Finally, the much waited day was upon us; the 13th of November, 2016 snowballed into a great day with nature nodding in solidarity with the planned event as the sun, shone so high in the clouds you would think the heavens too wished for a successful outing.
The day began with a special 8.00 am mass (since it was the harvest day celebration proper, 7.00am & 9.30am masses were merged) with people trooping into the church in their numbers to get a front seat. The 2016 Harvest of Great Mercy Brochure too was on sale and people hurried to pick a copy before going in.
Being a harvest day, no homily was delivered by the chaplain, Rev. Fr. Wisdom Chikezie C. or the priest in residence, Rev. Fr. Berthrand Ujunwa. After the gospel, the choir anchored an inspiring praise and worship session.
These set the tone for the parishioners to praise God the more for His mercies as it is written, ‘he who praises God prays twice.’
Mr. Francis Chilaka, the president of the Catholic Men Organization (CMO) anchored the societal thanksgiving session for this great day. All the groups, societies, organizations and movements in the chaplaincy sang and danced to the altar for their individual thanksgivings, it was truly a sight to behold.
There were lots of dancing, laughing and singing because at that point, the joy of finally witnessing the harvest was our motivation and pride as nothing else mattered.
At the close of the mass, gifts were shared to everyone present. It has always been the custom of the chaplaincy to share gift items on the day of the harvest and this day wasn’t an exception. Parishioners were delighted as they stretched out their gifts for blessings from the priest.
The reception followed afterwards as planned; invited dignitaries were brought up to the high table, parishioners took their seats, visitors from other parishes also joined in the reception as there was a lot to eat and drink.
Games, dance and drama presentations was used to entertain everyone. The kids, youths and adults all participated in the activities to reflect our motto, ‘St. Augustine, Family United in Love.’
The day came to a close around 5.00pm with the outgoing harvest committee members digging it out on the dance floor with the chaplain.
“We the harvest committee want to use this medium to say a big thank you first to God Almighty for giving us the strength, grace and will to carry out this herculean task, then to our chaplain for having faith in us, also to all the Catholic Youth Organization of Nigeria (CYON) executives and Divine Mercy members for their continued cooperation, and then finally to our lovely parishioners for their patience, zest and support,”said Mr. Obinna Obijiaku, the head, publicity committee.
Just like the obedient servant in Luke 17:10 who said, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’; truly, we have completed our mission.
Remained blessed as we wait patiently for yet another harvest come next year.
Selah.