Fr. Achulike…28 Years in the Priesthood

28 Years in the Priesthood

Very Rev. Fr. Boniface Achulike Osuji, CSSp remains one of the ‘youngest” Spiritans of our time. His profoundly calm and pleasant countenance puts you at ease as soon as you meet him. His “youthful” age no doubt matches his youthful heart. Hence, after more than a quarter-of-a-century in the Catholic priesthood,
Fr. Achulike (as he is popularly called) remains hale and hearty.

Ordained on April 28, 1984, this “young” Spiritan continues to be beam with youthful zeal on Saturday, April 28, 2012. The Spiritans of Southwest Nigeria gathered in Benin City for a fundraising event on the same day that Fr. Achulike marked his 28th priestly ordination anniversary. In fact, it was during the light refreshment after the Mass that we all, in a simple ritual of chanting the “Tu es Sacerdos in aeternum” joyfully joined together to wish Fr. Achulike many more happy and healthy years in the priesthood and Spiritan Family.

Fr. Achulike is currently the parish priest of St. Gregory’s Parish, Muniya, Ibadan. He is also the second assistant to the Superior of Spiritans Southwest Nigeria. Ad Multos Annos, Padre!

 

February 12, 2012: Golden Religious Life

Preamble
As the saying goes, kill not the chicken that lays the golden egg! On February 12, 1962 two young boys made their first religious profession in Nigeria. But have you ever thought what it is like to be a golden egg? Have you ever thought what it means to dedicate yourself to someone else’s life-project? That is exactly what happens when a religious, or priest, consecrates him or herself to God: they lay down their nets (their projects) and take up that of God, and follow Him.

This year 2012, the Spiritans in Nigeria felicitate with two of their great confreres who are celebrating 50 Years of Religious Profession. Nigerian Spiritans celebrate the ‘yes’ cum “Fiat” of two confreres who have been following the Lord’s project through their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience for a combined 100 years! Let me introduce them.

Golden Confreres

Fr. Benjamin Dara'tuegwu, CSSp

Benjamin DARA’TUEGWU CSSp, fondly referred to as “Fr. Dara” and more fondly still as “world man” and Vincent Valentine Egwuchukwu EZEONYIA CSSp, fondly referred to sometimes as “Brother Vin”, were pretty young but filled with the Holy Spirit in 1962. February 12, 1962 was no doubt an awesome as both novices prayerfully knelt before the Blessed Sacrament and in the presence of the provincial Superior to publicly pronounce their willingness to serve God as Spiritans through the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. Many years later, 1968 to be precise, they were ordained to the priesthood.

On the one hand, the ‘diminutive’ Fr. Dara tirelessly served and continues to serve the Holy Ghost Congregation as a “pastor-missionary.” His natural cheerfulness and passion for mission have earned him so much love and admiration from the people of God in the various parts of Nigeria where he served as parish priest. He is currently the parish priest of St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish, Ekwegbe in Nsukka diocese of Nigeria.

On the other hand, “Brother Vin” progressed from “pastor-missionary” to “shepherd” as he was appointed bishop of Aba diocese on April 2, 1990 and was ordained bishop on July 1, 1990. The entire catholic faithful of the diocese of Aba continues to testify to the fact that, our confrere, their bishop, remains an epitome of a good shepherd.

Courageous Confreres
The fearlessness with which these living legends, till date, commit themselves to the mission of the Church and congregation is worth commending. This should, however, not be a surprise to anyone because the word “egwu” in Dara’tuegwu means exactly the same thing as the “egwu” in Egwuchukwu. From an Igbo linguistic cultural purview, “egwu” as contained in their names means “fear”. Thus while “Dara’tuegwu could mean a son of the soil (“Diala” or “Nwa afo”) who is fearless because he is a true son of the soil and should therefore not be scared of nothing or any task assigned to him (cf. Galatians 4:6), “Egwuchukwu” means the fear of God that propels one to remain focused, courageous and Spirit-filled in all circumstances (cf. Isaiah 59:19) that comes one’s way.

Conclusion
It is my submission, therefore, that our Golden Jubilarians – Fr. Benjamin Dara’tuegwu CSSp and Bishop Vincent Egwuchukwu Ezeonyia CSSp – are indeed invaluable assets to both the Church and the Spiritan Congregation. February 12, 2012 remains a golden day for these golden Spiritans celebrating their golden jubilee of a golden religious profession.

