Eschew envy in the New Year; Christians Urged

Rev Gabriel Atidoo of the Sacred Heart Cathedral on New Year day appealed to parishioners to avoid petty jealousies and count whatever happened to them in life as blessings instead of envying their neighbors.

He said such acts were complete waste of time and energy saying “stop thinking of things that do not belong to you” and then he led the congregation to sing “count your blessings and name them one by one” as he called for God’s blessing to all who were privileged to share their gifts to the less endowed.

Rev Atidoo made these statements during his homily on New Year’s Day at the Cathedral in Bolgatanga.

He said the good news of salvation from God to man was the many blessings parishioners received in the previous year and called for all to give thanks to God.

Rev Atidoo said the New Year was allotted to Mother Mary because through her God showed his love for man by allowing Mary to bear a son to be sacrificed to save mankind.

He said God had touched the lives of many people, the country and the church in diverse ways and urged the congregation to be thankful for that.

Enumerating some of the blessings, he said the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese was blessed with four priests, four deacons with 600 people confirmed into the Catholic Church in the just ended year.

He said in spite of the uncertainties the country experienced last year, God was merciful and saw Ghana through a successful election and prayed for peace and tolerance for Ghana.

He called on members of the congregation to put their trust in the care of Mother Mary since God‘s love to mankind never waned.

Rev Atidoo said God had assured mankind of his untainted love and everlasting Blessings and said such gifts could not be taken away from anyone.

He appealed to the parishioners to take cognizance of these gifts of love of God and not deny each other gifts that God had blessed them with.

Monsignor James Tachwa, Cathedral Administrator, during the vigil mass, called on parishioners to be thankful to God in all they did.

From the book of Deuteronomy, Monsignor Tachwa acknowledged the hardships the Israelites went through until they were delivered by God.

Monsignor Tachwa said the Diocese of Bolgatanga had grown from strength to strength, recounting the coming of the missionaries in 1906 and the difficulties they uncounted and said the Lord saw them through until the 1940s when the first Ghanaian priest was ordained.

He said the church had seen a lot of development and called on all not to forget the Lord especially in the many interventions they had received.

He advised parishioners to pray and pave a new life for themselves since Jesus is Lord and saw people through all problems.

At the Saint Cyprian’s Anglican Church, the Parish Priest, Rev Canon Dennis Tong, called on Christians to be steadfast and hopeful in their service to God.

He said Christianity meant love for fellow humans and that it was time for members of the congregation to get closer to God as the end times got closer. The congregation sung hymns and danced to local gospel tunes as they entered the New Year.