoted
Romans 8:5: ‘Those who live according to the flesh are intent
on the things of the flesh; those who live according to the
5
Spirit live by the Spirit,’ and said that God’s grace transforms
personal, inter-personal, social and even cosmic spheres.
Stations of the Cross and Bible-sharing were led by Edward
Gibba and Emmanuel Gomez,
Participants came from St Therese’s Basic Cycle School,
Fulabantang; Mother of Mercy Nursery School, Bansang;
St John’s Nursery School, Jalokoto; St Joseph’s Lower Basic
School and St George’s Lower Basic School, Basse;
St George’s Junior and Senior Secondary School, Basse; and
St Mulumba’s Upper Basic School, Basse.
'we shall remember them’
THIS YEAR’S Remembrance Sunday service at the War
Graves Cemetery, Fajara, will have an extra poignancy
because it is one hundred years since the outbreak of the First
World War - a war which brought death and suffering to
millions, military and civilian.
The service will be held on Sunday 9th November at 10.45
am with Christian and Muslim prayers. Earlier that day
a ceremony of remembrance will also take place at the
cenotaph in July 22nd Square, Banjul.
The Fajara cemetery contains the graves of Gambians and
others who died during the Second World War of 1939-45,
when two brigades of the Royal West African Frontier Force
took part in the successful campaign in Italian East Africa,
and two divisions contributed to victory in Burma. All those
in the Force were volunteers, many coming from The Gambia.
Many soldiers who fell in battle are buried or
commemorated in the campaign areas, and others are buried
or commemorated in their home countries.
Many Gambian and British soldiers were buried randomly
all over The Gambia, often ten bodies to a grave. In 1949
Major Thompson, who commanded the British Army in The
Gambia, decided to bury them in one place, and Fajara War
Cemetery was constructed that year. The exhumed bodies
were reburied there, with Christians on one side and Muslims
on the other.
The cemetery contains 203 burials: 122 West African,
63 British, 10 Canadian, two Australian, two New Zealander,
one Rhodesian, two French and one Norwegian.
The Supreme Court and Arch 22 in Banjul occupy the site
of the former European cemetery, where some servicemen had
been buried. The Gambian government decided to re-inter
their remains at Fajara War Cemetery and Jeshwang Christian
Cemetery. The Revd Titus Pratt of the Methodist Church
and the Revd Prince Decker of the Anglican Church offered
prayers before the remains were removed and re-interred.
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Hail and farewell
spreading the word
Bishop Ellison’s appointments
and the return of two priests to Senegal
BISHOP Robert Ellison has appointed two newly-arrived
missionary priests to serve in the Diocese of Banjul.
The newcomers are Fr Joseph K. Fynn CSSp, from Ghana,
who is to be Assistant Priest at St Joseph’s, Basse,
and Fr Godwin Nnadgiza MSP, from Nigeria, who is be
Assistant Priest at Holy Spirit, Banjul.
In other appointments, Fr Michael Gomez CSSp is to be
Parish Priest at St Peter’s Parish Lamin.
Fr Peter Jammeh CSSp, is to be Parish Priest at Sacred
Heart, Bansang.
Fr Yenes Manneh, formerly at St Augustine’s Senior
Secondary School, is to be Priest at Christ the King, Dasilami.
Fr Matthew Mendy, formerly at Bwiam, is to be Parish
Priest at St Martin’s, Kartong.
A COURSE on evangelisation for Catholics is to begin on
Saturday 4th October. It will last for four months, and will be
co-ordinated and led by Augustina Agbana.
Ms Agbana, who comes from Nigeria, last year completed
a three-year training Dei Verbum (Word of God) course in
Bible-pastoral ministry organised by the Society of Divine
Word Missionaries in Ghana.
Ms Agbana pointed out to the Newsletter that most
Catholics think of evangelisation as the province of priests;
but that it is a basic responsibility of all the baptised to spread
the faith.
Forty-seven people, from teenagers to 80 years, have
enrolled in the course; and there is room for more. Parish
priests are being encouraged to sponsor at least three
lay-people on the course, so that on completion they may
form evangelisation teams in each parish and train others.
Condolences
OUR condolences to Fr Peter Jammeh
CSSp, whose father, Michael Jammeh,
died on Friday 19th September, aged 81.
Mr Jammeh’s funeral was held at Faraba
Banta on Wednesday 24th September.
Requiescat in pace
fr Matthew Mendy
Deacons
Deacons
The Bishop has temporarily appointed the Revd James
Mendy to serve as Deacon until November this year at
Resurrection Parish, Brikama, and the Revd Stanislaus
Ndecky to serve until November as Deacon at Our Lady of
Fatima Parish, Bwiam.
fr Michael Gomez
fr Yenes Manneh
Return to Senegal
Two Senegalese priests who have served the Diocese of
Banjul in recent years are returning to their home diocese.
Fr Jacques Coly (left) is returning
to the Diocese of Ziguinchor after
seven years as Parish Priest at St
Martin’s, Kartong. Bishop Ellison
has thanked Fr Coly and the Bishop
of Ziguinchor, Mgr Paul Abel
Mamba, for the services of a
‘dedicated and gentle pastor’.
Fr Jean-Noël Faye is returning
to the Archdiocese of Dakar after three years ministry in
Kanifing
and Lamin. Bishop Ellison has expressed his
thanks to
Fr Faye and the
Cardinal Archbishop of Dakar,
Théodore Adrien Sarr, for the
services of a ‘dedicated and
deligent Fidei Donum pastor’.
Best wishes
Bishop Ellison says he
wishes all new appointees a
blessed and fruitful ministry in
their new apostolate in the work
Congratulations
Wednesday 12th November: St Josaphat, martyr
Fr Gabriel Mendy
1997
Fr Emil Sambou
1997
Fr Antoine Sambou
1997
Fr Bruno Toupan
1997
Fr Joseph Carl Gomez
2003
Friday 14th November
Fr Yenes Manneh
2009
Sunday 16th November: 33rd Sunday of the Year
Fr Moses Drammeh
2002
Monday 17th November: St Elizabeth of Hungary
Fr Louis T. Mendy CSSp
2001
Friday 21st November: The Presentation of Mary
Fr John Mendy
2008
Tuesday 25th November: St Catherine of Alexandria
Fr Paschal Mendy
1995
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Here are some things we see in church.
Can you say which is which?
altar
Candles
Chalice and paten
Crucifix
lectern
Priest
service Book (Missal)
stations of the Cross
statue
7
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family circle 6
TEN TiPs for family and household
in October
1
THE RAINS may be over, but October is an
uncomfortably humid month – the most
uncomfortable of the year. Dampness in the air and in
the home encourages the development of mould, especially
in drawers and cupboards. If this is a problem in your house,
remember that light and fresh air are the enemies of mould.
Leave drawers and wardrobe doors ajar, and keep your house
well-aired. As long as someone’s in the house, open windows
wide.
2
YOU should have
kept your garden
especially
clean
during the rainy season, not
only of rubbish but of
weeds and unwanted grass.
If you remove weeds and
grass before seeds form you
will reduce their growth
next year. Don’t wait until
later in the year when the grass is brown and seeds will be
blowing everywhere. If you’ve already left it late, eliminate
grass, weeds and seeds now.
3
LOOK around outside your compound. Is there
anything you can do to make the environment cleaner
by removing rubbish and sweeping pathways?
Don’t leave it to your local council or to the neighbours.
Set a good example. You may well arouse local awareness of
the need for clean streets, and a new co-operative spirit.
No need to wait for set-settal day - which anyhow, in
Shakespeare’s phrase, is ‘more honoured in the breach than in
the observance’.
4
THE RAINS brought more mosquitoes and more
malaria, and the high-danger time is not yet over.
At the first sign of fever seek medical help and
treatment, especially for infants and young children.
You should keep anti-malaria tablets in the house, along with
first-aid items, so that when a doctor or pharmacy is not
within reach, you can take immediate action to counter this
disease. A recommended medicine in Pro-Arinate, which may
also be bought as a syrup for children.
5
ARE you and your family
getting
enough
exercise?
Middle-aged people who do no
manual work, who live what’s called a
‘sedentary’ life, should in particular
make sure they do some brisk walking
each day, and at the weekend, activity
which gets them on their feet and
exercising their muscles. Why not take
up a sport, or join a gym?
OUR children should by
now be well settled back
into school. How often
do you look at your child’s
exercise and text books and
discuss their home and school
work with them? Do you know
which school subjects they’re
doing well at, and which subjects
they find boring or difficult? Do you attend parents’ meetings
and co-operate by paying fees on time? Do you make sure,
every single school day, that your children are properly
dressed and punctual?
7
MOST of us have neighbours. We may know them
well or little. We may not even know what they look
like! In most circumstances it is good to know your
neighbours and to be on friendly terms with them. Our urban
districts are more and more crowded with people who come
and go, people of varying social backgrounds and
nationalities. They need not be strangers living among
strangers. The Christian way, the common-sense way
of living, is to extend friendship to those around us. (It’s
a good idea, by the way, to swap telephone numbers with
neighbours, which can be very useful in an emergency.)
8
IF you’re a ‘Sunday Mass Catholic’ as you should be
(why else are you reading this Newsletter?)
do consider if you could join in parish programmes
more actively. Is what you regularly give your parish in terms
of time, talents and money commensurate with your
circumstances and opportunities? As well as prayer and
devotional groups there are probably activities concerned with
developing the parish, visiting the sick and lonely, and so
forth. Do join in!
9
TELEVISION - local or satellite - is watched every
day by most families. Much of what’s broadcast is
informative, educational or entertaining. But there’s
something wrong if the television set is continually on in your
house for hour after hour. How can anyone be enjoying almost
any programme, whatever it’s about? Too many parents are
prone to say to their youngsters, ‘Stop bothering me and
watch the television!’ Ration your watching. Watch well, and
watch with discrimination. Don’t let your children (or ‘kids’,
as television often calls them) become addicted to television,
especially late at night.
10
DO you know of
anyone
who
is
housebound, unwell or
lonely? Do you keep in touch with
your relatives and old friends? Are
you estranged from a relative,
neighbour or friend? Do seek to help
people who need help. The empty life of elderly people living
alone with few visitors and perhaps with money worries could
be transformed by a little kindness from you. As for those with
whom you’ve quarrelled, don’t wait for them to make the first
move: even if it means risking another rebuff, try to become
friends again.
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Hallowe’en: should we celebrate it?
FROM half-way through October shops in the smarter part
of town begin to sell masks and fancy clothing depicting
witches, goblins, black cats and ghosts. It’s all to do with
Hallowe’en – Friday 31st October – which, American-style,
is increasingly celebrated among middle-class Gambian
families as a children’s dressing-up and party day.
Hallowe’en is the evening before All Saints Day, which
in England was once commonly known as All Hallows Day,
or Hallowmas.
The witches and spooks derive from pagan days in England
and Ireland when 31st October was the eve of the Celtic new
year. These pagan observances influenced the Christian
9
eve of All Saints Day. The eve
gradually lost its religious content,
and when transferred to the United
States it became commercialised.
Hallowe’en is still associated
in a frivolous way with evil
spirits and the supernatural,
and is celebrated by children in masquerade who play pranks
on each other and on adults.
Much – if not all – of this play-acting may be regarded
as harmless fun. But children should be told that the day they
really ought to know about and celebrate is All Saints Day
(Saturday 1st November): one of the great days in the Catholic
calendar.
Ebola
What we should all know
EBOLA is a disease caused by an ebola virus. Symptoms start two days to three
weeks after the virus has been contacted. The symptoms are fever, sore throat, muscle
pain and headaches. Typically, vomitting, diarrhoea and rash follow, with decreased
functioning of the liver and kidneys. Around this time, affected people may begin
to bleed both within the body and externally.
The virus may be acquired upon contact with blood or bodily fluids of an infected
animal.
Spreading through the air has not been documented in the natural environment.
Fruit bats are believed to carry and spread the virus without being affected.
Once human infection occurs, the disease may spread between people. Male survivors may be able to transmit the disease
via semen for nearly two months. To diagnose ebola, other diseases with similar symptoms such as malaria, cholera and other
viral haemorrhagic fevers are first excluded. To confirm the diagnosis, blood samples are tested for viral anti-bodies,
viral RNA, or the virus itself.
Prevention includes decreasing the spread of ebola from infected animals to humans by checking such animals for infection
and killing and properly disposing of the bodies if the disease is discovered. Properly cooking meat and wearing protective
clothing when handling meat may also be helpful, as are wearing protective clothing and washing hands when around
a person with the disease. Bodily fluids and tissues from people with the disease should be handled with special caution.
No specific treatment for the disease is yet available. Efforts to help those who are infected include giving oral rehydration
therapy (slightly sweet and salty water to drink) or intravenous fluids. The disease has a high risk of death, killing between
50 and 90 per cent of those infected.
Efforts are under way to develop a vaccine; but none yet exists.
The risk of transmission is increased among those caring for people infected. Recommended measures when caring
for those who are infected include isolating them, sterilising equipment and surfaces, and wearing protective clothing
including masks, gloves, gowns and goggles. If a person with ebola dies, direct contact with the body of the deceased patient
should be avoided.
In order to reduce the spread, the Word Health Organisation (WHO) recommends raising community awareness of the
risk factors for ebola infection and the protective measures individuals can take.
