Bishop’s Note
All glory, laud and honor be given to the Holy Trinity. I don’t know why, but these are the words that come to mind on this feast of the Most Holy Trinity. All glory, laud and honor to the Almighty, One God in Three Divine Persons, for all of creation. Something that has always made an impression on me is the immensity, the depth, and the beauty of space. Growing up in the country, I would often lie on the hood of our broken down Honda Accord after an evening of basketball or bicycle riding, and just look up into the night sky to watch the stars. One could see a lot more stars out there than we see here from our city homes. Oh! how far away those stars are; they look so tiny from where we are; but they are so enormous in reality. To think that there are so many more stars out there that we cannot see with our own eyes—galaxy upon galaxy, a whole solar system! Beyond this is the creation of the angelic hierarchies. We know that each star, each planet, has its own guardian angel; each man, each woman, each child, every home, every church, every town, has its own guardian angel. Think of the enormity of space, think of the number of men, the number of insects and animals on land and in the ocean, and you may have some idea of the number of angels. There is some being Who is greater than all this, a Being Who created all of this out of nothing, a Being Who was not made and Who exists from all eternity, a Being Who made you and me and Who created us for Himself, that we might share in His happiness—this Being is the Blessed Trinity. Truly, all glory, laud and honor be given to the Holy Trinity!
This week will prove to be another busy one with a funeral on Wednesday and Corpus Christi on Thursday. I hope you will come for Corpus Christi. We clergy will be in church all day, reciting the entire Divine Office before the Blessed Sacrament exposed. Bring the children (and a lunch) and do the homeschooling at church that day, allowing them to make extra visits between classes, and to attend parts of the Office, the Solemn High Mass, May Devotions, a Holy Hour! There is so much to do that day and Our Lord, I’m sure, would love to see you.
Fr. Lehtoranta said that exams for our school children begin this week. That is always a stressful time for the teachers as well as the students, but this time does mean that we have reached the end of another school year. We are proud of our faculty and our students and wish them a happy ending of the year and a restful summer. I do hope that there will be many more children in the school next year. It certainly is a great grace to have a Catholic school and daily Mass.
Bishop Nkamuke has given quite a good amount of news and Fr. Ojeka sends his greetings to everyone here at SGG. His Excellency’s father, after a leg amputation, is just now learning how to walk again after exactly one year spent lying in a hospital bed. His doctor says he is making progress and will leave the hospital at the end of May. Here is a little bit of the news directly from an email I received from Bishop Nkamuke:
Come 28th of this month, Fr. Ojeka will be relocating to his home in Alifokpa, Cross Rivers State, the same place I went to pray for Agnes (thank you for the mention in your newsletter, I should have taken pictures!). He needs to be close to his two sick parents (both of whom have nothing less than heroic fortitude. You feel refreshed when you visit them). But he will also develop our various upcoming missions in Northern Cross Rivers (three for now). The fourth mission, Calabar, is closer to the Seminary, so we will continue to take care of it. He will go with a monk, Stephen…who has been helping us and who wishes to contribute his efforts to our mission. He will be under the direction of Fr. O and eventually will start a monastery in Alifokpa. Fr. Ojeka has met the head of the village who has given permission to undertake that project.
Meanwhile, Fr. Jonathan Okafor will take over from him in Owerri, Imo State, (St. Louis de Montfort) where we have a chapel and a Nursery/ Primary (grade) school. He will be staying with a seminarian, and both will continue to receive classes online from the Seminary.
The Sisters, (three for now and a possible fourth) who have been with Fr. Ojeka in Owerri, will eventually stay with Fr. Okerulu in Portharcourt (St. Philomena). Fr. Okerulu has two seminarians staying with him. Next month, I am going to leave the car with Fr. Okafor Jonathan in Owerri. And although we will be without a car in the Seminary, it would be better that Father take the car. He has to make quite a few trips to missions, not too far from the Owerri Chapel. I have been working on the car, to put it in good shape for that purpose.
So much for the news from Nigeria for now. Fr. Valerii says that Ukrainian refugees in an Irish town only 8 km from where he lives have been told to pack up and move to an undisclosed location. Say a prayer for him and his family. His is a life of many crosses and much to offer up. May the Holy Ghost fill his soul with much consolation and fortitude.
That is all for now. I wish you a blessed Memorial Day weekend. Don’t forget the Poor Souls in Purgatory!
– Bishop McGuire=