Newsletter of Sisters of St. Louis, Nigeria Province

29 DECEMBER 2018

— continued on page 2

Contact Newsletter 1

L-R: Sr Margaret Yusufu, Faith Augustine, Ritkatmwa Happiness Bewa, Martina Patrick, Grace Adams, Mariam Bala, Martha Michael, Sr. Susan Didam,Rahila Yohanna, Hajara Danjuma, Ruth Tobias, Hauwa Lawal, Susan Ambrose, Agnes Jatau and Vieira Richard.

by Faith Augustine Yakubu and Hajara Joshua Danjuma

Thirteen of us arrived on 5 October 2018 from different parts of thecountry to Louisville Girls Secondary School, Gwagwalada. The sisters inthe community gave us a warm welcome and treated to us a delicious

supper after preliminary aspirancy routines were concluded for the evening.The day ended for us with night prayers.

The following day began with the sisters guiding us through morningprayers. We had a good breakfast after which a three-session interaction withthe sisters began. First Sr. Susan Didam gave a talk titled: 'Love of God and Loveof neighbour'. We understood that love is a theological virtue that makes uslove God above all things for His own sake and to love our neighbours asourselves. Christian charity increases our strength to do good things to people.

Sr Margaret Yusufu led us through the next interaction on 'Vocations' and'the Origins of the Sisters of St. Louis'. Vocation refers to Gods call. Going

Aspirants Weekend at LouisvilleGirls Secondary School Gwagwalada

In this issue:● Aspirants Weekend at LGSS,

Gwagwalada● Louisville, Mokola, Celebrates

World Disability Day● A Hug a Day…● Christmas Message● Babies Christmas Show● Bakhita Christmas Party● Workshop on Catechises● Mission for Life● Health Tips● Kolapo-Ishola Community

Celebrates Sr Maria Ehikioya● Heart of the Matter

Cover/Report

Contact Newsletter2

ASPIRANTS WEEKEND —continued from page 1through Scripture, we met differentpersons like Abraham and Samuel in theOld Testament, and the apostles in theNew Testament who were called. On thehistory of the SSL, we learnt that they arean international congregation founded bya French Philosopher named Abbé LouisBautain in 1842 in France. Their charismis 'Ut Sint Unum' which means 'May theybe one' (taken from John 17:21). The finalinteraction was with Sisters Eunice Abiriyi,Veronica Orunmoluyi and MargaretYusufu when they interviewed usindividually. The evening ended with asumptuous meal.

The weekend programme ended onSunday morning with Mass. The aspirantsare grateful to God for giving themanother privilege to have a successfulweekend with the Sisters of St Louis,Gwagwalada community.

Sr. Eunice Abiriyi with some of the aspirants

by Christie Udebor SSL

The awareness campaign wasflagged off at the morningassembly on 3 December

2018. The pupils and members ofstaff of Louisville Nursery PrimarySchool Mokola, Ibadan were wellrepresented at the presentation.The guest speaker was Mr.Augustine Akpeji, a MassCommunication student from theDominican University, Ibadan. He isvisually impaired.

Mr Augustine gave a briefhistory of the annual observance ofthe International Day of personswith disabilities. It was proclaimedin the year 1992 by the UnitedNations General Assembly. Theaims are to promote the rights andwell-being of persons withdisabilities in all spheres of societyand development, to increaseawareness of the situation ofpersons with disabilities. Theaudience were marvelled by his

display of talents in music and theuse of technology gadgets.

The highlight of Mr. Akpeji’spresentation was when he sharedhis insight as a person with visualimpairment. He used theopportunity to educate the pupilsand members of staff on how bestto relate with individuals who arevisually impaired. His disability didnot limit his ability. Austin is amotivational speaker, a presenter,

and a musician who can play eightmusical instruments (Saxophone,guitar, drum set, talking drum,piano, trumpet and clarinet).

Mr. Akpeji gave the pupilsopportunity to express theirexpectations about individuals withvisual impairment and askquestions. It was interesting to hearall the questions and limitedknowledge the pupils had aboutpersons who are visually impaired.