As they commemorate the golden memory of the day they pronounced their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience at the feet of the Superior, we thank the jubilarians for the witness of their faithfulness to Christ the Divine Master. We invoke on them the gift of perseverance in the full configuration to Christ. We are grateful to God and Our Blessed Mother Mary for the gift of these two living ancestors to the entire Spiritan Family and the gift of their vocation to the world! Ad Multos Annos!

 

February 2nd…Remembering Francis Libermann

On February 2, 1852 at about 3:45pm before his 50th birthday and while the community is singing the Magnificat of the Vespers of the feast of the Purification, Fr. Francis Mary Paul Libermann slept in the Lord.

FRANCIS LIBERMAN 1802-1852

Birth and Family Roots
The joy of childbirth overwhelmed a renowned Rabbi, Jacob Libermann, as his lovely wife gave birth to a bouncing baby boy on April 12, 1802 in a Jewish ghetto in the Alsace region of France. An uncompromising Jew, Jacob Libermann named the baby boy Jacob. This is an indication that he wants his son to be like him in all ramifications especially religion-wise. As a Rabbi of great repute, the Talmud was Jacob Libermann’s total concern and decided his thought and action. He refused to take part in French political and social life, which he saw as a threat to the spiritual purity of his people’s Judaism. It was in this climate of strict and uncompromising Judaism that the boy Jacob grew up. He was 20 when his father sent him to Metz, France, to study Talmud more professionally.

Dad’s Disappointment
As God would have it but to the utmost chagrin of Jacob Libermann, the young Jacob mastered Judaism only to end up embracing Christianity. Father hoped son would succeed him as chief rabbi; for he saw in the the young Jacob a model Jewish boy, destined to be great, like his father, in Jewish intellectual and religious life as portrayed in the Talmud. Young Jacob dared all threats from his father and went ahead to accept Christian baptism on Christmas Eve of 1826 at the age of 24. Henceforth, he will be called and known as Francis Mary Paul Libermann. His baptism attracted a crowd, some, no doubt, curious to see a Jewish convert baptized, the son of a famous Rabbi, known throughout France. It was no ordinary experience but God can never be mistaken for allowing such a transformation from Judaism to Christianity.

New Life
The ecstatic element in Francis’s baptism was strong. The most well-known description of what took place is the attested report of what he is supposed to have said about it: “When the holy water was poured over my forehead it seemed to me that I was in the midst of an immense globe of fire …things impossible to describe were happening to me” (ND 1.104).

It was not surprising therefore that Francis Libermann aspired higher than baptism. He entered the seminary of Saint-Sulpice but the onset of epilepsy seemed to close the door on his hopes of becoming a priest. Sometimes a feeling of rejection swept over him, he found it hard to accept the hopelessness of his situation. It took fifteen years before he was finally ordained on September 18, 1841.

Passion for Souls and Mission
While still on “probation” awaiting when or whether to be ordained, Libermann already formed a religious Congregation. Hence, nine days after his ordination, Libermann opened a novitiate at La Neuville, near Amiens, France. Within one year three of his men had gone to work among people of African origin in Mauritius, Réunion, and Haiti. Ab initio, Libermann had an amazing passion for the poorest of the poor. However, on September 28, 1848 Libermann’s Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary merged into the Congregation of the Holy Ghost (Spiritans), founded in 1703; and Libermann was duly elected its Superior General. This merger was necessitated by the similarities in mission goal (evangelization of the poor in Africa) in both Congregations.

His health as an epileptic coupled with the stress of running a congregation sapped a lot of energy out of Libermann. But in all this, his faith in the one and only God remained unshakeable. In fact, his zeal was so inspiring that when seminarians in France heard of the deaths of some of the first missionaries to West Africa, they lined up at his door to volunteer as replacements. His faith in God pervades his conversion, his life, his leap toward holiness. Holiness, he will later point out, is believing that the Holy Spirit draws us up into the being of God.

His Death and Influence
On February 2, 1852 at about 3:45pm before his 50th birthday and while the community is singing the Magnificat of the Vespers of the feast of the Purification, Fr. Francis Mary Paul Libermann slept in the Lord. He died a happy fulfilled person of great faith. His faith remained a constant his entire life, even down to his dying hours when he painfully breathed “God is all, man is nothing.”

