Please click on the text for the readings and the audio link for Fr. Anthony's homily.
First Sunday of Advent
November 30, 2014
November 30, 2014
Please click on the text for the readings and the audio link for Fr. Anthony's homily. First Sunday of Advent
November 30, 2014
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On the 10th of November, I set out from New York to my home country of Nigeria to bury a woman who was so dear to my heart. A woman who played a vital role in my life at a time it mattered most. As Monsignor Kieran Harringhton, her pastor wrote of Sister Juliet Duruanyaoha, DDL, in his article she was a surrogate mother to three boys who resided at the Bishop's court in Isseleu-Uku, Nigeria where Sister was secretary. The boys were on the way to answering the call to the priesthood. I was one of the those three boys all of whom are priests today. It felt totally like burying a mother. I felt privileged however that I was with her here in New York in the days and weeks leading to her departure to Nigeria and her subsequent passing into glory. Even on the morning of her final flight to Nigeria, she was still full of smiles even though she was in severe pain from the deadly cancer she had been battling and the fracture on her knee two nights before. It was a moment of grief and sober reflection on the utter vanity of life and the need to make the best of our life while it lasts. Sister Juliet was a woman of prayer, a true religious woman who gave her all. She loved God and her neighbor till the end. She loved her various apostolates and responsibilities and gave her all to each of them, never complaining. As I stood in prayer with her family, the hosts of other religious sisters, priests and the two bishops present at her funeral, I had not doubt in my mind that a saint was being sent home. She will be greatly missed! Sister Juliet at JFK airport, New York smiling away on the morning of her trip to Nigeria on October 20th. For Msgr. Harringhton's article on Sister Juliet, please go to http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thefont/2014/11/sister-juliet-love-amidst-the-clutter/. For me it was like a "harvest of death" because in the same week while home, next day after Siter Juliet was laid to rest, I buried the mother of my very dear friends in Onitsha, Mrs Theresa Obianuju Bosah. A lovely lady I knew before I was a priest, and even after ordination to the priesthood, she always called me by my first name - a sign of endearment. She suddenly passed away though at a ripe old age of 82. I had the honor of saying good bye from close range though I had celebrated a Mass for her with her children in New Jersey a fortnight before. After Madam Bosah, it was the mother of a priest from my diocese, Mrs. Modebei who was laid to rest the next day at Ibusa, Delta State. I was a contemporary of her son Fr. Sylverster Modebei who ministers in the diocese of Phoenix, Arizona. She made the great sacrifice of her son for the service of God and his people. May she rest in peace. Thursday the 20th of November, it was my uncle's turn to be laid to rest, Mr. Wiflred Chigbundu Azuwike. He was 84 and the oldest of the Azuwikes. A humble man with eight daughters and no son, for some, not a cause for rejoicing. But he raised his daughters to be successful women. His funeral and the serenity surrounding it was a tribute of the daughters he had raised. They cared for him till death and gave him a simple but holy and admirable funeral. He was a gentle, loving father and an uncle who had a pet name for all the children born to the Azuwike family; a special characteristic of his. A renowned drummer and with a great sense of humor. The numerous folk stories he told us as children years ago remain with me till this day. He was an uncle like no other and will greatly be missed.
Through the kindness of my confreres, fellow priests from the diocese of Issele-Uku, there were thirteen of us priests present at his funeral. Once again I had the pride and joy of the fraternal solidarity we share as priests of the one true God. My gratitude goes to those brothers who took out time from their busy schedule to honor my uncle and to pray for him. Sadly before the funeral of my oldest uncle, the news broke on the 15th of November of the death of my youngest uncle, Mr. Patrick Azuwike after a decade's long battle for his health. As an old friend of his described him; he was an unsung philanthropist. He lived in Lagos all of his adult life, loved people and especially his relatives immensely and was loved by all. As the family prepares to lay him to rest, we can only rely on the mercy of God who gives life to all things. May he console us in our sorrow and grant us all a holy and happy death. Eternal rest grant unto them Oh Lord and let perpetual light shine on them. May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest peace. Please click on the text for the readings and the audio link for Fr. Anthony's homily. Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome Sunday, November 9, 2014 Please click on the text for the readings and the audio link for Fr. Anthony's homily. Please click on the text for the readings and the audio link for Fr. Anthony's homily. Solemnity of All Saints Saturday, November 1, 2014 |
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