LOUISVILLE Nursery & Primary School,Mokola Celebrates World Disability Day

Sr Christie Udebor, pupils and Mr Augustine Akpeji

Feature Article

3Contact Newsletter

by Theresa Peter SSL

A hug is a form of endearment, universal in humancommunities in which two or more people put theirarms around the neck, back, or waist of one

another and hold each other closely.We hug others when we’re excited, happy, sad, or tryingto comfort. Hugging, it seems, is universally comforting. Itmakes us feel good. And it turns out that hugging is provento make us healthier and happier.

According to scientists, the benefits of hugging gobeyond that warm feeling you get when you hold someonein your arms. A heart to heart hug can have significantbenefits on our mental and physical health and happinessin the following ways:

1. Hugs can increase your self-esteem: From themoment we’re born our family’s touch shows us thatwe’re loved and special. During our childhood theloving cuddles that we receive develop into our senseof self-worth which we carry into adulthood at acellular level.

2. Hugs enhance Relationships: A good hug increasesthe feeling of safety, security, trust and belonging.These are the foundations of all healthy relationships.

3. Hugs can lower stress: Getting a good squeezebefore going into a stressful situation can help yourelax and calm down a bit. The hug could even helpyou stay calm, cool, and collected during the event.The reason for this is that when we hug or kiss a lovedone, our oxytocin levels go up. This powerful hormoneis often called “the bonding hormone” because itpromotes attachment in relationships, includingbetween mothers and their new born babies.

4. Hugs can lower the risk of heart disease: Thehormones that are released in the body after a hugaren’t just good for happy feelings — they can alsohelp your physical health. Human-to-human contactalso lowers your body’s levels of the stress hormone,cortisol. And that in turn helps ease your blood flowand lower your heart rate.

5. Hugs can boost immunity: It’s been shown thatpeople who are under stress and in conflict with othersare more susceptible to viruses like the common cold.Researchers from Carnegie Mellon Universitydiscovered that social support, such as hugging, mightin turn be protective against such infections.

Keep the hug — from the heart!!

A Hug a DayKeeps theDoctor Away

Sisters Theresa Peter (left) and Magaret Yusuf hug each other at thethe recent General Assembly

JANUARY4th Sr. Theresa Olaniyan Birthday21st Sr. Agnes Abba Feastday21st Sr. Agnes Titilola Ewedeyi Feastday21st Sr. Agnes Adebayo Feastday21st Sr. Agnes Olufunke Adeluyi Feastday

21st Sr. Martina Ariyo Birthday26th Sr. Eunice Abiriyi Birthday26th Sr. Lois Moses Feastday27th Sr. Angela Chioma Ogu Feastday27th Sr. Angela Onyema Feastday28th Sr. Agnes Adefunke

BabalolaBirthday

Special Feature

Contact Newsletter4

Fellow Nigerians,

THEME: 2019, A YEAR OF FULFILMENT OF THEHOPE OF NIGERIANS

On behalf of the members of the CatholicBishops’ Conference of Nigeria, I send youspecial Christmas greetings. As we draw closer

to the end of the year, we need to thank God for hisgoodness to us in Nigeria. God has been kind to us. Ifnot for God, our condition in Nigeria would have beenworse. Some people may question why we arecelebrating Christmas season when there are still manythings wrong with Nigeria. Some have argued that weare  grappling with political tension. We have beenwitnessing slow growth of the economy and the higherincrease of unemployment of youths. We arewitnessing significant challenges in our educationalsector; the increase in poverty of our people; theinsecurity of lives and property and the invasion ofsome of the farm lands of our people by some armedherdsmen who think it is their right to lead their cowsto graze on the crops of others. Many Nigerians bothChristians and Muslims have condemned the invasionof innocent people’s farmlands by herdsmen. Some ofour people have questioned what is the need tocelebrate when some of our priests, consecrated menand women are kidnapped while going about theirpastoral work? A significant number of our lay faithfulhave also been victims of these crimes. Sadly, though,some have lost their lives during this terrible ordealwhich is becoming too frequent in Nigeria. How do wecelebrate Christ the King of Peace when some of ourbrothers and sisters in  Northern Nigeria and, especiallyin the North Eastern part are constantly being attackedunprovoked?    How do we celebrate when we havewitnessed many mass burials of our people killed byIslamic fundamentalists? How do we celebrate whenour Churches and Mosques come under attack; andsoldiers are being killed? How do we celebrate underthese conditions?