History
Between 1976 (when it was first identified) until 2013 WHO reported 1,716 confirmed cases.
The largest outbreak to date is the ongoing 2014 West Africa ebola outbreak, which is affecting Guinea, Sierra Leone,
Liberia and Nigeria.
In March 2014 WHO reported a major ebola outbreak in Guinea - the largest-ever documented, and the first recorded
in the region. Researchers traced the outbreak to a two-year old child who died on 6th December 2013.
On 8th August 2014 WHO declared the epidemic to be an international public health emergency. By mid-August,
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) reported the situation in Liberia's capital Monrovia as ‘catastrophic’
and ‘deteriorating daily’. By late August 2014 the disease had spread to Nigeria.
By 6th September, 4,293 suspected cases, including 2,296 deaths, had been reported. WHO has said that these numbers
may be greatly under-estimated.
For information on ebola, telephone 1025
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Caring and sharing
Our third and final extract from a pamphlet issued
by HaRRiET NjiE, a Gambian lay-woman
who lives in Britain
IN recent times, the scandal of child abuse within the
Church cannot be overlooked. It is humbling and
embarrassing to learn about such activities in the Church of
God. We need to pray seriously and consistently for our
Church and clergy.
I don’t think it is enough for priests to say the Mass and the
daily office only. Perhaps some of our clergy are so busy with
parish duties that they neglect saying the rosary, for instance.
The rosary is the greatest deterrent from all evil. Satan is
terrified of it, and one must always make time to say it,
preferably with someone else.
Not wishing to be critical by any means, I’ve never in my
many years residence in the United Kingdom encountered any
Catholic priest joining with ordinary parishioners to say the
rosary. This is just a humble observation and food for thought.
I understand that some of our clergy are busy with parish
matters, or attending to parishioners and countless other
duties. Nonetheless, consistent prayer and meditation are
indispensable in order to defeat the devil and remain pure and
holy. We cannot on our own resist temptation to sin, without
God’s holy grace.
I encourage you all to pray for our Church and clergy.
Having been chosen to be pastors of Christ, the latter are most
vulnerable to temptation,
The power of the rosary
The prayer of the rosary, in my experience, is powerful and
effective. It is not, of course, superior to the Mass, which is
the greatest prayer we can offer to God. The Mass
incorporates our entire faith: the incarnation, death and
resurrection of our Lord.
We clergy and lay-people are not invincible. We are all
prone to sin and equally vulnerable to sensual passions when
we are not on our guard.
It is only through constant prayer and meditation that one
can hope to avoid sin.
Thanks, Blessed Anne-Marie
Several years ago I read a book
by Blessed Anne-Marie Rivier,
founder of the Sisters of the
Presentation of Mary.
The title of the book, written in
French, is Les Derniers Avis. I’m
not sure if there is an English
translation of it, but it’s worth
making inquiries if you’re
interested.
In this autobiography, Anne-Marie Rivier warns her
children (the Presentation Sisters) against complacency and
over- confidence. ‘You must be careful that those who you
teach don’t get to heaven before you.
‘It is not your white robes that will take you there,
but prayer, humility and love.’
This thought has stayed in my mind ever since, all those
years ago. It seems very relevant in our day.
Beware of Satan!
Do you know? Satan usually targets those closest to God.
He doesn’t bother very much with those who have refused
God’s mercy and love, because he thinks they already belong
to him. We must always say the prayer of Blessed Michael the
Archangel to defend us in the day of battle against Satan.
It is good to learn this prayer by heart and recite it often during
the day and last thing at night, wherever you are.
Remember that before they rebelled against God, Satan and
his gang used to be angels with great power. Unfortunately
for us and all humanity, they still possess those powers, which
they use to create misery, devastation and ugliness in humans
and in the universe.
As children of God we are people of light, called to
perfection and holiness.
I refer to both Christians and non-Christians. It is irrelevant
what religion you belong to. What is important is that you
believe in God and acknowledge him in prayer, loving and
caring for your neighbour, and sharing whatever little you
possess with those less fortunate.
Sharing
We have a tradition in The Gambia and Senegal of sharing
meals with visitors and strangers. If you happen to find
yourself anywhere during mealtime, be it breakfast, lunch or
supper, it is customary that you share that meal.
Although this tradition encourages complacency and
laziness in terms of fending for oneself, it is effective in
alleviating hunger. As far as I know, no one goes hungry in
the Gambia and Senegal.
God’s mercy is loving and healing; let us embrace it with
warmth and tenderness. He is forever waiting outside, to be
invited into our hearts. Please let him in.
Going straight to Laraf
A few years ago in The Gambia, a close friend of my son,
who also became a family friend, was a frequent visitor to our
home.
He was kind and large-hearted, and popular with the locals.
I told him a few times he ought to stand for election because
of his popularity. Everyone knew him!
His actual name was Michael Colley but we all called him
‘Big Mike’ - a nick-name apparently given to him by English
tourists who visited The Gambia and met him when he
worked in the tourist industry.
Once, during one of his visits we discussed religion and
spirituality. The topic was death and the after-life.
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While we struggled over the dilemma of death and what it all
meant, each giving his or her opinion, Big Mike, in his usual
boisterous manner, exclaimed: ‘I know where I’m going to
when I die – I’ll go straight to Laraf (which in Wolof means
Purgatory).
Big Mike said it with such seriousness that we all burst out
laughing.
When the fun ceased, I reminded them of the story of the
good thief at Calvary. Here was a man who had stolen all his
life. Someone you could call a bandit or a villain. In a matter
of seconds he was going to heaven in the company of Jesus,
because he had admitted his sin and humbly begged for
forgiveness, asking Jesus to remember him in Paradise.
His request was granted there and then. How marvellous!
The story of the good thief is, of course, a special case.
There wasn’t much time for penance and atonement such as
we have. For him, death was imminent and Jesus was aware
of this. He felt sorry for him, and saved him instantly.
‘This day, you will be with me in Paradise,’ Jesus assured him.
Selfless sacrifice, for us all
My dearest families and friends, my objective in this article
is to share with you in all humility, with joy and jubilation,
the hopeful message of Easter: that Jesus is loving and
forgiving. He selflessly sacrificed everything, including his
own life, in order to save humanity. Let us rejoice that he has
risen, and pray for the grace to love him, as he does us.
Remember to tell him often that you love him for the better
or for the worse.
Like St Therese of the Child Jesus, offer the little challenges
and trials he sends us sometimes, for his love. You never
know, he might make you a saint too, as he did Therese - one
of greatest and most loving of saints!
Remember also to pray to
St Anthony of Padua, who is
my patron saint. He is very
supportive, and responds
promptly to requests.
Eternal life
Easter, my dear friends and
families, marks out for us the
significance of the death and
resurrection of Christ.
We often under-estimate
how much God loves us.
Each one of us is special to
him; and his greatest desire is
to see that every one of us
enjoys eternal life.
st anthony of Padua
You see, Jesus understands
‘Very supportive’
our weaknesses and is always
ready to overlook our failings, if only we can trust him.
From experience, I know how difficult it can be to return to
him when we’ve strayed away for too long; but please don’t
be discouraged. All you have to do is to desire to come to
him, and he will do the rest.
Having said that, remember that God never forces himself
on anyone. I think he’s the most democratic God! Unless we
wish to have him in our lives, he will always remain silent
and elusive.
11
Prayer to St Michael
HOLY Michael Archangel,
defend us in the day of
battle.
Be our safeguard against
the wickedness and snares
of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we
humbly pray; and do thou,
prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, thrust down to hell Satan
and all wicked spirits who wander through the
world for the ruin of souls.
A Prayer for our Priests
GOD our Father, grant to our priests a firm
faith, zeal in proclaiming the Gospel, and
diligence in administering the Sacraments.
May their life of prayer and service enable
them to inspire and to lead those committed to
their care.
We make our prayer this through our great
High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The joy that Easter brings to the world is tremendous and
overwhelming. Christ’s death and resurrection is a testimony
of his Father’s love for the human race. We are his children;
he has given us a right of claim to that title.
Like the prodigal son, let us repent and return home to him.
He will hug and embrace us on the last day; and put rings on
our fingers, and perhaps even kill the fattest calf in heaven to
celebrate our home-coming! God is love!
Envoi
Please note that this article is not Church dogma - it’s the
point of view of a humble servant of God, a lay parishioner
who loves Jesus very much and wishes that others should love
him, too!
May the peace and joy that Easter brings remain always in
our hearts and in our families.
Please remember me in your prayers.
God bless you all.
Jesus loves you very much - and I love you, too!
Harriet Njie
‘Aunty Abie’
Don’t forget
Kaddu Dunda Gi
sundays at 1pm GRTs
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Fee moi
Gambia
Not interested
I’VE been asked by several readers why it is, as I wrote in
my most recent column, that so few Europeans living among
us or visiting as tourists come to Sunday Mass (nor, I suppose,
to other churches in The Gambia).
Religion began to lose its hold in western Europe in the
19th-century, when the industrial revolution, beginning in
England and spreading elsewhere, attracted people from the
countryside to the cities.
Much more recently, consumerism and the general growth
in prosperity have led to most western Europeans losing
interest in organised religion. In fact, most of them have no
religion at all, and hardly any knowledge of what Christians
believe. ‘The faithful’ are a minority. And the media,
including radio and television, hardly bother to cover religious
topics unless there’s controversy or scandal involved.
Some visitors may visit Gambian churches as a novelty,
something unusual to do, or because they’ve heard that the
singing is lively.
Just a generation ago, senior European diplomats in
a country like ours felt it a sort of duty that they should put in
an appearance in church, at least periodically. Now, if they’re
not interested, nobody minds.
It’s worth remarking that church-going in the United States
is much higher than in western Europe. I wonder why.
The Pope scores
MANY people, in the media especially, may indeed have
no knowledge of religion, but Pope Francis, from the moment
he was elected, seems to have won popularity well beyond
the Catholic Church. His genial informality marks him as a
global personality.
Nowhere is Francis more popular than in Argentina,
his home country, where the football club San Lorenzo is
to name its new stadium after the Pope himself.
Francis is a long-term supporter of San Lorenzo, and has
maintained his membership since becoming Pope. Since his
election in March last year, the club has enjoyed a revival in
its fortune, topping the Argentine league and recently winning
the Copa Libertadores (the South American equivalent of the
Champions League) for the first time in its history. In August,
officials and players from San Lorenzo visited the Vatican to
show the Pope their Copa Libertadores trophy.
Football fans here know that ‘our man in the Vatican’ is
at one with them in his enjoyment of the world’s most popular
sport.
I’m glad to hear that next year Francis is to visit Uganda –
his first trip to Africa. His ‘popular touch’ is an eye-opener to
those who think that the Catholic Church has a limited interest
in everyday life. If, like St John Paul II and Benedict XVI,
Francis one day visits West Africa, he will find a warm
welcome not just as a religious leader but as a man who
manifestly thoroughly enjoys so many aspects of life.
Cleaning up
ELSEWHERE in this Newsletter you may read of a
resolution that Catholic schools should be urged to plant fruit
trees and flowering plants, and to teach children about
combatting pollution caused by litter.
We sometimes call this the ‘IT age’ but it is just as much
the LITTER age - in particular the age of the ubiquitous
carelessly-discarded plastic bag, impervious to both rain and
sunshine.
Plastic bags could be re-used to grow cashew, lime and
orange seedlings, say teachers. I’d like to think that already in
our best Catholic and other schools teachers do supervise
planting and litter-control.
Merely urging that we should keep our environment cleaner
is not enough. Pupils should be organised to keep their school
clean. ‘Litter-picking’ should not be imposed as a punishment
but organised as a routine duty for everyone, in all grades.
Some schools only look sparkling clean on prize-giving day,
or when there’s a special ceremony or event. But schools
should be kept clean, indoors and out, on an every-day basis.
Not to mention that we should bring up our children - boys
as well as girls - to regularly take part in cleaning the house.
Blessings from heaven
I DON’T care to comment on the common assertion that
rain on Sang Marie signifies divine blessing. But certainly
many an anxious farmer must have thanked God that this
year’s rains, which began so late, have at last been abundant.
I am reminded of a chant sung during Advent (members of
urban church choirs will know it): Roratem caeli, desuper,
et nubes pluant iustum, sometimes loosely translated as,
‘Drop down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies rain
down righteousness.’
war recruits
MANY newspapers and radio and television programmes
have been featuring the First World War, that tragic conflict
which caused the death of millions of soldiers and civilians.
Much of the death can be described as carnage. What caused
the war? Why was it so prolonged? What were the
repercussions after the armistice was signed?
At the beginning of the war the rebuilt Banjul parish church
(now the cathedral) was consecrated. The horror of the war
was brought home when Fr Gabriel Sanneh, who had been
vicaire de la paroisse in Banjul, was killed by shrapnel in
April 1916 while ministering to Senegalese soldiers in the
village of Passey, France.
To combat the Germans, the French needed troops, and they
recruited in their territories in West Africa. (France then had
a home population of 40 million, but 60 million colonial
subjects.) Recruitment, though officially voluntary, was at
times brutal, and the French often placed West Africans in the
front row of the fighting. Whatever country they came from,
for example, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea, black troops were
known as tirailleurs sénégalais (Senegalese artillery-men).
German propaganda depicted African troops as savages.