Surprisingly, even though Fr. Libermann himself never went overseas, yet he inspired and empowered literally thousands of missionaries around the globe. He remains a visionary, a missionary, a profoundly spiritual man who has affected the course of history in the last 150 years. Francis Libermann was a pioneer of “inculturation” now recognized as a blueprint for modern missionary activity. He urged the Spiritans to “become one with the people” so that each group received and understood the Gospel in the context of their own cultural traditions.

His influence and that of his Spiritans, in the Church and in the emerging world has been inestimable. May God bless the Spiritan Congregation, and all of us, through the intercession of Venerable Francis Libermann.

 

Superior’s Christmas Message 2011

Christmas: a Lesson on Humility

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Spiritan family,
Happy Christmas and may the peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ who is born to us this season be with you all. As, we rejoice at the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and approach the end of another year, it is a good time to take stock. Reflecting on the message of this season and evaluating the year that is about to end, how am I preparing for this great celebration that changed the history of the world? Will Christ be born into my heart or is it a mere superficial celebration? Are there threads that need to be severed? Any loose end to be bound up? What relationships need to be mended? And many other questions that might need to be addressed. This is why I have chosen to reflect briefly on the importance of humility as the message of this year’s Christmas, because without it there can be no Christmas. St Paul’s letter to the Philippians 2:5-8 states clearly that “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus; who, being in very nature of God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, been made in human likeness. And been found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death; even death on a cross.”

We read this passage in our Divine Office and it can be very easy to overlook these words of humility especially at this season, as we focus on the baby in the manger. But let us think for a moment about the sheer magnitude of what Jesus did. The only begotten Son of God, perfect in holiness, unlimited in power, entered into his own creation- as one of his own creature. He who created the heavens and the earth, formed the stars and galaxies and called each one by name, accepted the confines of a mortal, limited body. The one whom angels adored became a poor carpenter and ended up on the cross because he loves us. What a humility!

The story of one of our founders Claude Poullart des Places also buttresses the point that humility is the basis for our calling. Permit me to bore you a little with this story you know too well. Our first founder grew up in a wealthy home as the eldest son of a wealthy lawyer in Rennes, Brittany. Having finished high school at fifteen, he then graduated top of his class at college. He would surely fulfill his father’s ambition and become a distinguished lawyer. Claude in humility was ambitious but for something else. During a retreat he discovered his vocation to priesthood and how he could use his public speaking skills to convert thousands to Christ. Although this decision deeply upset his father, he knew he could not keep his son at home. Claude left for Paris to study theology at the Jesuit seminary.

Child labour was a common sight in Paris in Pre- French Revolution days. Illiterate, homeless chimney sweeps from rural France hired themselves out for a few cents a day. Claude became aware of how exploited they were. In humility, he stooped to their level, his heart went out to them and he fed, housed and gave them some basic religious education. He also saw how many of the other seminarians were living a hand-to-mouth existence and gave them his own meals. He chose to give away his own meal and lived on the leftovers of the Jesuits for his own food. But his social conscience told him that handouts were not enough. So, on Pentecost Sunday, 1703, he opened a hostel for about four of these poor students. Unknown to Claude, the future Holy Ghost Congregation had been born.

The stories of the incarnation and our first founder invite us to reflect on the virtue of humility as we celebrate the Christmas and prepare for Bagamoyo 2012, our first General Chapter in Africa next year. Our Congregation in obedience to the promptings of the Holy Spirit made the choice to hold this so great an assembly in an African soil. That I must say is laudable and a sign of openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As we continue to depend on the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and being strengthened through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it is expected that we shall accept in humility the new demands of mission in our changing World. It is the virtue of humility that can help us realize our true identity and make us available for services and missions. The SRL no 5 states, “We live out our mission in willing obedience to the Holy Spirit taking Mary as our model. This condition of habitual fidelity to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is the practical union of which Libermann speaks. It is the wellspring of our apostolic zeal and leads us to being completely available and making a complete gift of ourselves.”