Dear people of good will, I call on all Nigerians tocelebrate in spite of all these challenges. We celebratebecause we do not place our hopes in mere mortals.Ours is not going to come from our politicians. Our helpis in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth(Psalm 124:8). Our help is in God through whom

nothing is impossible. In the Gospel of Matthew 26:19we read: “But Jesus looked at them and said, “Formortals it is impossible, but for God all things arepossible.” Yes, we must learn to trust in Christ to helpus confront our challenges. This is why we call on allNigerians to continue to say the prayer for Nigeria indistress. Let all Nigerians cry to God to transformNigeria into a land where opportunities are actualisedand where there is harmony and peace.

Dear people of God, we hope in a better future forNigeria in 2019 because we know that we have re-consecrated Nigeria into the hands of our Lady ofFatima who is the Queen of Nigeria on 13 October 2017in Benin City. Mary’s closeness to Nigeria will help usto do whatever Christ asked us to do. It is in doing whatChrist has asked us to do that we can transform Nigeriafrom a land of misery to a land of prosperity. A landfree of corruption, a country where her sons anddaughters will no longer seek false greener pasturesabroad and perish in the Mediterranean Sea or betreated with less human dignity when they aretrafficked for economic and sexual exploitation.

We hope for a Nigeria where our leaders will bring thedividends of democracy to all Nigeria irrespective ofwhether they voted for them or not. This is so becauseevery Nigerian tax payers’ money is used to fundGovernment irrespective of whether the Nigerian votedfor the leader or not. We hope for a Nigeria wherepoliticians will no longer seek prophetic prediction oftheir political futures from priests and other pastors.Our politicians should seek prayers from priests andpastors to get the grace to fulfil their electoral promisesto the electorate. They should win the hearts ofNigerians through meaningful and substantialcampaign rooted in realistic  promises that will betterthe lives of Nigerians.

As this year comes to an end, we look forward to nextyear with hope. We look forward to a peaceful election.We look forward to an election where every vote willcount. We look forward to an election where Nigerianswill come out and vote based on their conviction andnot based on sentiments or acceptance of propaganda.We look forward with hope to next year, a year whenNigerians will judge the quality of the candidates forpolitical offices by their track records and not vote

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE OFARCHBISHOP AUGUSTINE OBIORA AKUBEZE,THE PRESIDENT OF THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS’

CONFERENCE OF NIGERIA TO ALL NIGERIANS

—continued on page 5

Special Feature/Report

Contact Newsletter 5

based on declaration of prophecy by men of God. Ourpoliticians should know that their obligation is towardsthe electorate, the Nigerian people. Politicians mustavoid going to seek the outcome of election frompriests and pastors. They should go on campaign andlet the Nigerian people know what they are capable ofdelivering. When politicians go to the Church, theyshould seek prayers from the priests and men of Godto help them fulfil political manifestoes that will bringpeace, justice and prosperity to all Nigerians. The pulpitis not the place to insult or praise politicians. TheChurch must remain non-partisan. We must not beinvolved in partisan politics. It does not help the Churchnor does it help our society when men of God begin toendorse or reject political candidates. We in theCatholic Church, denounce anyone who uses theChurch or sanctuary to make political prophecy or toendorse candidates for political offices.

In other countries, politicians look at opinion polls tore-calibrate their message. It is unfortunate, that somepeople in the Church are using the Church for politicalpronouncements. The pulpit is meant for theproclamation of the message brought to us by theinfant Jesus. Christ himself avoided getting into secular

politics. My kingdom is not of this world, he told Pilate(John 18:36). If Christ recused himself from politics,those who speak for Christ, priests, and pastors mustdo the same. We must remember that we have Christ’sfaithful in our places of worship who belong to variouspolitical parties. No religious body should  set out solelyto promote political agenda. It is true that we musteducate our people to vote for candidates who willpromote religious freedom in every part of the country.We must educate our people to avoid turning  politicsto a theocracy; we are a democracy. Democracy allowsfor people of every faith to vie for offices and to bejudged based on merit. The electorate make thedetermination of who to rule them.

