The 3rd edition of their monthly youth mass came with extra twists of creativity, refined activities and a rush of blood to the brains.
I personally was blown away with the extra effort the social arm of CYON put into making this day a memorable one. The success of the mass is an evidence of all the hard work, passion and dedication the youths in this community are putting into work, using the foundations of the gospel as a platform.
The homily taken by the chaplain, Rev. Fr. Wisdom Chikezie centered on forgiveness. The youths put up a short drama presentation where they tried to depict the story of a young girl dejected by her parents due to some challenges she was experiencing. Only for her to seek succor in a priest who taught her how to be reconciled with her inner being.
“If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you” (Psalm 130: 3 – 4)
Fr. Wisdom made the parishioners understand the very nature of sin and its disastrous effects when introduced into the life of man. Just like the prodigal son in Luke 15: 11 – 32 whose cravings for material things led him into living a miserable life.
“Sin attacks that thing which you craze most; sin brings about spiritual isolation, which in turn leads you into systematic decimation.” said Fr. Wisdom
The state harvest continued today with the children from the children ministry assisting with their usual ceremonial cultural dances. The kids danced to the altar with the trophy dressed in their usual cute cultural attires.
The states that had their thanksgivings were:-
- Cross River
- Akwa Ibom
- Ogun
- Kwara
- Imo
Next Sunday 18th September would be the turn of the following states:-
- Anambra
- Rivers
- Bayelsa
- Ondo
- Ekiti
It promises to be an exciting Sunday.
Mr Joseph Ogundare lead the worship section which is actually one of the various new additions to the mass. Youth mass was specially designed for the youths; to meet both their spiritual needs as well as their socials needs.
The Catholic Church has deemed it necessary to engage the youths using various creative ways in order to establish a willing connection with them, one which is divine and still very trendy.
Also during the mass, people born in the month of September had their birthday thanksgiving where they were prayed upon and given gifts of a prayer booklet and also a cupcake. The rest of the cake was shared after the mass to the rest of the parishioners.
The Catholic Youths Organization of Nigeria (CYON) had their general meeting after the mass in order to commence planning for the next youth mass coming up on the 9th of October.
See you there. Shelah!