Humility makes us open and completely available for the services of the poor and the needy in our world today. At Christmas, the infant Jesus in the manger invites us to see him and assist him in our various apostolates. He is always with us asking for a room in our hearts. He asks not with that voice we cannot understand but with the voice of our contemporaries in challenging situations, eyes of that poor and deprived (even a Confrere), with the hands of the marginalized, slum dwellers and street children. In line with our charism, our service to these little ones is service to Jesus. May we welcome him in especial way this season into our hearts, our communities and zones.

I recommend a little get together for communities and Zones to share the joy of this season as brothers. Once again, I wish you merry Christmas and a Spirit-filled New Year.

Very Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Ogbodo, CSSp
Foundation Superior

 

Hakuna Matata

Hakuna Matata…Mission in Tanzania
Fr. Jude Ifezime, CSSp

Preamble
In my mission in Tanzania, I have had the opportunity to work closely with the lay people and also with those in formation. Immediately after my arrival in Tanzania on the 23th of July 2009, I was sent to the Lutherian junior seminary at Morogoro to study Kiswahili language for three months. At the completion of the language course, I was posted to a parish in Morogoro known as Parokia ya Maria Mtakatifu (St. Mary’s Catholic Church). I was sent to assist an elderly confrere. It was a community of three confreres, including a confrere who was on retirement.

Fr. Jude Ifezime CSSp celebrating his birthday with friends in Tanzania.

PARISH MINISTRY
It was a parish with a lot of pastoral activities. We had two outstations and five religious communities within the parish. Usually, on Sundays, we had three masses at the parish center and three masses in the two outstations (Christ the King and Carol Luanga).Within the week, we also go to the sisters for daily masses. I was specially assigned to take care of the youths, the altar servers, Legion of Mary and animal husbandry (it was a Spiritan project). Thus, I had to attend to all these different functions. I was like a chaplain to these groups, and I also went to search for grass for our cows and goats.

These tasks were quite challenging, because all the groups always want you to be present during their meetings and functions, which last for several hours. This is because most Tanzanians will tell you that there is no hurry in Africa! Sometimes, when it is possible I do attend; at other times when it is not possible due to commitments in the parish, I excuse myself. These meetings and gatherings were quite important to me because they gave me the opportunity to practice my Kiswahili language.

Working with the Youth
In my work with the youths, I noticed that most of our parish youths were jobless and were willing to work, so I decided to teach them how to dress the altar. With the help of the parishioners, we were able to get more materials and money to support the project. Presently, they dress the altar every Saturday and are hired as “event planners” by people doing one type of celebration or the other. By so doing, a lot of money comes into the organization and many of the youths are becoming very good in the craft.

In the case of the altar boys, we formed a football team, just like I did with the youths. This attracted many youths to serve at the altar.

MISSION IN THE POSTULATE
I worked in the parish for nine months. Thereafter, I was posted to the Spiritan Postulate at Igoma, in the Diocese of Mbeya to accompany the postulant seminarians, our future Spiritans. This posting meant a movement from Morogoro Diocese in the coastal region to Mbeya Diocese in the Southern part of Tanzania.

My work at the postulancy started in earnest on the 4th of November 2010. Thus, I spent six months with the postulants before the end of their postulancy year. They were already three months into the postulancy year before I joined them. We had 7 students, and they are all at Njiro Seminary for their philosophical studies.

The new postulancy year started on the 11th of July 2011. We are privilegded to have a larger group. The new students are twelve in number. Hopefully in a few weeks from now, we will be going to the permanent site for the postulancy, where a lot of work is presently in progress. We are all looking forward to joining the bursar at Bagamoyo in a few weeks’ time.

Hakuna Matata…Mission Challenges
Looking at both ministries (parish and formation) that I have had the opportunity to be part of, I will say that each of them has its unique challenges. One of the greatest challenges I had at the beginning in the parish was my poor Kiswahili. But with time and the help of the confreres and parishioners, I was able to adapt faster and improve my knowledge of the language. Without the language, it is very difficult to function in Tanzania. However, I must confess that Tanzanians are very hospitable people, though not a ‘wealthy’ country.

Hakuna Matata...Surviving Mission through Cooking

Another major challenge I had was taking care of the animals, which was a major source of our income in the community. Driving far distance for forage (searching of grasses for the animals), and also doing my pastoral work was quite challenging at the beginning. But with time and a better command of Kiswahili, things became better and easier for me.