In conclusion, I call on all Nigerians to learn to sharethe peace and love that Christ brought us with his birth.The birth of Christ offers us the opportunity to sharetogether our common humanity. We in Nigeria mustembrace the peace proclaimed by Christ. Let us sharelove and eschew bitterness. May God bless Nigeria andprosper our land. Amen.

Merry Christmas to all Nigerians!

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE —continued from page 4

by Theresa Peter SSL

Our Lady Catholic Hospital,Iseyin has a culture ofreceiving Our Lady’s

babies as they are customarilyreferred to. These includes babiesborn in our facility and those born

outside but attend our childwelfare clinic. This year’s showtook place on 19 December 2019.About Two Hundred and Fifteen(215) babies were received. Theactivities included praise worshipand prayers by Christians and

Muslims, health talks and quizcompetition by mothers wherethe winners were presented withgifts. All the children went homewith packed food and assortedgift items. It was a wonderfulmoment of exchange.

Babies Christmas Show in Iseyin“Christmas is you when you sated bread and hope to the poor

man who is by your side.” — Pope Francis

Sister Theresa Peter share the day with “Our Lady’s Babies” and their mothers

Contact Newsletter6

Report

by Bridget Franny Nwankwo SSL

Tuesday 18 December, 2018was a memorable one for allof us at Bakhita Villa! To God

be the glory that the Birthday ofChrist was celebrated for ourTreasures. The Christmas partybegan at 12 noon with openingprayers, Christmas carols andfollowed by various interestingactivities. The celebration attracted manypeople: our Treasures and theirfamilies, our neighbours, Friends ofthe Sisters of St. Louis, Ladies of St.Mulumba, Block Rosary childrenand invited guests. Sr. PatriciaEbegbulem SSL, our Coordinatorwas full of gratitude to God in heropening speech. She was happythat we were able to celebrate 2018Christmas for our Treasures. Ofcourse Christmas is a time of joy

when a King is born to us, ourSaviour is born, a time to repent, atime to share gifts and bring joy tothe less privileged of our society.She enjoined all present to relaxand be happy as we celebrate. The Block Rosary childrenentertained us with songs, culturaldisplay, choreography amongothers. Sr. Angela Onyema did agood job preparing them. TheMaster of Ceremony (MC) was veryentertaining as we laughed all theway. The DJ had good music that weall — those in the kitchen, thoseserving food, those washing platesand neighbours— enjoyed dancingto by both. There were lots to eatand drink ranging from chin chin,cold water and drinks of differentkinds, doughnuts, small chops, rice,moi-moi and so on. A highlight of the celebrationwas the visit to Mother Christmas

who with the generosity of ourdonors, distributed gifts to ourTreasures, their families and all thechildren present. They receivedChristmas clothes, raw rice, cookedrice, snacks and drinks, and fairlyused clothes for them to sell tosupport their businesses. The celebration came to an endwith the closing prayer led byRev. Fr. Michael Etekpo MSP ourParish Priest with his associate, Rev.Fr. Collins Ugochukwu. They bothblessed us before we resumed along dance session. We thank Godthat it was a lovely celebration andeveryone was happy. We pray Godto bless all our donors and meetthem all at their points of need. WE WISH YOU ALL A HAPPYCHRISTMAS AND MAY THE NEWYEAR BE FULL OF BLESSINGS ANDGOD’S PROVIDENCE.

Girls dancing Dancing with the Treasures

Sr Bridget Nwankwo as MC Boys dancing Visit to Mother Christmas

Contact Newsletter

Report

7

with the closing prayer led by

by Angelina Francis and Julliet Megwa, Novices

The first year and second year novices of theSisters of St. Louis, Nigeria Province had aworkshop on Catechesis and Teaching of Sunday

School using the life approach method at the Novitiatein Akure, Ondo State from 5 to 8 of November. Theworkshop was facilitated by Sr. Chinyere VeronicaOkpara SSL. We were all excited to have the workshop becausepart of our apostolate in the novitiate involves teachingof Sunday school and catechism. The workshop beganwith a talk on the church’s understanding of mission.Three ways of participating in a mission are as follows:● dedicating self to the work of mission,● contributing material wealth to the mission and● offering prayers for the work of mission.