For the French there was a dilemma: while wanting to live up
to their republican ideals of liberté, egalité and fraternité,
they had always treated Africans as a subject race. And now
they had to order Africans to kill fellow-Europeans, when they
had hitherto taught Africans that Europeans were invincible!
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Saviour of the world, by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free
Sunday Reflections
Reflections, readings and prayers for all the sundays between
5th October and 23rd November, together with all saints’ Day
5th October
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Christ’s mission – and ours
THE MOTTO of Bishop Robert Ellison is NaSar Ngùr
Dika or Adveniat regnum tuum: ‘Thy kingdom come’.
In almost any language these simple words could not be more
familiar. They come from the Lord’s Prayer. They are central
to our faith, because the purpose of Jesus’ ministry among us
was and is the establishment of God’s Kingdom ‘on earth
as in heaven’.
Jesus used many parables to teach people the Good News
of the Kingdom. In the last couple of months we’ve heard
some of them proclaimed at Sunday Mass - for example,
the ‘pearl of great price’, the treasure hidden in a field, and the
vineyard owner who paid his temporary staff the same wage
however long they’d worked.
Today, Jesus’ parable about the Kingdom is again set in a
vineyard. The owner, having travelled, sends servants to
collect what’s due to him. But his tenants mistreat them - even
kill them. So the vineyard owner sends his own son; and he,
too, is killed by the tenants. The parallel with Jesus’ own
forthcoming death is clear: God’s own Son will be put to death
by his own people.
It’s easy for us to pray, day by day, ‘Thy kingdom come.’
But do we realise what we are praying for? If we truly wish
to spread the Kingdom, as Christ commands his followers the Kingdom of love, truth, justice and everlasting joy that he
came to earth to offer us – we must accept his rule. This means
loving God and neighbour, day by day, come what may.
Today’s reading from St Paul is of great power and beauty:
‘…fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that
is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we
love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous
and worthy of praise…’ Isn’t this the way to recognise the
Kingdom of God within us?
‘Thy kingdom come.’ As you pray for it, think about it - and
how you and the Diocese of Banjul are called to respond.
Today is International Teachers’ Day, when we pray for
teachers in this country – for all those in charge of our
children in Government, Catholic and independent schools.
Collect
ALMIGHTY ever-living God, who in the abundance of
your kindness surpass the mercy and desires of those who
entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what
conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to
ask…
Readings: Isaiah 5: 1-7. Psalm 79: 9, 12-16, 19-20.
Response: The vineyard of the Lord is the House of Israel.
Philippians 4: 6-9.
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia… I chose you from the
world to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last, says the
Lord.
Gospel: Matthew 21: 33-43
Prayer over the Offerings
ACCEPT, O Lord, we pray, the sacrifices instituted by your
commands, and through the sacred mysteries, which we
celebrate with dutiful service, graciously complete the
sanctifying work by which you are pleased to redeem us…
Preface: the priest may use any one of the eight Prefaces
for use in Ordinary Time
Prayer after Communion
GRANT us, almighty God, that we may be refreshed and
nourished by the Sacrament which we have received, so as to
be transformed into what we consume…
12th October
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Those who are called
TODAY
we
are
presented with another
parable from Jesus about
the Kingdom.
A king prepares a
wedding feast for his son.
But many of those he
invites aren’t interested:
they consider that they
have better things to do.
So the king invites the
very last people you
might expect: the people
by the roadside. And many of them enjoy the wedding feast.
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And the parable’s meaning? It is that many we might expect
to find in the Kingdom of God - the teachers of the Law,
the Pharisees, the priests and the outwardly pious - have been
excluded. They’ve been excluded because they have not,
in fact, accepted the king’s invitation.
To whom did Jesus first offer a place in his Kingdom?
The repentant thief, dying at his side. And he granted
forgiveness to many whom society scorns: tax-collectors,
prostitutes, people outside Jewish orthodoxy. If we repent of
our sins he will clothe us in a wedding garment and invite us
to his banquet. ‘Blessed are those who are called to the
marriage supper of the Lamb’ (Revelation 19: 9 and the
invitation to Communion during the Mass.)
Collect
MAY your grace, O Lord, we pray, at all times go before us
and follow after, and make is always determined to carry out
good works…
Readings: Isaiah 25: 6-10. Psalm 22. Response: In the
Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever. Philippians
4: 12-14, 19-20
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia… The Word was made flesh
and lived among us; to all who did accept him he gave power
to become children of God.
Gospel: Matthew 22: 1-14
Prayer over the Offerings
ACCEPT, O Lord, the prayers of your faithful, with the
sacrificial offerings, that, through these acts of devotedness,
we may pass over the glory of heaven…
Preface: the priest may use any one of the eight Prefaces
for use in Ordinary Time
Prayer after Communion
WE entreat your majesty most humbly, O Lord, that as you
feed us with the nourishment of the most holy Body and
Blood of your Son, so you may make us sharers of his divine
nature…
19th October
29th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
God, Cyrus and Cæsar
GOD works in most
mysterious ways, we’re
told, and the Jews certainly
thought so in respect of
Cyrus the Great of Persia,
who
established
the
greatest empire the world had yet seen.
Cyrus was respectful towards the customs and religions of
his conquered peoples, and in 538 BC he issued an edict
permitting the Jews, who had been carried into exile into
Babylon, to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.
This is the background to today’s First Reading, where
through the prophet Isaiah the Lord tells Cyrus, ‘I have called
you by name, though you do not know me.’
For the Gospel reading we go forward more than 500 years
to the teaching of Jesus. What Jesus’ opponents had against
him was his open love for everyone irrespective of tribe,
nationality and social status. The Pharisees, in particular,
were keen on absolute obedience to the Law of Moses.
But they interpreted the Law in a proud and rigid way,
scorning everyone who didn’t share their fundamentalism.
The Pharisees were at first wary of Jesus, then opposed to
him. They sought to trap him so that he would say something
seemingly against the Law, and thus expose himself
to ridicule, rejection or even arrest. They tested him publicly
on many occasions. In today’s Gospel they first flatter Jesus,
calling him honest and straight in his dealings with everyone.
Then they ask the trap question: Is it permissible, under the
Jewish law, to pay taxes to Cæsar, the Emperor of Rome,
to whom the Jews are a subject people?
Jesus asks for a coin, which shows the head of Cæsar.
His reply is unforgettable: ‘Render to Cæsar the things that
are Cæsar’s – and to God the things that are God’s.’ We might
understand this as, ‘Do your duty as a citizen, but never forget
your duty to God.’ No-one will quarrel with such an
injunction; but do we put it into effect? We should respect
the laws of our land (even when there’s no policeman
watching us!) and also respect the truths and laws of Christ’s
Church - to which, under God, we belong.
Collect
ALMIGHTY ever-living God, grant that we may always
conform our will to yours, and serve your majesty in sincerity
of heart…
Readings: Isaiah 45:1, 4-6. Psalm 95: 3-5, 7-10. Response:
Give the Lord glory and power. Thessalonians 1: 1- 5.
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia… Your word is truth,
O Lord, consecrate us in the truth.
Gospel: Matthew 22: 15-21
Prayer over the Offerings
GRANT us, Lord, we pray, a sincere respect for your gifts,
that, through the purifying action of your grace, we may be
cleansed by the very mysteries we serve…
Preface: the priest may use any one of the eight Prefaces
for use in Ordinary Time
Prayer after Communion
GRANT, O Lord, we pray, that, benefiting from
participation in heavenly things, we may be helped by what
you give in this present age and prepared for the gifts that are
eternal…
26th October
30th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
The greatest
commandment
IN today’s Old Testament
reading, the Lord God tells
Moses that his people must
respect the law and treat
everyone,
Jews
and
strangers, with equal justice
and mercy. Such a principle
remains as valid and necessary today as it ever was, here in
The Gambia and throughout the world. So many of the
injustices and suffering we read and hear about in the media
stem from individuals’ and communities’ prejudice against
one another. Such disrespect, ignorance and hatred are the
opposite of justice and mercy.
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In today’s Gospel, the Pharisees - a ‘holier-than-thou’ group
opposed to the hard-hitting words of Jesus - ask him what is
God’s greatest commandment. Jesus refers them to the Law,
the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 5,
which insists that we must love the Lord our God with all our
heart, soul and mind, and our neighbour as ourselves.
All that Christ ever says and does, and above all his death
on the cross, shows how utterly he loves God the Father and
every member of the human race. This fundamental,
unshakeable love is his raison d’être, the reason he lives as a
man among us.
We cannot escape Christ’s rule of love as it applies to each
one of us. If we seek to do so, or forget its absolute relevance,
we shall cut ourselves off from God’s grace. ‘Not everyone
who calls me, “Lord, Lord”, shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven.’
Have you taken note that this coming Saturday, 1st
November, is All Saints’ Day, when you should be at Mass?
Today’s prayers and readings help you to prepare for
Saturday’s celebration. We are all called to be saints, to love
the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind, and our
neighbour as ourselves.
Collect
ALMIGHTY ever-living God, increase our faith, hope and
charity, and make us love what you command so that we may
merit what you promise…
Readings: Exodus 22: 20-26. Psalm 17: 2-4, 47, 51.
Response: I love you, Lord my strength. 1 Thessalonians 1:
5-10.
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia… If anyone loves me he will
keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall
come to him.
Gospel: Matthew 22: 34-40
Prayer over the Offerings
LOOK, we pray, O Lord, on the offerings we make to your
majesty, that whatever is done by us in your service may be
directed above all to your glory…
Preface: the priest may use any one of the eight Prefaces
for use in Ordinary Time.
Prayer after Communion
May your Sacraments, O Lord, we pray, perfect in us what
lies within them, that what we now celebrate in signs we may
one day possess in truth...
No breviary? No Missal?
Pray with the Universal Church
Go to www.universalis.today
and you will find today’s
MORNING PRAYER
and VESPERS in full
also given is the full text of today’s MaSS
15
Saturday 1st
November
All Saints
IS there any way we can win more people to the joyful
celebration of all the saints – God’s great witnesses – on
Saturday 1st November? Or must the priest put on his best
white vestments for not many more than the usual weekday
congregation?
First among the saints are Mary and the apostles, who knew
Jesus on earth. Mary apart, they were flawed people, not fully
understanding Jesus’ mission; and at the moment of crisis they
ran away. But afterwards, Jesus’ resurrection and the descent
of the Holy Spirit enthused them with faith, joy and courage,
and they began to spread the Good News – first in Jerusalem,
then beyond.
From small beginnings – a small mustard-seed, as Jesus put
it – has grown the Church. The apostles are the foundation,
and since them all sorts of men and women have seen in
Christ the way to their own and the world’s salvation.
Saints don’t come in identical packages like soap powder in
the supermarket. They come in all shapes and sizes and
temperaments. They all witness to God’s love in Christ.
In Eucharistic Prayer III we say of the saints, ‘on their
constant intercession in your presence we rely for help’.
The saints call us to follow them, to find in Christ the
complete fulfillment of all we can ever hope and pray for.
See also page 19: Our partners in prayer
Collect
ALMIGHTY, ever-living God, by whose gift we venerate in
one celebration the merits of all the Saints, bestow on us,
we pray, through the prayers of so many intercessors,
an abundance of the reconciliation with you for which we so
earnestly long…
Readings: Revelation 7: 2-4, 9-14. Psalm 23: 1-6.
Response: Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord.
1 John 3: 1-3.
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia… Come to me, all of you
who labour and are over-burdened, and I will give you rest,
says the Lord.
Gospel: Matthew 5: 1-12
Prayer over the Offerings
MAY these offerings we bring in honour of all the Saints
be pleasing to you, O Lord, and grant that, just as we believe
all the Saints to be already assured of immortality, so we may
experience their concern for our salvation…
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Preface
…For today by your gift we celebrate the festival of your
city, the heavenly Jerusalem, our mother, where the great array
of our brothers and sisters already give you eternal praise.
Towards her, we eagerly hasten as pilgrims advancing by
faith, rejoicing in the glory bestowed on these exalted
members of your Church, through whom you give us, in our
frailty, both strength and good example…
Prayer after Communion
AS we adore you, O God, who alone are holy and
wonderful in all your Saints, we implore your grace, so that
coming to perfect holiness in the fullness of your love, we
may pass from this pilgrim table to the banquet of our
heavenly homeland…
Sunday 2nd November
All Souls
The Commemoration
of all the Faithful Departed
THE NICENE Creed, which
we proclaim at Mass Sunday
by Sunday, closes with the
words, ‘I look forward to the
resurrection of the dead and
the life of the world to come.’
Yes, we Christians ‘desire a
better country – that is, a heavenly one’ (Hebrews 11:16).
Death is the lot of every man; yet death is not the end,
but the beginning of a new life. That new life may find us
close to Christ, or horribly far from him. Our closeness to
Christ, or our remoteness from him, depends on how we have
spent this life. We may, like the timid man in the parable of the
talents, have failed to make good use of our life.
What happens next, beyond the grave, depends on God’s
mercy. His mercy is much greater than we deserve, but we
dare not presume that it will operate if we have shown God
little friendship – even less, if we have deliberately ignored or
rejected him.