The formation house presents its own challenges. The first challenge is the problem of funding. Thus, we have to do a lot of farm work to supplement whatever the Province of Tanzania is able to give us.

Another challenge is sourcing for teaching materials with which to teach the postulants. This is because, at the moment, we do not really have a library; though we have started the process of putting a good functional library in place in the postulate.

Conclusion
In all, I will say that Tanzanians are very hospitable and welcoming. Culture-wise, we (Nigeria) share a lot of things in common. For instance, I had no problem with their food. The only difference is in the mode of preparation. However, in Tanzania, they do not eat snails, and they are very many around! That means a lot of meat for the foreigners who eat it! Indeed, nature has a unique way of balancing things up.
God has being faithful! Therefore, all is well. Hakuna matata!

—–
Editor’s Note: Fr. Jude Ifezime CSSp is a member of the Foundation of Nigeria Southwest. Presently, he is a missionary in Tanzania. We wish him the best of God’s blessings in his ministry.

Fr. Jude can be contacted via his email judeife2001@yahoo.com.

 

Prayer for Bagamoyo 2012

Dear Confreres,
Below is the Official Chapter Prayer for Bagamoyo 2012…in English, Portuguese and French. We are encouraged to fervently “say” this prayer, together with our friends and associates, from now until the beginning and end of our 20th General Chapter next year. God bless Spiritans!

=====
PRAYER for the 2012 GENERAL CHAPTER
Father, in times past you sent the Spirit of your Son
upon our founding fathers,
Claude Poullart des Places and Francis Libermann.

Thanks to them and to generations of Spiritans,
our Congregation has not ceased to dedicate itself
to the evangelization of the poor.

As we prepare ourselves to celebrate
our XXth general Chapter, at Bagamoyo,
we ask you to spread your Spirit anew on the whole Congregation.

May your Spirit gather us as one big family,
to better hear the calls of our time!

May we be given a new fervour
to deepen in your Church,
our missionary consecration and witness!

Following Mary’s example, by the power of the Spirit,
may we continue to give birth to your Son
for your glory and the life of this world that you created and liberated.
Amen!
===========
ORAÇÃO pelo Capítulo Geral
Pai Santo, iluminastes com o Vosso Espírito,
os nossos Fundadores
Cláudio Poullart des Places e Francisco Libermann.

Graças a eles e a tantas gerações de Espiritanos,
a nossa Congregação sempre se consagrou
a anunciar a Boa Nova aos pobres.

Ao prepararmos o XXº Capítulo Geral,
em Bagamoyo, pedimos que derrameis, com abundância,
o Vosso Espírito sobre toda a Congregação.

Ele nos una sempre mais numa única e grande família,
atenta aos sinais dos tempos.

Ele nos torne mais fervorosos,
para aprofundar e testemunhar, na Vossa Igreja,
a nossa consagração e o nosso espírito missionário.

Concedei-nos que, a exemplo de Maria e com a força do Espírito,
continuemos a proclamar o Evangelho de Vosso Filho Jesus Cristo,
para Vossa glória e salvação do mundo que criastes e libertastes.
Amém!

PRIÈRE pour le Chapître Général Bagamoyo 2012
Père, tu as envoyé autrefois l’Esprit de ton Fils
sur nos ancêtres-fondateurs,
Claude Poullart des Places et François Libermann.

Grâce à eux et à des générations de spiritains,
notre Congrégation n’a cessé de se dévouer
au service de l’évangélisation des pauvres.

Alors que nous nous préparons à célébrer
notre XX° Chapitre général, à Bagamoyo,
nous te prions de répandre de nouveau ton Esprit sur toute la Congrégation.

Qu’Il nous rassemble en une seule et grande famille,
pour mieux entendre les appels de notre temps !

Qu’Il nous donne une nouvelle ferveur pour approfondir,
dans ton Eglise, notre consécration
et notre témoignage missionnaires !

Qu’à l’exemple de Marie, par la force de l’Esprit,
nous continuions à donner naissance à ton Fils
pour ta gloire et la vie de ce monde que tu as créé et libéré !
Amen !