In our daily lives we are missionaries because Christhas given each person the mandate to preach thegospel. This mission will necessarily involve words, butit will also involve demonstrations of the truth of thegospel through how we relate with one another andthe world around us. We also had presentations onpractices at Mass which were really enlightening as wegot to know more things about the Mass. We listened to a talk on handling children, who aretender and vulnerable and should be treated withgentleness and love. In dealing with children, we haveto know and identify our weak points in order to controlour anger and be in control of our emotions. The talkbrought to mind that children need more of affirmation

and we are encouraged to look for effective ways todiscipline a child instead of flogging or insulting. Thefacilitator also spoke on the spirituality of children frompre-school age to young teens, which broadened ourunderstanding of how to teach religious studies tochildren to help build their relationship with God. We also had presentations on how to teach Sundayschool, where we each chose a topic of our choice andpresented it using the life approach method. Thismethod helps children learn from their own lifeexperiences. We were given an example by thefacilitator and we all followed her example. It wasinteresting as we all put in effort to learn how to do it,learning from one another. We further journeyed through the liturgical yearand seasons of the Church. The facilitator explained bitby bit the significance and importance of each of theseasons, bringing out the beauty of the liturgy in theCatholic Church and we came to appreciate it better. Our experience of the workshop was veryenriching; we came to understand better so manythings about the Mass, the Church and also aboutchildren. It was interesting and fun filled to watch thedifferent presentations and to learn from one another.We really appreciate Sr. Chinyere for taking time outand to impart to us from her knowledge. We pray thatGod will continue to bless and strengthen her in hervocation. We also thank our formators, Sr. Franca Olaand Sr. Christie Kure for the opportunity to have theworkshop. We are also grateful to God who granted theopportunity to us and we pray for the grace to put intopractice all that we have learnt.

Workshop on Catechesis and Teaching of Sunday School

L-R : Mary John, Joan Samuel, Esther Pam, Rosemary Ukase, Angelina Francis, Sr. Chinyere Okpara, Maria Agada, Juliet Megwa, Confidence Udeh andLinda Christopher

Regular Feature

Deepening GC 2015 Calls

MISSION FOR LIFEfrom Oka Community

The general chapter logo (above right) has thefollowing items: the sandals, the empty bowl, thejug of water, the towel and the Word with the

inscription: “…at the moment you do not understand….” What can we learn from these symbols? We are hisfeet, to go wherever he sends us. He fills and refills theempty bowl of our hearts with the water of life that ishis love, to kindle our broken hearts and woundedspirits so that we would be able to embrace his people.His is the source and He never runs dry. And when ourfeet get weary, tired and dusty from reaching out, whenour hearts get overwhelmed with the cares andburdens of his people, his words refresh us and ourfeet he washes clean again and dries up. Encouragedand refreshed we take up the tasks of daily living andcontinue on the path He leads.

Mission for life is all we do in His name and throughhim to ourselves and His people. Mission is the smile,the laughter, the kind words, the love, the care, theattention we give to lighten up another’s day. It is themaintenance we do to keep community alive andhospitable, beautiful and a home to all. It is “SintUnum”! Mission is presence, letting ourselves be felt bythe people in our ministry and apostolate, and in theChurch and the larger community of God’s people. Thesocial media and the Internet helps to effectively giveand receive love, warmth and news of each other andthe world around us.

In our eyes we may be offering so little to Hispeople but in God’s eyes the little wholly given Hemultiplies and makes it bear much fruits. For us herein Oka-Akoko, the people’s confidence in us is growingagain gradually after the break that threatened to closethe chapter of a faith relationship, so with renewedefforts into whatever we give, we believe that the faithrelationship will be rekindled again. But they are so fewin number that come to us now. They keep comparingthis times with the time so long gone when they gotservices almost free of charge from us. Situations have

changed and everyone must participate to make thingswork aright for us.

