Having arrived home safely after an amazing trip to Ghana,
my heart is filled with gratitude.
Thank you for the prayers and financial contributions you offered—they sure
paid off.
I
would like to share two main graces I received while in Ghana. First, I was reminded of the
universality of the Mass. Today we
gather for a relatively simple Liturgy—yet it is the same Liturgy being
celebrated around the world. While
in Ghana the Masses on Sundays and New Year’s eve/day were between two and a
half to three and a half hours.
And it was amazing! The
jubilation, song, dance, clapping and reverence were truly awesome. We also had Mass in the Bishop’s
chapel, in our hotel patio and even in an airport. The same Mass.
The
greatest experience for me was the honor to preside at an outdoor Mass in the
countryside. This was the first
celebration of the Eucharist ever in
this particular place. It felt
very apostolic…claiming new land for Jesus. After this Mass we began to build a chapel that, please God,
will have the Liturgy for years to come.
Second,
while the people there are poor materially they are rich spiritually. We came to serve their human needs by
bringing a bunch of suitcases of books, school, church and medical supplies,
toys and balls. Through the
generosity of our benefactors we sent over $15,000 to the priests and to fund
the refurbishment of a Marian shrine, water purification project to provide
clean drinking water for an entire community and the chapel I just
mentioned. Most appreciated by the
Ghanaians was that we brought ourselves.
Their
hospitality was inspiring. They
gave us welcomes everywhere we went—once with a brass band. We were received into homes and along
the way random people gave us a goat, chicken, rooster and guinea hen (like a
small turkey) to eat. They sacrificed
meals for us to show us their hospitality.
Again,
thanks for all you did to help make this trip possible. I pray that the graces from this trip
will continue to bear fruit in Ghana, and back home as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment