Bougainville: Tucked away in the terrains of the Emperor Range in Bougainville’s Suir Constituency is a little parish called Tekoknih Ascension Parish. Sunday July 21, 2024 had parishioners turning up in joyful spirits dressed in their best Sunday attire to witness more than 60 candidates receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Some of the candidates take a group picture with Bishop & the Parish Priest.
The candidates were students from Tekoknih Ascension Primary School, St Anthony Moehva Primary School. Joining them were a few students from Hutjena Secondary School and Bishop Wade Tarlena Technical Secondary School who are also local parishioners.
Present to administer the Sacrament of confirmation was His Lordship Bishop Dariusz Kaluza MSF. Accompanying him were Sr Famita Somogod MSM and Sr Marivic Cabote MSM and the dedicated driver.
Bishop Dariusz was welcomed by the Catholic Women’s Association with a traditional welcome of the washing of the feet and singsing to signify the joy of having a Bishop visit the Parish for the first time.
Parish Priest Fr Louis Lobosi when welcoming the Bishop expressed his sincere gratitude to His Lordship Bishop Dariusz Kaluza MSF for accepting the invitation come to his parish to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation and also thanked the parishioners for the tireless effort put into the preparation.
An angelic choir with colorful processions set the tone of reverence throughout the Eucharistic celebration.
In his homily, His Lordship challenged to confirmation candidates to always be humble in the eyes of God and fully participate in building their communities with their individual gifts and talents.
“When we worship and praise God, we always have a special cry and that is for God to heal us and make our communities a better place… In the beautiful responsorial Psalm, we sang and cried out to the Lord to send his Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth”.
Bishop Dariusz said that the cry to God to renew the face of the earth means that we are also ready to go through a phase of transformation and leave behind our attachment to earthly possessions and ways.
“And how can we be renewed? We can be renewed through Communion, Participation and Mission of the Synod. Pope Francis invited all Christians to journey together in the Synod”.
He elaborated that we need God’s grace for communion, participation and mission for a transformed society.
“How can we be in communion? I understand that our communities may not be in harmony - families fighting amongst themselves, different denominations in the same area and so many other situations causing disharmony. But how can we as Christians put all our differences aside and be in communion with one another?”
His Lordship highlighted that communion does not mean being perfect and being together all the time, but it is about putting our differences aside and accepting each individual and their gifts and talents and working together for a common good.
“How can I as an individual with my talents and gifts contribute to building the community? Building community is not only the job of the Bishop, priest, and the catechist but it is everyone’s duty.”
“Each of us is equally capable of contributing to our communities using our knowledge, whether it is local knowledge or knowledge acquired through education. You are God’s dignified creations, therefore, be humble and carry forth your mission in becoming his ambassadors”.
His Lordship concluded his homily by reflecting on Mission and encouraged the candidates to beg humble in the eyes of the Lord, find joy in the Gospel and always be ever ready to live out their faith.
“Life may seem unfair. Challenges will come and you will cry. Ask your parents how many times life has made them cry. But the secret is that you must remain strong. Sometimes we accept situations for what they are, and we do not expect any more in life. We accept who we are, and we think nothing can change, we become complacent and so becomes our faith, but we must always be ready for change, don’t stop living you faith and mission just because you are going through a hard time”.
The Eucharistic celebration ended with short speeches by the Bishop and the Parish Chairman Mr Aloysious Sipoixie.
Mr Sipoixie in his remarks encouraged the Confirmed candidates to uphold the Catholic Social Teachings and live out their Catholic faith in their respective communities.
“It is sad to say that we live in a broken society today. We have heard a wonderful homily that encouraged us to use our gifts and talents to build our communities and as newly confirmed candidates of the Catholic Church, you have a duty to heal the society. Be active Catholics”.
Meanwhile Choir Master Mr Thomas Tabelin expressed joyful sentiments of having the Bishop celebrate mass in Tekoknih Parish.
“Our roads are in a very bad condition and we are situated in a very remote location but that did not stop the Bishop from coming to us. It shows the true quality of a Shepherd reaching out to his sheep”.
The program concluded with a group picture with the Bishop out and presentation of gifts to the His Lordship Bishop Dariusz Kaluza and his delegates.
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