The times have changed! The mission here is lowand slow but we are not discouraged. Together we shallovercome, together we shall make it; for the Sourcenever runs dry, and His works and doings which we donot understand are to eternity.

from Novitiate Community

“If I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet,you ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John13:14).This challenging statement of Jesus

which formed the theme for GC 2015 continues toinspire us to respond to the invitation to serve oneanother in the community as well as the poor andvulnerable of our society.

Our formation in the Novitiate offers us theopportunity to respond to this GC call in practical waysby regularly affirming and appreciating the gifts, talentsand uniqueness of one another, taking responsibilityfor one another’s growth and development in allaspects of life. Our communal activities such as housechores, studies, liturgy, communal prayer, periodic peerfeedback exercises, spiritual direction, recreation,celebration of one another’s feast and birthdays as wellas other day to day encounter and sharing ofexperiences are sacred moments where we wash oneanother’s feet. These services to one another help tostrengthen the bond of Sint Unum among us as well asdeepen our relationship with God. Likewise our formation process prepares andequips us with values necessary for mission by whichwe are enabled to respond to the call to wash the feetof those we encounter in our apostolates. With joyfulhearts we bring the love of God to the men, womenand children we encounter during our weekendapostolate in the parishes where we assist in Sundayschool, teach catechism, dress and decorate altars aswell as interact with individuals who are always happyto engage us in conversation. We are also blessed andprivileged to share in the life of the very poor and

—continued on page 9

Contact Newsletter8

Contact Newsletter

Feature

9

vulnerable around us through our weekly visits to theleper settlement, remand home, hospitals and homesin Akure. It is always very touching and inspiring to see thesmiles and excitement on the faces of these people wevisit. There is one old mama, for example, who wouldbegin to dance and sing as soon as she sights us comingtowards her house and would normally wants us tostay longer with her as she shares her stories. Visiting

the leper settlement and remand home, we alwayswonder how people could be so joyful even in theirsuffering and isolation. In all these experiences we have come to realizethat in washing the feet of others ours are beingwashed too as we are offered the gifts of faith, hope,contentment and simplicity by the way of life of thosewe visit.

MISSION FOR LIFE —continued from page 8

by Mrs. Margaret Akintolayo

To preserve health, vitamin Cplays very important role.Humans do not make this

vitamin in their bodies. It has to besupplied daily and more so whenone is sick. Chief supply is lemon orlime. Add a juice of lime or lemonto a glass of warm water with a tinypinch of ground red pepper firstthing in the morning and if possiblelast thing at night. Doing this helpsto speed of blood circulation andimprove metabolism.

Almost all diseases emanatefrom the digestive system. So takecare of what you consume in termsof white flour, white carbohydratessuch as bread, pasta, chinchin, meatpies, doughnuts, etc. This overloadsthe body with little nutrients andplenty of sugar. Eat complexcarbohydrates. Make sure youdrink some form of bitters daily tocancel the sugar in the blood.

Not all oils are equal. Somerender havoc in the body becauseour bodies do not recognise themas food, so the body stores them asfat, due to the process of theirproduction. MARGARINE is verydeadly to the body. It has only onemore step of chemical reaction tobecome plastic! Imagine eatingplastic without knowing. Replacemargarine with coconut oil, olive oilor real butter. The best cooking oil

are coconut oil, palm oil, olive oiland groundnut oil. Olive oil getdenatured when heated, so it isbest eaten raw. Coconut healsulcers, exposes cancer cells so thatthe white blood cells could deal withthem. It also reverses dementia andprevents it. It helps in so many waysin the body.

Enzymes are catalyst thatspeeds up reaction withoutentering into the reaction. We needthis to digest our foods and to helpin the myriads of reactions going onin our bodies. At certain age weneed to supply this enzymes. Theyare plentiful in raw foods, so it isvery important to juice or eat plentyof vegetables to obtain these vitalnutrients. Pawpaw and pineappleare such examples.