Today, 2nd November, All Souls Day, we especially
commemorate the ‘faithful departed’, and during this month
we pray in particular for them. But never throughout the year
do Catholics neglect to pray for the departed, particularly
those we have personally known and loved. Many of the
departed are in purgatory, being prepared for a fuller life.
So we pray for all the souls in purgatory, and when we do so
we must surely resolve to spend whatever time remains to us
in this life trying daily to know God better and to serve him
more faithfully.
NOTE that at this Mass an alternative Collect, Readings,
Preface and other prayers may be used
See also page 19: Our partners in prayer
Collect
LISTEN kindly to our prayers, O Lord, and as our faith in
your Son, raised from the dead, is deepened, so may our hope
of resurrection for your departed servants also find new
strength…
Readings: Isaiah 25: 6-9. Psalm 26: 1-4, 7-9, 13-14.
Response: I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land
of the living. Romans 5: 5-11
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia… It is my Father’s will, say
s the Lord, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given
me, and that I should raise it up on the last day.
Gospel: Matthew 11: 25-30
Prayer over the Offerings
LOOK favourably on our offerings, O Lord, so that your
departed servants may be taken up into glory with your Son,
in whose great mystery of love we are all united…
Preface
…in him the hope of blessed resurrection has dawned, that
those saddened by the certainty of dying might be consoled by
the promise of immortality to come. Indeed, for your faithful,
O Lord, life is changed, not ended, and when this earthly
dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for
them in heaven…
Prayer after Communion
GRANT we pray, O Lord, that your departed servants, for
whom we have celebrated this paschal Sacrament, may pass
over to a dwelling place of light and peace...
Sunday 9th November
Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
TODAY’S feast isn’t well-known, as it usually falls on a
weekday.
The Pope’s Cathedral as Bishop of Rome is not St Peter’s
Basilica, but St John Lateran – an ancient church first built by
the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century. The Lateran
Basilica has the title ‘Mother and Head of all the Churches of
the City and the World’.
On this day we celebrate and pray for the unity of all the
churches gathered in communion with the successor
of St Peter – in other words, the Catholic Church throughout
the world. The splendid Basilica of St John Lateran is a sign
of the beauty of God’s family, the Church, gathered in worship
- the living stones of the temple of the Lord. This is a day to
reflect on how cathedrals and churches everywhere are not
just meeting places, but visible signs to the world of the Body
of Christ in prayer.
Many prayers about church buildings refer to the Temple at
Jerusalem. Today’s First Reading speaks in praise of the
Temple from which God’s presence and glory spread blessing
through the land. Christians consider this as referring to
Christ, the New Temple and the source of God’s presence with
his people. From the Temple – from Christ – flow plentiful
waters, providing fruit that never fails.
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The Second Reading begins, ‘You are God’s building…’
St Paul describes how the Church is built on the foundation
of Christ. He asks us, ‘Do you not know that you are God’s
temple, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?’
In the Gospel, Christ ejects cattle- and pigeon-sellers and
money-changers from the Temple. Our church buildings
should be places of prayer, and we ourselves - the ‘stones’ of
which the Church is built - should strive to reflect God’s glory,
not our own preoccupations.
Collect
O GOD, who from living and chosen stones prepare
an eternal dwelling for your majesty, increase in your Church
the spirit of grace you have bestowed, so that by new growth
your faithful people may build up the heavenly Jerusalem…
or
O GOD, who were pleased to call your Church the Bride,
grant that your people that serve your name may revere you,
love you and follow you, and may be led by you to attain your
promises in heaven…
Readings: Ezekiel 47: 1-2, 8-9, 12. Psalm 45: 2-3, 5-6,
8-9. Response: The waters of a river give joy to God’s city, the
holy place where the Most High dwells. 1 Corinthians 3: 9-11,
16-17
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia… I have chosen and
consecrated this house, says the Lord, for my name to be there
for ever.
Gospel: John 2: 13-22
Prayer over the Offerings
ACCEPT, we pray, O Lord, the offering made here, and
grant that by it those who seek your favour may receive in
this place the power of the Sacraments and the answer to their
prayers…
Preface
…for in your benevolence you are pleased to dwell in this
house of prayer in order to perfect us as the temple of the Holy
Spirit, supported by the perpetual help of your grace and
resplendent with the glory of a life acceptable to you. Year by
year you sanctify the Church, the Bride of Christ,
foreshadowed in visible buildings, so that, rejoicing as the
mother of countless children, she may be given a place in your
heavenly glory…
Prayer after Communion
O GOD, who chose to foreshadow for us the heavenly
Jerusalem through the sign of your Church on earth, grant,
we pray. That by our partaking of this Sacrament we may
be made the temple of your grace and may enter the dwelling
place of your glory…
16th November
33rd Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Making good use of our
talents
TODAY’S First Reading is
about someone ‘beyond the
price of pearls’: a hardworking, loyal wife who
does not think of beauty but
of her household duties.
17
Some may look askance at this reading and ask, ‘And what
about a good husband – shouldn’t he be all these things, too?’
Well, read the Book of Proverbs and you’ll find plenty of
down-to-earth advice about how men, as well as women,
should conduct themselves.
Jesus’ message in today’s Gospel goes beyond this. God has
given to each of us our particular talents, and if we wish to
please him we should make full use of all he has given us.
If through laziness, fear or for any other reason we neglect
to make use of what God has given us, the consequences
may be severe. We may see parallels to the warning in Paul’s
First Letter to the Thessalonians (today’s Second Reading).
‘It is when people are saying, “How quiet and peaceful it is”
when the worst suddenly happens.’
God has given each one of us talents, opportunities and
openings. As we come near to the end of this liturgical year,
let us ask ourselves how far we are making good use of our
time, talents and opportunities. Always remember: God may
at any time ask us to account for how we have responded.
Collect
GRANT, we pray, O Lord our God, the constant gladness
of being devoted to you, for it is full and lasting happiness
to serve with constancy the Author of all that is good…
Readings: Proverbs 10-13, 19-20, 30-31. Psalm 127: 1-5.
Response: O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5: 1-6.
Gospel acclamation: Make your home in me, as I make
mine in you, says the Lord.
Gospel: Matthew 25: 14-30
Prayer over the Offerings
GRANT, O Lord, we pray, that what we offer in the sight
of your majesty may obtain for us the grace of being devoted
to you, and gain us the prize of everlasting happiness…
Preface: the priest may use any one of the eight Prefaces
for use in Ordinary Time
Prayer after Communion
WE have partaken of the gifts of this sacred mystery,
humbly imploring. O Lord, that what your Son commanded us
to do in memory of him may bring us growth in charity…
Sunday 23rd November
Jesus Christ, Universal King
Unique majesty
KING Farouk, last King of
Egypt, once said: ‘Soon there
will be only five kings: the
King of England, the King of
Spades, the King of Clubs,
the King of Hearts and the
King of Diamonds, .
King Farouk was wrong.
Although most countries
today are governed as
republics, there are still quite
a few monarchies. In Africa, Morocco, Swaziland and
Lesotho. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and others.
In Europe, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and others;
and of course the United Kingdom.
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Monarchy – kingship – is still associated with power,
ceremony and glamour (which is why sportsmen and pop stars
are sometimes given the label ‘king’).
It was a very different display of majesty when Pilate asked
Jesus, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’
Pilate meant, ‘Are you planning a political uprising to
install yourself as ruler of Palestine in place of the Roman
Emperor?’
Jesus had no such ambition. He had entered Jerusalem to
the cheers of the crowd, but ‘meekly, upon an ass’.
His kingdom was ‘not of this world’. His kingly throne was to
be a common criminal’s cross.
Yet Christ’s cross is the cross of victory - scandalous, yet
glorious. Jesus suffered and rose from the dead for all people,
in all ages, everywhere. Only he, true God and true man,
could accomplish such a triumph, as Universal King.
If we, as Jesus’ disciples, want to follow him, we must take
note of today’s Gospel. Our Lord loves everyone. So must we.
If we do good to others we are doing good for him. If we fail
to do good we make ourselves strangers to him.
Pilate asked the crowd, ‘What shall I do with the man whom
you call the King of the Jews?’ What is our own reply?
We proclaim Jesus as our King - infinitely greater than the
King of the Jews or any earthly king. Our place in his
kingdom depends on what we do or fail to do in his name in
this world, in how we treat those in any kind of need.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Collect
ALMIGHTY ever-living God, whose will it is to restore all
things in your beloved Son, the King of the universe, grant, we
pray, that the whole creation, set free from slavery, may render
your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise...
?
Question
Box
Readings: Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17. Psalm 22: 1-3, 5-6.
Response: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall
want. 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26, 28.
Gospel acclamation: Alleluia… Blessings on him who
comes in the name of the Lord! Blessings on the coming
kingdom of our father David!
Gospel: Matthew 25: 31-46
Prayer over the Offerings
As we offer you, O Lord, the sacrifice by which the human
race is reconciled to you, we humbly pray that your Son
himself may bestow on all nations the gifts of unity and
peace...
Preface
...for you annointed your Only-Begotten Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ, with the oil of gladness as eternal Prlest and King
of all creation, so that, in offering himself on the altar of the
Cross as a spotless sacrifice to bring us peace, he might
accomplish the mysteries of human redemption, and, making
all created things subject to his rule, he might present to the
immensity of your majesty an eternal and universal kingdom,
a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and peace...
Prayer after Communion
HAVING received the food of immortality, we ask, O Lord,
that, glorifying in obedience to the commands of Christ,
the King of the universe, we may live with him eternally
in his heavenly Kingdom...
Sunday 30th November, the First Sunday of Advent,
marks the opening of the liturgical year 2014-2015
(Year B).
The reflection for the First Sunday in Advent will appear
in the Newsletter for December 2014/January 2015.
what is meant by the expression, ‘a happy death’?
i am young. shouldn’t i be thinking about my life now, rather
than life hereafter - which (i hope!) is a long way ahead?
Who wants to die? What is ‘a happy death’? How can we be happy to die? Yet for members of the Church
a happy death is said to be the best possible end to a good life.
Catholic tradition encourages us to pray for the grace of a happy death, and the missal has special prayers
asking for it. What we’re praying for is that whenever we are close to death we shall be reconciled with God
and at peace with our neighbour, strengthened by the sacraments of the Church to pass into everlasting life.
Each of us has a particular desire which we pray will be fulfilled by the time we die. We may pray that we will be
reconciled to an estranged member of our family member or a friend; or that peace may be restored in countries
suffering from conflict and fear.
We can take steps to make our death happy by what project managers call ‘back-planning’.
Starting at the end-point (the ideal state at the time of our death) we can ask how, in order to be in that state, what
needs to be done the day before, the week before, the month before and so on, right up until the present moment.
Then we can discover what we need to do today in order to prepare for a happy death.
Back-planning from our death-bed will include making sure we give time every day to what matters: the virtues
of justice and courage, prudence and temperance; the theological virtues of faith, hope and love; daily prayer
and regular participation in the sacraments.
The day and hour of our death, especially if we are young, is uncertain to us – known only to God. That’s why,
whatever our age and circumstances, we should live every day as though is our last. Daily prayer, and doing good
to our neighbour in all circumstances, are pointers to a ‘happy death’, whenever it may come. The scouts’ motto,
‘Be prepared’ is an excellent one; and we should pray the Hail Mary, for ourselves and others, with confidence.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
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19
Our partners in prayer
all saints
SATURDAY 1st November is
one of the great days of the
Church’s calendar – a holy day
of obligation.
Remembering martyrs and
other saints, and dedicating
a specific day to each of them,
has been a Christian tradition
since the 4th century. But it
wasn’t until AD609 that Pope
Boniface IV designated 13th
May as the commemoration of
all the Church’s martyrs.
Over 200 years later, in 837, Pope Gregory IV extended the
feast to include the commemoration of all the saints,
and designated 1st November as the date.
The saints are examples of ‘virtuous and godly living’.
The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that during our earthly
pilgrimage ‘we are surrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses’.
Sainthood is not so much about hero-worship as about
having friends: the saints are the real men and women of every
age in whose lives we can glimpse heaven in our midst.
They are our partners in prayer.
Pope Benedict has written: ‘Human life is a journey.
Towards what destination? How do we find the way? Life is
like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a
voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route.
The true stars of our life are the people who have lived good
lives. They are lights of hope. Certainly, Jesus Christ is the
true light, the sun that has risen above all the shadows of
history. But to reach him we also need lights close by - people
who shine with his light and so guide us along our way.’
Pope Benedict XVI: Spe Salvi
‘WE celebrate today the Solemnity of All Saints.
This invites us to turn our gaze to the immense multitude of
those who have already reached the blessed land, and points
us on the path that will lead us to that destination.’
Pope John Paul II: All Saints’ Day 2000
Do
you
know?
1
2
3
4
5
all souls
ALL Souls falls this
year on a Sunday.
On this day we
commemorate all the
faithful departed.
We remember and
pray for the souls of those in Purgatory – the place or state in
which those who have died atone for their less grave sins
before being granted the vision of God in heaven.
When a soul leaves the body it is not entirely cleansed from
venial (minor) sins. But through the power of prayer
the faithful on earth may be able to help the departed to gain
the Beatific Vision, bringing the soul eternal happiness.
So at the Mass, when visiting family graves, and in our
private prayers, we remember our dead.