 

Calendar 2012

Dear Confreres/Friends,
Our 2012 Spiritan Calendar will be out very soon. It’s beautifully designed to showcase the various aspects of our Spiritan mission and life. Of course, it is also a liturgical calendar.

Place your orders now through
The Directorate of Communications
#2 Oremeji Close, Oregun. Ikeja. Lagos State. Nigeria.
Phone: +2347066392858
Or send me an email: fadachi@myself.com

Price is N300/copy.

 

Fervent in Spirit…Bagamoyo 2012

Spiritans from all parts of the globe will converge in Africa come June 2012. For what? Well, it is for the 20th General Chapter. But where in Africa? Well, it’s East Africa, precisely in Tanzania but certainly in the great city of Bagamoyo (confer my earlier post “Bagamoyo 2012″).

Of profound interest at Bagamoyo 2012 is the theme: Fervent in Spirit. Taken from Romans 12:11, this phrase “fervent in spirit” means to boil with heat, be hot. Scripturally speaking, it means to have a burning zeal to do the will of God. An example of this attitude is Jesus Christ. John 2:17, in speaking of Him, says, “Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.’” Apollos is also an example of “fervent spirit”. Acts 18:24-25 states, “Now a certain Jew named Apollos … came to Ephesus … and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord …. Thus both Jesus and Apollos were successful in accomplishing their God-given tasks simply because they were fervent in Spirit.

Spiritanly speaking, ‘fervent in Spirit’ is the capacity and ability of every Spiritan to be consumed or eaten up by the Charism of “evangelical availability” handed over to us by our Great Founders, Poullart Des Places and Francis Libermann. Zeal for the holistic development and liberation of the poor and poorest of the poor must eat us up if we are to be ‘authentic’ Spiritans.

Fervor and enthusiasm are the fundamental keys to success in the Lord’s work. The church at Laodicea was chastised because of their lukewarmness (Revelations 3:14-16). The one Spiritan whom Des Place and Libermann cannot stand is the Spiritan who is neither hot nor cold. As long as we are “fervent in Spirit” we cannot rust out, though we may burn out.

Spiritan mission in the present world, characterized by all sorts of terror and challenges, cannot embrace lukewarmness. The fire and enthusiasm of the first century church as well as the zealousness of our Spiritan Founders must be our springboard today and in the future.

Bagamoyo 2012 is, therefore, both an awakening and a re-awakening of the individual and collective consciousness of our Spiritanness: called to be fervent in Spirit in loving one another, defending the defenceless, giving hope to the hopeless, caring for the abandoned, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, quenching the thirsty’s thirst, visiting the prisoner and always standing by the poorest of the poor.

 

ICT For All Confreres

We are in the age of “instant information”. As the Director of Communications for our circumscription, I passionately want every confrere to be carried along. I mean by this that, it is time that every confrere got “crazy” about information and communications technology (ICT). All must get
~ an email address
~ A facebook account
~ Twitter account
The importance of these lies in what I call the Power of Instant Messaging (PIM). Events and news happening around the globe and within our Foundation should not get to us in ‘stale format’. News must be fresh and our response must also be fresh. CNN calls this “breaking news.”

Knowledge is power. But without information, there is no knowledge. Therefore, information is power! When you receive a text message, email or tweet, it is pertinent that, in the spirit of ‘communication solidarity’, we acknowlegde and eventually reply. It is uncharitable to receive without acknowledging or replying. Failure to ‘re-communicate’ breaks the communication flow since communication is a dialogue!

Chibuike Ojilere, CSSp
Director.

 

Happy Birthday

Fr. Hyacinth Ogbodo, CSSp

Before Al-Qaeda turned “9/11″ to a day of horrible terror, God brought you into the world to transform humanity; and thus make “9/11″ a day of glory. May your birthday, every year, continue to remind us that terror can never subdue glory; that even when the ‘twin-towers’ of our lives are down, our Spirit will stand HIGH and gloriously emit a sweet SCENT of joyful optimism. You’re blessed! May God bless those who bless you. Happy Birthday Fr. Hyacinth Ogbodo, CSSp!

Very Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Ogbodo CSSp is the Superior of our Foundation (Spiritans SouthWest Nigeria). With one heart and one soul, let us celebrate with him today 9/11. Visit his Facebook page (Hyacinth Ogbodo) to give him a joyous shout.