All cooked food turn acidic inthe body. All raw food especiallyvegetables, lemon, lime are alkalinein the body. When the body isacidic, it lacks oxygen — this is whendisease take hold in the body andcancer cells develops in acidicconditions. So let your body remainin alkaline state. The simplelime/lemon protocol goes a longway to keep your blood in alkalinestate especially if you addbicarbonate of soda (baking soda,not baking powder please). Signsthat your body is in acidic mode iswhen you fill pain in your body,

please do not reach out to painkillers, but rather clean your colon,take some bitters and take plentyof vitamin C. When your body is inpain, its trying to tell you somethingis wrong, do not treat the symptomsbut look for the root cause and treatthat. What we drink can causeuntold harm in our body. Softdrinks are loaded with sugar - theseare what trigger diabetes in thebody. Drink plenty of water, teasand certain juices in moderation. Ifyou take a bottle of coke, accordingto the research you will need thirty-three (33) glasses of water to washit out of your system.

I thank you for giving me chanceto share my two pence on health.May God bless and keep you all inHis love. I can be reached on08171061914.

HEALTH TIPS

Mrs Margaret Akintolayo giving the health talkat the General Assembly in November

Contact Newsletter

Report

10

Sr Maria Ehikioya cuts her birthday cake Sr Maria Ehikioya with the PLT and friends cuts the cake

A group photograph after the Thanksgiving Mass to mark Sr Maria Ehikioya’s birthday Sr Maria Ehikioya on the dance floor

Sr Kehinde and Sr Maureen present Sr Maria agift on behalf of the Provincialte community

Sr Christie Udebor presents Sr. Maria a gift onbehalf of Mokola community

Sr Maria Ehikioya unwraps her gifts

Wednesday 26 December2018 was truly a boxingday for Sr Maria

Ehikioya as she was beside herselfwith joy, unwrapping bundles ofgifts and love that her fellow sisters,priests, friends and SSL staffshowered on her at 50.

The celebration began as earlyas 8:00 am with a ThanksgivingMass at the Provincialate Chapelafter which the few guests presentshared breakfast together with thecommunity at the dining. Later at2:00 pm, the actual reception tookplace at the same dining room, toSr Marai’s much surprise.

Sr Mary Okewola compèred thereception brilliantly, inspiring allpresent to celebrate Sr MariaEhikioya for the warmth she hasbeen to SSL and her immediatecommunity. Speeches,commendation and prayers for herflowed like water from everyoneamidst shared jokes and laughter.

In her response, Sr Mariacommented that her birth andvocation journey have been amiracle. She was moved to joyfultears thanking all for the loveshown to her.

The Provincialate CommunityCelebrates Sr Maria Ehikioyaby ‘Pelumi O’Dunsin, Ibadan

Contact Newsletter 11

We celebrate the birth ofour Saviour everyDecember 25. Sometimes

we spend a lot of energy, money,time, etc. preparing for that one-day celebration. I however wonderif we take time to individuallyreflect on the reason we actuallycelebrate Christmas. I decided toask a few people to share onereason they celebrate Christmas.Below are their interestingresponses:

Kelvin: To celebrate the day trueand pure love in the form of themost amazing Gift came downfrom heaven and begun thetransformation of our relationshipwith our God.

Ashi: If He was not born, he couldn’tdie for our sins. I celebrateChristmas for the birth of ourSaviour Who would eventuallypay the ultimate SACRIFICE forme.

Juliet: I celebrate Christmas becauseit reminds me of the birth of mySaviour Who went all the way toCalvary to pay the full price formy redemption from sin andeternal damnation.

Jumoke: Jesus is the reason for theseason. His coming was toreconcile us back to God.

David: I actually have never givenmuch thought to why I celebrateChristmas. Thank you for theopportunity to think about it. Iguess I do because it is a tradition

I have enjoyed since childhood.However, Christmas means a lotto me. The greatest thing is in thewords of a hymn, “Great thingshappen when God mixes withmen/us.” Since God came to earth,great and unprecedented thingshave been happening between usand our God.

Karen: Because this season is a bigreminder of the beginning of God’ssacrifices for us.

John-Mark: To celebrate the loveGod has for his children bysending His only Son to die for us,and the commemoration of thearrival of our Lord and Saviour,Jesus Christ.

