The Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Shia in the Ho Diocese has held a Thanksgiving Service in honour of Seraphine Hovi, a newly qualified Reverend Sister at Tanyigbe in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region.
The Service was attended by relatives, friends, traditional authorities, Reverend Fathers and Sisters from Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Senegal, mates of Seraphine and several other dignitaries.
Rev Sister Seraphine, a citizen of Tanyigbe was paraded in an open jeep through the Tanyigbe Streets to the Service ground while singing and dancing.
The Sister, who took this full-time 10-year training in the Republic of Senegal, professed her final vows in July, this year, after responding to God’s call to serve in His vineyard.
She belonged to the congregation of Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny, with Headquarters based in France.
Sister Seraphine is the daughter of Enyonam Lydia Afesi of Adeblevi and the late Samuel Hovi of Dzafe-Nyigbe.
Reverend Father Raphael Tawiah, the Parish Priest of Immaculate Heart
of Mary Parish-Shia, urged the Rev Sister to keep her vows and lead an impeccable life for the glory of God.
Father Tawiah also advised the sister to faithfully follow her congregation’s norms and regulations so that she may serve as a role model for others, particularly the church’s youth.
Rev. Father Tawiah said Sister Seraphine was the second sister from Tanyigbe Traditional Area and the ninth from Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish-Shia.
Father Tawiah said there were other young ones who had also taken the first vows and were waiting for them to become sisters.
He advised the youth to give themselves to God and allow God to direct them, noting that one could do nothing without God and that devoting oneself to God was the most important thing.
Sister Seraphine expressed her gratitude to God for choosing her to work in his vineyard, as well as to her parents, who are members of the E.P Church, Ghana, for allowing her to serve God as a Catholic Sister.
The Sister who could not hide her joy told Ghana News
Agency she was happy that her desire of becoming a sister to help the poor, sick, and the vulnerable had come true.
She thanked the entire Tanyigbe community, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish-Shia, family and friends for their support and love.
She urged the youth to dedicate their lives to Christ, stating that God might call anyone into his vineyard and that people should not harden their hearts when God called them.
Sister Juliet Mensah, the Provincial Superior’s Representative in Ghana, told GNA that the sisters were dedicated to serving the mission and radically following Christ.
She stated that a sister’s life is one of consecration to Christ, in which they seek God’s will in obedience to Him while being chaste and detached from the things of the world.
Sister Juliet exhorted Sister Seraphine to live a life that complied with God’s law, to be devoted to God, to stay true to her calling, and to keep in mind that she bore the mark of Christ and that she needed to represent Christ to others.
Source :
Ghana News Agency