Praying for the dead is an ancient Christian tradition, but it
was Odilo, Abbot of Cluny, in France, who in AD998
designated a specific day for remembering and praying
for those in the process of purification. This started as a local
feast in his monasteries and gradually spread throughout the
Catholic Church towards the end of the 11th century.
‘FOR the souls in Purgatory, waiting for eternal happiness
and for meeting the Beloved is a source of suffering, because
of the punishment due to sin which separates them from God.
But there is also the certitude that once the time
of purification is over, the soul will go to meet the
One it desires.’
Message of St John Paul II for All Souls Day 2000
GRANT to us, Lord God, to trust you not for ourselves
alone, but for those also whom we love and who are hidden
from us by the shadow of death; so that as we believe your
power to have raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead,
so we may trust your love to give eternal life to all who
believe in him.
Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God,
now and for ever. Amen.
Which King of Israel built the first Temple in
Jerusalem?
In the New Testament, which is the shortest
Letter of St Paul?
What position in The Gambia is held by Archbishop
Mirowslaw Adamscyk?
What does the symbol on the right represent?
In the Mass before Communion, we say, ‘Lord, I am
not worthy....’ From where in the Gospels do these
words come?
Answers on page 25
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The garland
that nourishes faith
FOR CENTURIES, countless Catholics have found that
saying the rosary regularly greatly nourishes their faith.
October, in particular, is the Month of the Rosary. But we
say the rosary throughout the year.
The term ‘rosary’ comes from Latin. It refers to a garland of
roses, the rose being one of the flowers that symbolise the
Virgin Mary. The rosary is a biblical form of devotion,
because the prayers that comprise it come mainly from the
Bible.
If you say the rosary every day, you may divide each set of
five mysteries as follows:
Monday and Saturday, the joyful mysteries
• The annunciation of Gabriel to Mary (Luke 1: 26-38)
• The visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Luke 1: 39-56)
• The birth of Jesus (Luke 2: 1-21)
• The presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2: 22-38)
• The finding of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2: 41-52)
Thursday, the luminous mysteries
• The baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3: 13-16)
• The wedding at Cana (John 2: 1-11)
• The proclamation of the Kingdom (Mark 1: 14-15)
• The Transfiguration (Matthew 17: 1-8)
• The Last Supper (Matthew 26) 26: 36-56)
How to say the rosary
The rosary consists of a set number of specific prayers.
We use rosary beads to help us say the prayers in order.
First come the introductory prayers: the Apostles’ Creed,
the Our Father, three Hail Marys and the Glory be.
Between the introductory prayers and the two concluding
prayers is the substance of the rosary: the decades.
The decades
Each decade has thirteen prayers: ten Hail Marys followed
by Our Father, Glory be and the short prayer, ‘O my Jesus’.
Each decade is devoted to a mystery (a truth of the faith)
in the life of Christ or his mother.
The twenty decades of the rosary are divided into four
groups of five:
• the joyful mysteries
• the sorrowful mysteries
• the glorious mysteries
• the luminous mysteries.
When people speak of
‘saying the rosary’ they
usually mean saying one set of
five mysteries each day
(joyful, luminous, sorrowful or
glorious). This takes about
fifteen minutes.
To say all twenty mysteries
would take about an hour.
Friday, the sorrowful mysteries
• The agony in the garden
• The scourging at the pillar (Matthew 27: 31)
• The crowning with thorns (Matthew 27: 31)
• The carrying of the cross (Matthew 27: 32)
• The crucifixion (Matthew 27: 33-56)
Wednesday and Sunday, the glorious mysteries
• The resurrection (John 20: 1-29)
• The ascension (Luke 24: 36-53)
• The descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 1-41)
• The assumption of Mary
• The coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven
During Advent, Lent and Eastertide a different daily pattern
of the mysteries may be adopted.
The prayers of the rosary
The Apostles’ Creed
The Apostles’ Creed was not composed by the apostles
themselves, but it expresses their teaching. The original form
of the creed came into use about AD 125.
I BELIEVE in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and
earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was
conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again
from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated
at the right hand of God, the Father almighty. From there
he will come to judge the living and the dead.
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I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Our Father (Pater noster; the Lord’s Prayer)
The next prayer of the rosary, the Our Father (Pater noster)
is given in the New Testament in two slightly different
versions (Matthew 6: 9-13 and Luke 11: 2-4).
The version in Matthew is the one we use.
OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
The Hail Mary (Ave Maria)
HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art
thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and
at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Hail Mary is the prayer at the
heart of the rosary. It begins, ‘Hail
Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with
thee.’
This is the greeting that the angel
Gabriel gives Mary in Luke 1:28.
It continues, ‘Blessed art thou
amongst women, and blessed is the
fruit of thy womb, Jesus.’
This is what Mary’s cousin
Elizabeth says to her in Luke 1: 42. The only thing that has
been added to these two verses are the names ‘Jesus’ and
‘Mary’, to make clear who is being referred to.
So the first part of the Hail Mary is entirely biblical.
The second part of the Hail Mary is not taken straight from
Scripture, but is biblical in the thoughts it expresses.
It reads, ‘Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.’
Mary was the first to accept Jesus (Luke 1: 45). The title
‘Mother of God’ means that her Son Jesus is the Second
Person of the Holy Trinity, truly God and truly man.
Some non-Catholic Christians may feel uneasy about
the petition, ‘Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our
death.’ They consider that such a prayer contradicts St Paul’s
teaching in 1 Timothy 2: 5: ‘For there is one God, and there
is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.’
But in the preceding four verses (1 Timothy 2: 1-4) Paul
instructs Christians to pray for each other, meaning that it
doesn’t interfere with Christ’s mediation. ‘I urge that prayers,
supplications, petitions and thanksgivings be made for
everyone … This is good and pleasing to God our Saviour.’
We know that this exhortation to others applies to the saints
in heaven. As Revelation 5:8 reveals, the saints intercede for
us by offering our prayers to God: ‘The twenty-four elders
fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with
golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the
saints.’
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Glory be (Gloria Patri)
The fourth prayer in the rosary is the Glory be. This short
hymn of thanksgiving has been used since the fourth century
(though its present form is from the seventh century).
It is recited at the end of each psalm in the Divine Office.
GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen
O my Jesus
After the Glory be, throughout the five decades, comes the
short prayer, O my Jesus.
O MY Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of
hell; lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of
thy mercy. Amen
Hail, holy Queen (Salve Regina)
At the end of the five decades we usually recite the
Hail, holy Queen. It’s the most commonly-recited prayer in
praise of Mary after the Hail Mary itself. It was composed at
the end of the eleventh century.
HAIL holy Queen, mother of mercy; our life, our sweetness
and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of
Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping
in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thy eyes of mercy towards us. And after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Pray for us,
O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the
promises of Christ.
Final prayer
To conclude the rosary, we add a final prayer:
O GOD, whose only-begotten Son by his life, death and
resurrection has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life;
grant, we beseech thee, that by meditating on these
mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they
promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Our faith tells us that Christ is as really
present today as he was to his mother
and his disciples.
With the rosary we sit at the school of Mary
and are led to contemplate the beauty of
Christ and to experience the depth of his love.
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Deo Gracias for our Cathedral
and Our Lady of the Assumption
TODAY we conclude the various celebrations that have
taken place in the diocese over the last five months in honour
of the centenary of our Cathedral Church. We fittingly do so
as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady,
patroness of the cathedral and the entire diocese.
This takes us back to the year 1914 – the start of the First
World War.
Sad to say, our own world today is also steeped in war and
violence.
Our roots
The Catholic Church in The Gambia began to take root in
1848 from origins in Gorée, St Louis and Dakar.
Monsignor Aloysius Kobès CSSp, Co-Adjutor Bishop
of the Two Guineas, was instrumental in opening a mission
on the Island of St Mary at the mouth of the River Gambia.
Later, he would become co-founder of the Congregation
of the Daughters of the Holy Heart of Mary.
Next month, these Sisters will open their first community in
the Diocese of Banjul, at Darsilami.
During the latter half of the 19th century the Catholic
Church began to develop, mainly in Bathurst; but only slowly,
due to the shortage of personnel.
We should remember that the Methodist Church had arrived
here in the year 1822. However, the practice of ecumenism in
those days was not a concern for either church!
Rebuilding the earlier church
The old Hagan street church before rebuilding
a century ago
In the year 1910, work on the new church in Bathurst began,
because the former building – dating from 1850 – had become
too small.
Arrival of a pioneering priest
Five years earlier, in 1905, a Holy Ghost missionary priest
from Ireland had arrived: Fr John Meehan. He was to spend
the rest of his life as a missionary in The Gambia. He died in
1954 and is buried in Banjul cemetery, having worked here
for 49 years.
Fr Meehan undertook to rebuild the old church, with the
assistance of the Catholic community.
This is what we are looking at and celebrating today.
The church was consecrated on the 15th March 1914
by Monsignor François Jalabert, Vicar-Apostolic of Dakar,
which indicates that the Catholic community had grown
significantly since the year 1848.
As we sit or stand here today, it is hard to believe how such
a masterpiece of architecture and construction work could
have been accomplished in those days!
The distinctive pulpit
The pulpit, in particular, was the work of a master woodcarver, Gabarr Njie, who lived not far from Hagan Street. We
are happy to welcome members of his family among us today.
Visitors who come to the cathedral spontaneously remark
on the style of the pulpit and the way in which the Roman
numerals of the Ten Commandments are presented.
A former missionary is said to have replied: ‘Yes, this is the
only place in West Africa where the Ten Commandments are
kept!’
A question of resources
As we take time to gaze in wonder, the question arises as to
where the money came from...
We can presume that the Catholic community at that time
was not in a position to provide much funding. However, men,
women and children put their hands on board.
Fr Meehan himself came from a rural community in the
north-west of Ireland – a country which was still trying to
recover from a potato blight which caused a famine which had
reduced the population of the country by one half.
At the same time, Fr Meehan must have had something up
his sleeve! And the colonial government gave a donation of
£350. So if we marvel at the size and magnificence of this
church, now a cathedral, we marvel even more at all those
who participated and succeeded in building such a structure in
the space of four years.
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Remembering our predecessors
Today, we remember and thank each one of our
predecessors of 1914 for providing their descendants with an
edifice truly worthy of God, and a place where the Catholic
community has been able to worship God in spirit and in truth
over the last one hundred years.
As we honour the memory of our ancestors in the faith,
let us thank God for their loyalty to the faith which they have
handed down to us from one generation to the next; and let us
acknowledge our responsibility to carry on this great heritage
to our descendants.
Supreme witness
‘Today, the virgin Mother of God, was taken up body and
soul into heaven to be the beginning and pattern of the Church
in its perfection and [to be] a sign of hope and comfort for
your people on their pilgrim way’ - a prayer addressed to God
our Father in the preface of today’s Mass.
In other words, Mary is our supreme witness to what all the
faithful will enjoy in their turn at the end of time.
In the meantime, she is also a sign of hope and comfort
for all of us as we make our pilgrim journey here on earth.
Our cathedral and diocese have been consecrated to
Our Lady of the Assumption going right back to the very first
Catholic community and church building around the year
1850 (before it became a diocese in 1958).
During the century prior to Vatican II, devotion to Our Lady
was rapidly developing. In 1854 Pope Pius IX proclaimed the
dogma of the Immaculate Conception. A few years later,
the apparitions of Our Lady to Bernadette at Lourdes took
place, and eventually were given official approval.
One Mediator
Popular devotion raised Mary high above all other human
beings. In one sense, this was admirable; in another, it began
to be misleading. There is only one Mediator between God
and man – Jesus Christ, the Lord who is both God and man.
The focus of devotion to Mary centred to a large extent
on Mary’s special privileges, such as the Assumption, Mother
of God, and the Immaculate Conception, as well as
the invocations of the Litany of Loreto.
True, we can never disown these special titles by which we
still venerate Mary along with the many invocations in the
Litany of Loreto. We still believe in them fully.
However, such devotions alone could not do justice to the
day-to-day earthly life of the young virgin from Nazareth who
became the mother of the Son of God.
Mary is indeed the ‘highest honour of our race’. But she
was also redeemed in the same way as all of us by the death
and resurrection of her Son – albeit in anticipation of the
foreseen merits of her Son, Jesus. Let us not forget that Mary
belongs to the off-spring of Adam, and therefore is one with
all human beings in their need of salvation.
In 1974 Pope Paul VI wrote an encyclical letter about Mary,
ten years after the Vatican Council. The title he gave this letter
was ‘On the development and right ordering of devotion to
the Blessed Virgin Mary.’.
The words ‘right ordering of devotion’ clearly point to the
need for some kind of balance between the glorious Mary and
the suffering Mary. This was well presented by the Vatican II
document on the Church which spoke about ‘the role of the
23
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the Mystery of Christ
and the Church’.
Mary’s consent
The role of Mary in the mystery of Christ began on the day
when the angel broke into her quiet life in Nazareth to
announce that she would become the Mother of God.
Mary gave her consent: ’I am the servant of the Lord; let it
be done unto me according to thy word.’
From that moment onwards, the mother of Jesus lived and
experienced many or all of those things that any mother goes
through.
Put to the test
In fact, no mother was ever put to the test to such an extent
as Mary was. The mysteries of the rosary remind us of a
number of such key moments. Even the first five mysteries of
the rosary do so, even if called the ‘Joyful Mysteries’!