Yinka: It is the season to rememberwith great joy the birth of ourSAVIOUR.

Francis: To acknowledge withgratitude Christ’s first coming

and also to prepare for his secondcoming.

Susan: I celebrate Christmasbecause Christmas is the reasonI am saved, for Christ’s birthbrings about the bridging orreuniting of the brokenrelationship between God andman (me) which sin (the fall ofman) caused. Christmas is dawnof my salvation history andjourney. Christ’s birth is thereason I am a Christian.

Mike: Christmas is a time tocelebrate love and share with theless privileged.

Angela: I celebrate Christmasbecause it is the best birthday tobe cherished for all the joy itbrought and still brings.

Nora: Christmas is the real“Thanksgiving Day” for me!

And, I, Rita, celebrate Christmasbecause it is a reminder of theincomprehensible love of our GOD,and a strengthening of the hopebelievers have of enjoying the life-after with HIM for ever and ever andever and ever…!

As we ruminate over reasons forcelebrating Christmas, let us strive tobe bridge builders, joy sharers, peaceproviders, burden lifters, marriagemenders, hope givers, generoushelpers, etc.

I wish us all a beautiful andmemorable Christmas and a fruitful2019!

by Rita Akin-Otiko, SSL

Why CelebrateChristmas?

SSL, postulants and novices at the event in a group photograph with the 70th anniversary cake

Regular Feature

’Pelumi O’Dunsin,Chief Editorpelumi.dunsin@yahoo.com+234 (0)706 204 7492

Anthonia Eneanya SSLAssistant Chief Editortoniauc@yahoo.com+234 (0)703 792 9969

The Communications Office now has a corporate email,sslcomm.ng@gmail.com. Expect to get Contact andupdates via the mail address regularly. Write to us too.

CORPORATE EMAIL

EDITORIAL

Word to Live By

29 DECEMBER 2018INSPIRATIONAL

Dear Family, Happy Christmas! (Okay, Merry Christmas!). We read inScripture (Isaiah 9:6) the following prophecy: “For unto us a Childis born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon Hisshoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, MightyGod, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of Hisgovernment and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of Davidand over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment andjustice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord ofhosts will perform this.” Interestingly, this is in contrast with themood of The Rocking Carol, “Little Jesus Sweetly Sleep”. Howsubtly merry making can reduce the significance of an allimportant event! Christ the King is not “little Jesus” nor a “darlinglittle man”, apologies to Percy Dearmer who translated thetraditional Czech carol to English.

It is true that Jesus the Saviour was born in Bethlehem ofJudea as prophesied. It is truer that he was born to die asatonement for humankind’s sin, rise and reign over God’sKingdom as the Captain of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10). All whoreceive and believe him as the only begotten Son of God are jointheirs with him and will share in His divine nature in His Kingdom. Therefore, as we celebrate another Christmas, let’s rememberthat the one we celebrate is the Bishop of our souls and thecoming King whose Kingdom shall not end. Maranatha! May thecoming year bring us closer to the King of kings!

And He has on Hisrobe and on Histhigh a namewritten: KING OFKINGS ANDLORD OF LORDS.

— the Bible, Rev.19:16

The King is Born!

’Pelumi O’Dunsin

by T. S. Eliot

“A cold coming we had of it,Just the worst time of the yearFor a journey, and such a long journey:The ways deep and the weather sharp,The very dead of winter.”And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,Lying down in the melting snow.There were times we regrettedThe summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,And the silken girls bringing sherbet.Then the camel men cursing and grumblingAnd running away, and wanting their liquor andwomen,And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendlyAnd the villages dirty and charging high prices:A hard time we had of it.At the end we preferred to travel all night,Sleeping in snatches,With the voices singing in our ears, sayingThat this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;With a running stream and a water-mill beating thedarkness,And three trees on the low sky,And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over thelintel,Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.But there was no information, and so we continuedAnd arrived at evening, not a moment too soonFinding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,And I would do it again, but set downThis set downThis: were we led all that way forBirth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth anddeath,But had thought they were different; this Birth wasHard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,With an alien people clutching their gods.I should be glad of another death.

Journey of the Magi

Contact Newsletter12