I wonder? The Visitation, perhaps..? But hardly the Nativity,
nor the Presentation, nor the Finding of her twelve-year-old
Child in the Temple.
‘And so it was as the Virgin Mary advanced in her
pilgrimage of faith, and loyally persevered in her union with
her Son unto the Cross. There she stood in keeping with the
divine plan, suffering grievously with her only-begotten Son.
There she united herself with a mother’s heart to his sacrifice,
and lovingly consented to the immolation of this victim which
she herself had brought forth’ (L.G. 58).
The prayer of the prophet Job comes to mind: ‘The Lord
has given and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name
of the Lord.’
Mary and ourselves
Today we joyfully celebrate Mary’s glorious Assumption,
body and soul, into heaven.
We do so in spirit and in truth when we recognise how Mary
came to be exalted high above all the choirs, angels and saints
in the kingdom of heaven.
This was the special gift or privilege given to Mary by God
in the light of the total gift she made of herself in her role
as Mother of God in the mystery of Christ.
As it was with Mary, so it will be with us… We cannot enter
the door of the resurrection garden before we climb the hill of
the Cross.
The current crisis
This year we also celebrate the centenary of our cathedral and we do so in an ambiance of peace and security.
Let us be aware that there are many countries near us in the
sub-region where the ebola virus is causing a major crisis.
Many of our special invitees to today’s celebration have not
been able to travel because of this.
Let us remember all those affected in our prayers.
Let us also be ready and willing to participate in any civil
or religious action that may be needed to prepare for the day
that this virus could reach The Gambia.
Queen of Heaven, guide and protect our families,
our Church and our country, today and always.
Amen.
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Gambian Christian anniversaries
October and November
sEVENTY YEaRs aGO. On 12th October 1944, during the second world war,
father aNDREw CaRROll Cssp arrived in The Gambia. for many years
he devoted himself to the service of the Church in this country, notably among
the Karoninka people.
fr Carroll built the church at Bwiam, where he was in charge for most of the
1950s. The 1960s found him exploring the Kartong area. The diocesan journal
entry for 19th December 1960 records him as busy collecting materials for the
new mission there. On 8th january 1964 Bishop Michael Moloney blessed
and opened the church at Kartong which fr Carroll had built. it was dedicated
to st Martin of Tours.
for his pastoral and many educational achievements, fr Carroll was
respected and loved throughout and beyond the Catholic community.
when he eventually left in the 1990s, due to increasing ill-health,
fr Carroll retired to the spiritan House at Kimmage, Dublin, where he died on
1st October 2009.
Many years fruitful service
Above: fr andrew Carroll visits
The Gambia in his retirement
Right: with Bishop Moloney and
fellow missionaries in the 1950s
Fr Carroll is in the first row,
second from left.
8th October 1878: Death of the Superior of the Mission,
Fr Renoux, who had arrived only six months earlier (on 11th
April).
15th October 1884 - 130 years ago): Opening of Bethel
Methodist Church in Stanley Street, Banjul.
26th October 1905: Arrival of Fr John Meehan, ordained
in Paris the previous year. His three fellow priests in Banjul
at that time were Fr Pierre Wieder and Fr Miesterman,
Holy Ghost fathers from Alsace, northern France, and
a Senegambian priest, Fr Gabriel Sanneh, who was Vicaire de
la Paroisse.
21st November 1936: Fr Joseph Charles Mendy arrived
from a retreat in Dakar, bringing with him an English priest,
Fr Harold Whiteside.
16th October 1931: Fr Meehan was nominated
first Ecclesiastical Superior of the Banjul Mission, which
in May that year had become self-governing. (His
appointment was confirmed in January 1931).
28th October 1932: Arrival of Fr McEnnis to take over the
management of the schools. But in April the following year
he was diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis and invalided
back to Ireland, never to return.
1st October 1933: Ordination in Paris of Fr Thomas Jobe,
who celebrated his first Mass in Banjul on 15th October 1934.
27th October 1938: Arrival of Fr Michael Moloney
(later Bishop Moloney).
10th October 1945: Arrival of Fr James White, who died
in The Gambia in February 1996.
1st November 1948: Opening of St Therese’s Elementary
School, with 114 pupils.
30th November 1949: The Methodist Church at Cape
St Mary was licensed for marriages.
30th November 1951: Fr Moloney was named Prefect
of the Banjul Mission, which had been designated a Prefecture
Apostolic on 15th April that year.
16th October 1952: Arrival of Fr William Costelloe and
Fr Reginald Gillooly.
26th October 1958 (Christ the King): Enthronement
of Bishop Moloney as first Bishop of Banjul, the Hagan Street
Church becoming his Cathedral.
3rd October 1959: Building began in Bakau of Stella
Maris Church (Star of the Sea).
17th November 1961: Publication of a Government Bill
establishing the Common Entrance Examination for
all publicly-funded secondary schools.
17th October 1962: Founding of Pioneer Total Abstinence
Association.
20th October 1965: Arrival of Fr John Sharpe.
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17th October 1966: Arrival of Fr John Hogan.
3rd October 1967: Arrival of Fr Michael Casey, who
retired from service in The Gambia in May this year after 47
years’ service.
28th October 1968: Arrival of the first Presentation Sisters,
Sr Cecilia and Sr Margaret.
12th November 1968: Arrival of Br Liam Sheridan
and Br Benedict Stapleton to begin Lamin technical school.
27th October 1970: Arrival of Fr Robert Ellison
(now Bishop Ellison).
11th October 1972: Fr Sharpe moved to Kunkujang
to found a mission station.
12th November 1972: Bishop Moloney blessed the Junior
Seminary at Fajara, in the building which is now the École
Française. The first Director was Fr Pierre Sagna (later,
Bishop Sagna). Among the 19 seminarians were Fr Anthony
Gabasi and Fr Peter Gomez.
4th November 1976: First meeting of all Mission personnel
to work out a pastoral plan for the diocese.
29th October 1977: Death of James Ndow, first Gambian
Principal of Gambia High School.
31st October 1981: Departure of Fr Michael Murray owing
to ill-health.
23rd November 1983: Sudden death in Ireland of
Fr Francis Farrell.
23rd November 1984 (30 years ago): Arrival of Fr Peter
Conaty.
28th October 1988: Arrival of Fr Philip Crowe, ordained
in Ireland four months earlier by Bishop Michael Moloney.
18th November 1999: Funeral in Banjul of Tony Blain,
former Director of Education, who had died in the USA.
6th November 2000: President Yahya Jammeh appointed
Bishop Michael Cleary an honorary Commander of the
Order of the Republic of The Gambia (CRG).
13th November 2000: Death of Rachel Palmer, former
Head of the School of Nursing, Banjul.
13th October 2002: Death in Ireland of Fr Vincent Comer,
former Principal of St Peter’s Technical High School Lamin,
and Vicar-General of the diocese.
6th October 2005: Death in Ireland of Sr Benigna Kearney,
who had taught in The Gambia for more than 50 years.
17th November 2007: Bishop
Ellison began a three-day pastoral visit
to the neighbouring Diocese of
Ziguinchor.
24th November 2007: Archbishop
Théodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar (left)
was among 23 new cardinals created
by Pope Benedict XVI.
1
2
3
4
25
17th October 2008: Death in the USA of Arthur K. Carrol,
Methodist who after retirement as head of the Gambia Public
Transport Corporation worked for the Catholic charity,
Caritas. Mr Carrol’s funeral was held at Wesley Methodist
Church Banjul on 7th November.
10th-18th November 2008: Fr Peter Conaty, former
Director of GPI, returned after 20 years to lead a workshop on
the liturgy for priests, religious and
choir leaders.
21st November 2008: At Farafenni,
Bishop Ellison ordained Fr John
Mendy (right).
29th November 2008: Sr Vivian
Aduni, Sr Benedicta Peligabase,
Ghanaians, and Sr Marie Sylva, Gambian, made their first
profession as Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny.
14th November 2009: At Brikama, Bishop Ellison
ordained Fr Yenes Manneh.
2nd to 23rd October 2009: Bishop Ellison was among 244
bishops who took part in the Synod for Africa in Rome.
5th October 2009: Death in Banjul aged 98 of Matilda Ann
Faal, who had attended Holy Spirit Banjul every day since its
opening.
25th November 2009: Death of Marcel Jinage Badji, aged
58, Director of St Joseph’s Family Farm, Bwiam.
1st – 10th October 2010: Sr Calixte Thomas, Sr Josephine
Kamada, Sr Teresa Mundow and Sr Jeanne-Therese Ndey
joined Cluny Sisters from all over Africa at a synod in Dakar
which considered the 2009 Synod of African Bishops in
Rome.
During November 2010: Death of Sang Gomez, for many
years catechist at St Peter’s Parish, Lamin.
15th November 2010: Simon Suta Mendy became
Catechist Co-ordinator at GPI.
20th November 2010: President Yahya Jammeh launched
‘From Jerusalem to Calvary’, a book by George Gomez.
29th October 2011: Mass of Thanksgiving at the Cathedral
for the 50th anniversary as a reverend sister of Sr JeanneThérèse Ndeye, first Gambian Sister of St Joseph of Cluny.
10th November 2012: at Lamin, Bishop Ellison ordained
Fr Aimé Joseph Colley and Fr Matthew M. Mendy.
17th November 2012: Sr Barbara Kumangtum from
Ghana, Sr Rahel Matandala from Kenya, and Sr Victoria
Tholley from Sierra Leone made their first profession at the
Novitiate of St Joseph of Cluny at Kanifing.
4th November 2013: The Papal Nuncio, Archbishop
Miroslaw Adamczyk, presented his credenctials to President
Yahya Jammeh.
9th November 2013: At Brikama, Bishop Ellison ordained
Fr Victor Ndecky.
Answers to ‘Do you know?’ page 19
King Solomon, successor to his father David.
from fatal snake bites (Numbers 21:9) Jesus
See 1 Kings 6.
referred to this (John 3: 13-17) in reference to
Philemon, concerning a former slave,
his forthcoming death on the cross.
Onesimus, being sent by Paul for Philemon to
The symbol is used as a logo by some medical
look after. The letter is only 25 verses in length.
organisations.
Archbishop Mirowslaw Adamscyk (left) is Papal 5 Luke 7: 1-10. The centurion whose servant
Nuncio to The Gambia, Sierra Leone
was gravely ill said to Jesus, ‘Lord, I am not
and The Gambia, resident in Monrovia.
worthy that you should come under my roof,
The bronze serpent on a pole which the Lord
but only say the word, and my servant shall be
healed.’
God told Moses to set up to protect people
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DiOCEsE Of BaNjul NEwslETTER OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2014
from beyond
the diocese
francis appeals for prayers for uN
mission in Central african Republic
‘WE have yet to learn the lesson from the madness of war,’
declared Pope Francis on Holy Cross Sunday, 14th
September, following the midday Angelus in St Peter’s
Square.
The Holy Father appealed for prayers for the United
Nations peace-keeping mission to the Central African
Republic.
The Pope assured the peacekeepers, who began their
mission on Monday 15th September, of the support and
prayers of the Catholic Church.
He also prayed that violence in the country will give way
to dialogue, that opposing factions leave aside particular
interests and strive to ensure that every citizen, regardless
of ethnicity or religion, collaborates to build up the common
good.
For the past two years, sectarian Christian and Muslim
militias in the Central African Republic have been waging war
against each other. Over 2,600 Central Africans have died,
and nearly one million of the country’s 4.5 million residents
have been displaced, creating an urgent humanitarian crisis.
Yet though the country is teetering on the edge of chaos,
the outside world has paid little attention. It is one of the
world’s forgotten wars.
‘War only increases evil and death’
The Pope visited a First World War cemetery in Northern
Italy on 13th September, and on Holy Cross Sunday repeated
that all war is madness, and humanity has still not learned the
lesson of this madness.
He said ‘I invite everyone to look at the Crucified Christ
to understand that hate and evil are defeated by forgiveness
and good, to understand that the response of war only
increases evil and death.’
The Pope warned against considering the cross a sign of
‘magic’: ‘Belief in the Cross of Jesus involves following him
on his path. Thus Christians collaborate in his work of
salvation by accepting together with him sacrifice, suffering,
even death for the love of God and neighbour.’
The Pope concluded, ‘We should pray for Christians who
are being persecuted and killed because of their faith in Christ.
This happens especially there where religious freedom is still
not guaranteed or fully realised.’
Misery of iraqis
‘pierced my heart like a knife’
SISTER Marie-Claude Naddaf, Provincial Leader of the
Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Lebanon and Syria,
was shaken by what she witnessed in Irbil, Iraq, when she
accompanied the Catholic Near East Welfare Association on
a mission to the capital of the Kurdish region in early
September.
More than 100,000 Christians and other minorities have
sought refuge in the region following attacks by Islamic State
militants. Many were given less than half an hour to leave
their houses.
‘I was not at all expecting to see that much misery, poverty
and sadness in the eyes of the refugees,’ Sr Marie-Claude told
the Catholic News Service.
‘For me, it’s very difficult to find the words to describe this
tragedy, people who were uprooted from their civilisation,
their culture, their land. They were pulled out like weeds expulsed, exiled and taken away. Will the world even try to
understand and feel what these people are feeling?’
Sr Marie-Claude lived through Lebanon’s 1975-90 war,
the current war in Syria, and has served Iraqi refugees
who fled to Syria after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
‘But never before have I witnessed anything like this,
people living on the streets, when before they were living
comfortably with dignity in their homes,’ she said. ‘It pierced
my heart like a knife.’
Educated professionals
Most of the displaced adults are educated professionals doctors, engineers, architects, government workers, teachers
and university professors - who were providing services to the
Iraqi people. Now their future is uncertain
Sr Marie-Claude likened their plight to that of the first
Christians living in the catacombs, exposed to the elements
and all kinds of dangers.
‘Women are left exposed on roads and sidewalks of Irbil,
exposed to all kinds of violence and dangers, and nobody is
doing anything to raise a voice for them,’ Sr Marie-Claude
said. ‘The world is able to see, but it seems it doesn’t want to
look at them.’
During her visit she heard about a pregnant woman who
was living in a tent with about 20 other people when she went
into labour. The woman delivered her baby without any
medical assistance. ‘There was not even anything to cover the
newborn baby with, except a shirt from somebody’s back.’
The following day the baby was very sick, so the mother
walked with her baby to the dispensary tent. Because there
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was a team of about 15 doctors, all exiles from Qaraqosh
volunteering their time, the baby’s life was saved. But the
baby’s face was severely burned from exposure to the sun
during the walk.
‘I want to send a plea to the world. This is enough. It cannot
continue,’ Sister Marie-Claude said.
She questioned a policy of ordering airstrikes against the
Islamic State.
‘The US Minister of Defence is saying that each air-strike
would cost $8 million,’ she said. Instead, the international
community should work toward liberating the villages that
have been taken over by Islamic State militants and, through
the United Nations, create a protected zone.
The objective of US air-raids, Sr Marie-Claude said, is ‘just
to protect their own interests, especially the areas rich in oil’.
The Church, she declared, is a shining witness amid the
misery. Among the displaced are two bishops, priests and
more than 100 sisters who are living among the people,
helping them and sharing in their sorrows.
In 2010 Sr Marie-Claude was a recipient of the
‘International Woman of Courage’ award from the US State
Department for her work with abused, neglected and
trafficked women.
‘Keep the sign of peace dignified’
THE VATICAN has asked people taking part in the Mass to
show restraint when the sign of peace (the Pax) is exchanged.
With the approval of Pope Francis, the Congregation for
Divine Worship has sent a letter to all bishops saying that
the sign of peace must be exchanged with dignity and the
awareness that it is not a liturgical form of ‘good morning’.
It adds that ‘if it is foreseen that it will not take place properly’
the sign of peace may be omitted, as it is only optional.
The letter lists ‘abuses’ which bishop should try to stop,
including the introduction of a ‘song of peace’, which
is ‘non-existent in the Roman rite’, ‘the movement of the
faithful from their places to exchange the sign of peace among
themselves’, and the priest leaving the altar to give the sign of
peace to members of the congregation.
Also mentioned are congregants using the sign of peace at
Christmas, Easter, baptisms, weddings, ordinations and
funerals to offer greetings, congratulations or condolences.
francis talks to teenagers
through Google
IN September Pope Francis became the first pontiff, and for
that matter the first head of state, to speak to teenagers from
around the world by holding a ‘Google Hang-out’ session
with high schools on five continents.
The Pope was the main speaker at the 3rd International
Symposium for Education at the Vatican following an earlier
‘soccer match for peace’ featuring famous footballers such as
Diego Maradona and Roberto Baggio.
‘We’re convinced that the youth needs to communicate,
to show and share their values. Youth needs three pillars:
27
education, sports and
culture,’ Francis told
young people, who not only listened
to him, but asked questions.
A teenager from Turkey asked the
Pope to keep working on projects to
promote inter-religious dialogue,
because ‘students don’t want to live
Maradona: played
at war’.
before the Pope
He also asked the Pope about his
vision of the future. Francis said he didn’t have ‘the magic
ball’, but that youth hold the future in their hearts, minds and
hands. ‘If you have wings and roots, you own the future. ‘You
need the wings to fly, dream, and believe. But you need roots
to receive wisdom from the elderly.’
As a closing thought, Francis told young people not to be
afraid. ‘Don’t give up. Continue building bridges.’
The students spoke to the Pope from Australia, Israel,
Turkey, South Africa and El Salvador.
The conversation was hosted by Scholas.social, the first
website dedicated to funding for educational projects.
Death of
controversial
Northern
irish politician
THE REVD Ian Paisley,
Northern Irish Protestant
fire-brand and former leader
of the Democratic Unionist
Party, died on Friday 12th
September at the age of 88.
Mr Paisley served as First Minister of Northern Ireland for
a year when power was first devolved in 2007. His deputy,
Martin McGuinness of the political party Sinn Féin, expressed
sadness at his death. ‘Over a number of decades we were
political opponents and held very different views on many,
many issues; but the one thing we were absolutely united on
was the principle that our people were better able to govern
themselves than any British government,’ he said.
Mr McGuinness continued, ‘I want to pay tribute to and
comment on the work he did in the latter days of his political
life in building agreement and leading unionism into a new
accommodation with republicans and nationalists. In the brief
period that we worked together in the Office of the First and
Deputy First Minister, I developed a close working
relationship with him which developed into a friendship,
which despite our many differences lasted beyond his term in
office.’
But Michael Kelly, editor of the Irish Catholic newspaper,
said that Mr Paisley had ‘fanned the flames of hatred and
murder’. During St John Paul II’s address to the European
Parliament, Mr Paisley had held up a sign saying
‘Anti-Christ’, and began shouting ‘I renounce you!’
before he was forcibly removed. He was also infamous for
saying of Catholics during a Irish Loyalist rally in 1969:
‘They breed like rabbits and multiply like vermin.’
In 2010 Mr Paisley led protests against the visit of Pope
Benedict XVI to Britain.
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Some weekday celebrations
Wednesday 1st October: St Therese of Lisieux doctor of the Church
THERESE was born to devout parents in 1873 in Alençon, France, youngest of nine children.
When she was four, her mother died; and her father, a watch-maker, moved to Lisieux. Early on,
she wanted to follow two of her sisters in the religious life, but was told she was too young.
She persisted, and in 1888 was admitted as a Carmelite nun. Therese is known for her ‘Little Way’,
which asserts that it is not necessary to achieve ‘great deeds’ to become holy. ‘I see that it is enough
to realise one’s nothingness and give oneself wholly, like a child, into the arms of the loving God.’
Therese suffered from tuberculosis, and died aged only 24 on 30th September 1987.
Her autobiography, L’histoire d’une âme (‘The story of a soul’) was edited by her sister Pauline
and published after Therese’s death. It became a best-seller. Therese was canonised in 1925.
The Gambia’s largest church is dedicated to St Therese. In this diocese we pray especially today
for the priest and people of the parish of St Therese, Kanifing.
Saturday 4th October: St Francis of Assisi religious
ST FRANCIS is one of the best-loved saints. He was born into a wealthy family in Assisi, Italy, around 1181. In his early
20s, after being a soldier and a prisoner of war, he experienced conversion. Francis sold all his possessions, gave the proceeds
to the Church, and began a life of poverty. In 1209 Pope Innocent III approved the formation of the Franciscan Order, which
stressed the need to imitate the life of Christ. Francis viewed nature as a mirror of God, calling all creatures his brothers and
sisters. In 1209 he approved the formation of a women’s order (the Poor Clares). In 1219 Francis visited Egypt and the
Holy Land. In 1224, after a vision, he became the first person to receive the stigmata. Francis helped to restore popular faith
in a Church which had been corrupted by wealth and political aspirations. He died on October 1226 and was canonised in 1228.
Tuesday 7th October: Our Lady of the Rosary
OCTOBER Is the month of the Holy Rosary. Today, in particular, we are reminded to meditate on the mysteries of Christ
following the example of Mary, who was associated with her Son’s incarnation, ministry, passion and resurrection. In this
diocese, we pray today for the people of the Church of the Holy Rosary, Lamin, opened in April 1995.
Thursday 9th October: Blessed John Henry Newman
JOHN Henry Newman (1801-1890), was an Anglican priest who became a leader of the Oxford
Movement, a group of Anglicans who wished to return the Church of England to Catholic beliefs
and forms of worship. In 1845 Newman left the Church of England and was received into the
Roman Catholic Church, where he was eventually made a Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII.
Newman was instrumental in founding the Catholic University of Ireland, which evolved
into University College, Dublin, today the largest university in Ireland. Newman's beatification
was proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI in September 2010 during his visit to the United Kingdom.
Newman’s writings include his autobiography Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1865–66). He wrote the
popular hymns ‘Lead, Kindly Light’ and ‘Praise to the Holiest in the Height’. Newman is the patron
of the English Ordinariate, set up by Benedict XVI for former Anglicans who are in full communion with Rome while retaining
some Anglican forms of worship.
Monday 13th October: St Edward king and confessor
EDWARD (1004-66) was the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings of England, renowned for second-sight,
curing scrofula and generosity to the poor. He founded Westminster Abbey, the best-known church in
England. The title ‘confessor’ is given to an outstanding witness to the Gospel. It was conferred on
Edward in his lifetime by Pope Alexander II. Edward’s tomb at Westminster Abbey was a place of
pilgrimage until the Reformation, as it has become again in modern times. Pope Benedict XVI prayed
there in September 2010 with the Archbishop of Canterbury. In this diocese, the school at Bwiam
is named in St Edward’s honour, and today we pray for past and present teachers and pupils of that
school.
Saturday 15th October: St Teresa of Avila doctor of the Church
TERESA was born in Avila, Spain, in 1515. She joined the Carmelite Order and received mystic
revelations. She underwent many trials in reforming her order. Her writings are marked by a deep
understanding of doctrine. She died in 1582. She is one of the patron saints of Spain.
Omnes sancti et sanctæ Dei, intercedite pro nobis
All holy men and women of God, intercede for us
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Wednesday 17th October: St Ignatius of Antioch bishop and martyr
IGNATIUS succeeded the Apostle Peter as second Bishop of Antioch (in present-day Turkey). During the reign of the
Roman Emperor Trajan he was arrested and sent to Rome. On his journey to execution, Ignatius wrote letters encouraging
fellow-Christians to remain faithful despite persecution. He met his death by being thrown to wild animals.
Saturday 18th October: St Luke evangelist
TRADITION says that Luke was a Gentile. The Gospel that bears his name is written in
Greek and is considered the most literary of the books of the New Testament. Luke was not
an eye-witness of Christ’s ministry, but accompanied St Paul to Macedonia and Rome.
Paul referred to Luke as ‘the beloved physician’.
Luke’s cultural background was Greek, and he was writing for Greeks. His Gospel account
of Our Lord’s ministry emphasises Jesus’ compassion and his sympathy and openness towards
women - who at that time were generally treated as inferior to men.
The Acts of the Apostles is a continuation of Luke’s Gospel. It deals with events in the life
of the early Church.
Tuesday 28th October: St Simon & St Jude apostles
LITTLE is known of Simon except that he was born in Cana and was known as the Zealot.
Jude, known also as Thaddæus, asked Jesus at the Last Supper why he showed himself
only to the apostles and not to the world (John 14: 22).
4th November: St Charles Borromeo bishop
CHARLES was nobly born in 1583 at Arona (in present-day Italy) and was known in his youth for his saintly life
and academic ability. When he was 23 his uncle, Pope Pius IV (1559-65), made him Cardinal Archbishop of Milan.
Charles gave his inheritance to the poor. His endeavours to revive the spiritual zeal of the clergy made him enemies.
During the plague of 1575 he relieved distress and gave the last rites to the dying. Charles founded the Order of Oblates.
He fought hard to eradicate Protestantism from his diocese. He died in 1584.
Thursday 10th November: St Leo the Great pope
LEO is one of the Doctors (teachers) of the early Church. He
was born towards the end of the 4th century in Tuscany (part of present-day Italy). As Pope from 440 to 451 he championed
orthodoxy. When the monk Eutyches of Constantinople asserted that Christ had only a divine nature, Leo wrote his ‘tome’
insisting that Christ was true God and true man. Leo’s teachings as the ‘voice of Peter’ were embraced by the Council of
Chalcedon, and his example, letters and sermons contributed to the growth of papal autority.
Monday 21st November: Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
TODAY commemorates the dedication in 543 of the Church of Our Lady in Jerusalem. We honour Mary’s dedication of
herself to God from her childhood by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who filled her with grace at her Immaculate Conception.
We give especial thanks on this day for the prayers and work in The Gambia since 1964 of the Presentation Sisters.
Thursday 24th November: St Andrew Dung-Lac & companions martyrs
BORN in 1839, Andrew was a priest in Vietnam, his homeland. In 1839 he was arrested and beheaded. Between 1820
and 1862, 117 Christians in Vietnam were similarly martyred. In 1988 they were canonised by St John Paul II.
abraham, ‘father in faith’
IF a visitor asks about Tobaski, he may be told, ‘In The Gambia, it’s the Muslim
Christmas.’
That’s not true, of course. Tobaski and Christmas are different. But at Tobaski, as at
Christmas, there’s a great deal of family expenditure, and festivities extend beyond the
worshipping community.
The Biblical account in Genesis 22:1-19 of Abraham’s submission to God’s will, of his
readiness to sacrifice his own son, is remarkably parallel (though there are some
differences) to the narrative in the Qur’an.
In the Magnificat, Mary gives thanks for God’s promise to the people of Israel, ‘to Abraham and his descendants for
ever’ (Luke 1:46-55)
The Roman Canon (the First Eucharistic Prayer) speaks of Abraham’ as ‘our father in faith’.
Christians join with Muslims in giving thanks for the faith, trust and obedience of Abraham and all the patriarchs
and prophets, and pray for similar faith and courage.
There are a great many references to Abraham in the Old Testament. See, for example, Genesis chapters 13-25
and especially 22: 1-19. Just a few examples from the many references in the New Testament: Luke 1:46-55;
Luke 16: 19-33; John 8: 39-40; Acts 3: 13 & 7: 2-9; Hebrews 6:13-15.
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Daily Mass Readings
October and November
Sunday readings Year A. Daily readings Year 2
Memorials in brackets are optional
Wed 1st Oct
Thu 2nd
Fri 3rd
Sat 4th
Job 9: 1-12, 14-16. Psalm 87: 10-15. Luke 9: 57-62
Exodus 23: 20-23. Psalm 90: 1-6, 10-11. Matthew 18: 1-5, 10.
Job 38: 1, 12-21; 40: 3-5. Psalm 138: 1-3, 7-10, 13-14, Like 10: 13-16
Job 42: 1-3, 5-6, 12-16. Psalm 115: 66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130. Luke 10: 17-24
Sun 5th
Mon 6th
Tue 7th
Wed 8th
Thu 9th
Fri 10th
Sat 11th
Isaiah 5: 1-7. Psalm 79; 9, 12-16, 19-20, Philippians 4: 6-9. Matthew 21; 33-43
27th SUNDAY of YEAR
Galatians 1: 6-12. Psalm 110: 1-2, 7-10. Luke 10: 25-37
(St Bruno)
Galatians 1: 13-24. Psalm 138: 1-3, 13-15. Luke 10: 38-42
Our Lady of the Rosary
or for Holy Rosary: Acts 1: 12-14. Psalm Magnificat. Luke 1: 26-38
Galatians 2: 1-2, 7-14. Psalm 116: 1-2. Luke 11: 1-4
Galatians 3: 1-5. Psalm Luke 1: 69-75. Luke 11: 5-13 (Blessed John Henry Newman or St Denis or St John Leonard)
Galatians 3: 7-14. Psalm 110: 1-6. Luke 11: 15-26
abstinence
Galatians 3: 22-29. Psalm 104: 2-7. Luke 11: 27-28
(of the BVM)
Sun 12th
Mon 13th
Tue 14th
Wed 15th
Thu 16th
Fri 16th
Sat 18th
Isaiah 25: 6-10. Psalm 22: 1-6. Philippians 4: 12-14, 19-20. Matthew 22: 1-14.
28th SUNDAY of YEAR
Galatians 4: 22-24, 26-27, 31 – 5: 1. Psalm 112: 1-7. Luke 11: 29-32
Galatians 5: 1-6. Psalm 118: 41, 43-45, 47-48. Luke 11: 37-41
(St Callistus)
Galatians 5: 18-25. Psalm 1: 1-4, 6. Luke 11: 42-46
St Teresa of Avila
Ephesians 1: 1-10. Psalm 97: 1-6. Luke 11: 47-54
(St Hedwig or St Margaret Mary Alacoque)
Ephesians 1: 11-14. Psalm 32: 1-2, 4-5, 12-13. Luke 12: 1-7
St Ignatius abstinence
2 Timothy 4: 10-17. Psalm 144: 10-13, 17-18. Luke 10: 1-9
St LUKE
Sun 19th
Mon 20th
Tue 21st
Wed 22nd
Thu 23rd
Fri 24th
Sat 25th
Isaiah 45: 1, 4-6. Psalm 95: 1, 3-5, 7-10. 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-5. Matthew 22: 15-21 29th SUNDAY of YEAR
Ephesians 2: 1-10. Psalm 99: 2-5. Luke 12: 13-21
Ephesians 2: 12-22. Psalm 84: 9-14. Luke 12: 35-38
Ephesians 3: 2-12. Psalm Isaiah 12: 2-6. Luke 12: 39-48
Ephesians 3: 14-21. Psalm 32: 1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19. Luke 12: 49-53
(St John of Campestrano)
Ephesians 4: 7-16. Psalm 23: 1-6. Luke 12: 54-59
(St Anthony Mary Claret) abstinence
Ephesians 4: 7-16. Psalm 121: 1-5. Luke 13: 1-9
(of the BVM)
Sun 26th
Mon 27th
Tue 28th
Wed 29th
Thu 30th
Fri 31st
Sat 1st Nov
Exodus 22: 20-26. Psalm 17: 2-4, 47, 51. I Thessalonians 1 5-10. Matthew 22: 34-40
Ephesians 4: 32 – 5: 8. Psalm 17: 2-4. 47, 51. Luke 13: 10-17
Ephesians 2: 19-22. Psalm 18: 2-5. Luke 6: 12-19
Ephesians 6: 1-9. Psalm 18: 2-5. Luke 13: 22-30
Ephesians 6: 10-20. Psalm 143: 1-2, 9-10. Luke 13: 31-35
Philippians 1: 1-11. Psalm 110: 1-6. Luke 14: 1-6
Revelation 7: 2-4, 9-14. Psalm 23: 1-6. 1 John 3: 1-3. Matthew 5: 1-12
Sun 2nd
Mon 3rd
Tue 4th
Wed 5th
Thu 6th
Fri 7th
Sat 8th
Isaiah 25: 6-9. Psalm 26: 1-4, 7-9, 13-14. Romans 5: 5-11 Matthew 11: 25-30 (Other readings may be used) ALL SOULS
Philippians 2: 1-4. Psalm 130: 1-3. Luke 14: 12-14
(St Martin de Porres)
Philippians 2: 5-11. Psalm 21: 26-32. Luke 14: 15-24
St John Borromeo
Philippians 2; 12-18. Psalm 26: 1,4, 13-14. Luke 14: 25-33.
Philippians 3: 3-8. Psalm 104: 2-7. Luke 15: 1-10
Philippians 3: 17 – 4: 1. Psalm 121: 1-5. Luke 16: 1-8.
abstinence
Philippians 4: 10-19. Psalm 111: 1-2, 5-8. Luke 16: 9-15
(of the BVM)
Sun 9th
Mon 10th
Tue 11th
Wed 12th
Thu 13th
Fri 14th
Sat 15th
Ezekiel 47: 1-2, 8-9, 12. Psalm 45: 2-3, 5-6, 8-9. 1 Corinthians 3: 9-11, 16-17. John 2: 13-22 DEDICATION of St JOHN LATERAN
Titus 1: 1-9. Psalm 23: 1-6. Luke 17: 1-6
St Leo the Great
Titus 2; 1-8. Psalm 36: 3-4, 18, 23, 27, 29. Luke 17: 7-10
St Martin of Tours
Titus 3: 1-7. Psalm 22: 1-6. Luke 17: 11-19
St Josaphat
Philemon 7-20. Psalm 145: 7-10. Luke 17: 20-25
2 John: 4-9. Psalm 118: 1-2, 10-11, 17-18. Luke 17: 26-37
abstinence
3 John 5-8. Psalm 111: 1-6. Luke 18: 1-8
(St Albert the Great or of the BVM)
Sun 16th
Mon 17th
Tue 18th
Wed 19th
Thu 20th
Fri 21st
Sat 22nd
Proverbs 31: 10-13, 19-20, 30-31. Psalm 127: 1-5. 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-6. Matthew 25: 14-30. 33rd SUNDAY of YEAR
Revelation 1: 1-4; 2: 1-5. Psalm 1: 1-4, 6. Luke 18: 35-43
St Elizabeth of Hungary
Revelation 3: 1-6, 14-22. Psalm 14: 2-5. Luke 19: 1-10
(Dedication of the Basilica of St Peter & St Paul)
or for the Dedication: Acts 28: 11-16, 30-31. Psalm 97: 1-6. Matthew 14: 22-33
Revelation 4: 1-11. Psalm 150: 1-6. Luke 19: 11-18.
Revelation 5: 1-10. Psalm 149: 1-6, 9. Luke 19: 41-44
Zachariah 2: 14-17. Psalm Luke 1: 45-55. Matthew 12: 46-50
Presentation of the BVM abstinence
Revelation 11: 4-12. Psalm 143: 1-2, 9-10. Luke 20: 27-40
St Cecilia
Sun 23rd
Mon 24th
Tue 25th
Wed 26th
Thu 27th
Fri 28th
Sat 29th
Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17. Psalm 22: 1-3, 5-6. 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26, 28. Matthew 25: 31-48 CHRIST the KING
Revelation 14: 1-5. Psalm 23: 1-6. Luke 21: 1-4
St Andrew Dung-Lac
Revelation 14: 14-19. Psalm 95: 10-13. Luke 21: 5-11
(St Catherine of Alexandra)
Revelation 15: 1-4. Psalm 97: 1-3, 7-9. Luke 21: 12-19
Revelation 18: 1-2, 21-23; 19: 1-3, 9. Psalm 99: 2-5. Luke 21: 20-28
Revelation 20: 1-3, 11 – 21: 2. Psalm 83: 3-6, 8 Luke 21: 29-33
abstinence
Revelation 22: 1-7. Psalm 94: 1-7. Luke 21: 34-36
(of the BVM)
End of 2013 – 2014 Church Year
Sun 30th November, 1st SUNDAY of ADVENT: see December-January Newsletter
St Therese of Lisieux
Holy Guardian Angels
abstinence
St Francis of Assisi
30th SUNDAY of YEAR
St SIMON & St JUDE
abstinence
ALL SAINTS
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End
Piece
P
31
Man and woman
walking together
POPE fRaNCis advises married couples
On Sunday 14th September Pope Francis witnessed the
marriage of 20 couples at a morning Mass in St Peter's Rome.
The Pope pointed out that the Church is composed, for the
most part, of families. The following is an abridgement of his
homily
MARRIAGE makes us think of families, our families,
walking along the paths of life with all their day to day
experiences. It is impossible to quantify the strength and depth
of humanity contained in a family: mutual help, educational
support, relationships developing as family members mature,
the sharing of joys and difficulties.
Families are the first place in which we are formed as
persons and, at the same time, the ‘bricks’ for the building up
of society.
Our thoughts turn to married couples who become impatient
on the way of conjugal and family life. The hardship of the
journey causes them to experience interior weariness; they
lose the flavour of matrimony and they cease to draw water
from the well of the Sacrament. Daily life becomes
burdensome, and often, even nauseating.
The Father’s great love
The Father has given his only-begotten Son so that men and
women might have eternal life (John 3:13-17). Such immense
love of the Father spurs the Son to become man, to become
a servant and to die for us upon a cross.
Out of such love, the Father raises up his Son, giving him
dominion over the entire universe.
This is expressed by St Paul in his Letter to the Philippians
(2: 6-11).
Whoever entrusts himself to Jesus crucified receives the
mercy of God and finds healing from the deadly poison of sin.
Couples who become impatient
The cure which God offers the people applies also,
in a particular way, to spouses who have become impatient
on the way and who succumb to the dangerous temptation of
discouragement, infidelity, weakness, abandonment.
To them too, God the Father
gives his Son Jesus, not to
condemn them, but to save
them. If they entrust themselves to him, he will bring them
healing by the merciful love which pours forth from the Cross,
with the strength of his grace that renews and sets married
couples and families once again on the right path.
The love of Christ, which has blessed and sanctified the
union of husband and wife, is able to sustain their love and to
renew it when, humanly speaking, it becomes lost, wounded
or worn out.
The love of Christ can restore to spouses the joy
of journeying together.
This is what marriage is all about: man and woman walking
together, wherein the husband helps his wife to become ever
more a woman, and wherein the woman has the task
of helping her husband to become ever more a man.
This is the task that married couples share. ‘I love you, and
for this love I help you to become ever more a woman’;
‘I love you, and for this love I help you to become ever more
a man.’
Not always smooth...
The path is not always a smooth one, free of disagreements,
otherwise it would not be human. It is a demanding journey,
at times difficult, and at times turbulent; but such is life!
Within the theology which the word of God offers us
concerning the people on a journey - spouses on a journey I would like to give you some advice.
It is normal for husband and wife to argue: it’s normal.
It always happens. But my advice is this: never let the day end
without having first made peace. Never! A small gesture is
sufficient. Thus the journey may continue.
Marriage is a symbol of life, real life: it is not fiction!
It is the Sacrament of the love of Christ and the Church, a love
which finds its proof and guarantee in the Cross.
My desire for you is that you have a good journey, a fruitful
one, growing in love. I wish you happiness.
There will be crosses! But the Lord is always there to help
us move forward. May the Lord bless you!
Best wishes to the
Gambian Muslim
Community for a Happy
Celebration of Tobaski
(Eid-al-Adha)
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Give to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s
- and to God the things that are God’s
T
hen the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples
to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach
the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard
people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Cæsar, or not?
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius.
Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’
They answered, ‘Cæsar’s.’
Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God
the things that are God’s.
When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
Matthew 22: 15-22
The Gospel for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 19th October
Produced and printed by GPI (The Gambia Pastoral Institute)