Parish Broadcast

PARISH PRIEST’S DESK:

1. SOARING ON THE WINGS OF GRACE

We wish to encourage us to continue to soar on the wings of Grace this 2022 by:

• Attending masses regularly.
• Reading the Word of God daily.
• Spending time in prayer and adoration daily.
• Join a society and get involved in the Church Activities.
• Get a Mass Journal and write something from the homily every Sunday.
• Grow in the knowledge of the Faith and Church Doctrines.

May God continue to bless us all!!! Amen

2. STEWARDSHIP: To encourage participation and commitment in the activities of the Parish, Stewardship Commitment forms were distributed at all the masses. Unfortunately, the turn-over of these forms were low. This is a special call to every parishioner to kindly return the filled forms indicating areas of fresh commitment to the affairs of the church. Submission can be done at the bulletin stand on Sundays and at the Parish Office on weekdays.

3. POWER CONSUMPTION: Due to the rising cost of diesel, we wish to inform our beloved parishioners that we may have to make some adjustments to our use of the generator in the Church. Kindly bear with us

4. SECURITY ALERT: We wish to call our attention to the increase in the level of insecurity especially before the 6am mass. Extra measures have been taken around the Church and Event Center. Parishioners should endeavour to be more conscious on their way to masses. May the Lord protect us from every evil. Amen.

          ……………..PARISH ANNOUNCEMENTS……………………

1. PALM SUNDAY: Today is Palm Sunday and it marks the beginning of the Holy week, the climax of the Church’s Liturgical year. There shall be blessing of palms at each mass. We are all encouraged to participate actively in the Holy week ceremonies which are as follows:
2. TUESDAY (April 12^th)

9.00am:  Chrism Mass at Catholic Church of the Nativity, 6^th Avenue, Festac Town (Only Priests and Representatives of the Laity).             

• HOLY THURSDAY (April 14^th)

6.00pm – Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament till 11pm)

• GOOD FRIDAY (April 15^th)

7.30am – Office of Tenebrae and Morning Prayers
9.00am – Reflections on the Last Seven Words of Jesus
11.00am – Stations of the Cross
2.20pm – Divine Mercy Prayer (Novena to the Feast of Mercy Begins) 3.00pm – Celebration of the Lord’s Passion
7.00pm – Film Show (The Passion of the Christ)

• HOLY SATURDAY (April 16^th)

8.am – Confession for First Holy Communion/Baptismal Rites
8:30pm – Easter Vigil Mass

• EASTER SUNDAY (April 17^th)

7.00am (Upper Hall)
8.00am (Event Centre)
10:00am (Upper Hall-First Holy Communion)

• EASTER MONDAY (April 18^th)

10.30am – Novena to Divine Mercy
11:00am – Holy Mass

• EASTER OCTAVE (April 19^th – 23^rd)

6:30am Morning Masses only.

• DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY & MOTHER’S DAY CELEBRATION (April 24^th)

Masses are at the usual times both at the Parish and Event Center

2. DONATE A PEW: We wish to express our deepest appreciation to all our parishioners for your generosity at last week’s “Donate a Pew Project Launch for our New Church Building”. May God bless us all abundantly. Further donations and pledge redemption can be done to the account- Holy Family Catholic Church, Zenith 1011876127 or at the Parish Office.

3. ORGANIZATIONS MEETING: Today is the Monthly General Meetings of the CMO and CWO (after the 10.30am Mass), and CYON (after the 9:00am Mass). Let us all ensure we attend our respective organizations as it promises to be brief.

4. HOLY THURSDAY ADORATION: The order of adoration for Holy Thursday shall be as follows:

8:00pm           All women and children led by CWO
9:00pm           All youths led by CYON, YCW and CYAA
10:00pm         All men led by CMO

5. HOLY WEEK BROCHURE: There shall be a special Bulletin/Brochure for the Holy Week and Easter period (April 10^th – April 23^rd, 2022). Price: ₦1,000

6. CHARITY/LOVE BOWL: We wish to remind our parishioners to return their Lenten Charity/ Love bowls to St Vincent de Paul Society. Let us endeavor to be committed. Remember; “whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, that you do unto me”.

7. TENEBRAE: My God, my God, why have thou forsaken me? The Office of Tenebrae is one of the practices of the Catholic Church. It is a ceremony that combines the Divine Office of Psalms and readings with the gradual extinguishing of candles to denote the almost complete abandonment of Christ. We shall all participate on Good Friday by 7:30am. Let us all come to be fully involved in this solemn practice of the Holy Triduum.

8. REFLECTIONS ON THE LAST SEVEN WORDS: As Jesus hung on the Cross, he uttered seven last words of great meaning to those who contemplate his passion and death. We shall as a community reflect on these words on Good Friday by 9:00am. Let us all be part of this important celebration.

9. EASTER VIGIL: We are all expected to come with a candle for the Service of Light and the renewal of baptismal promises during the Easter Vigil.

10. EASTER MONDAY (GALILEE DAY): EASTER MONDAY (GALILEE DAY): The Parish Galilee Day celebrations shall be on Monday, 18^th April 2022 immediately after the 11am mass. Families in the Small Christian Communities (SCCs) are to bring food and drinks for their communities and well-wishers. Families bringing food are to register in their communities for tables to be reserved for them in their community canopies. Registration is free. The event will feature drama, traditional and contemporary dance, bouncing castle, comedy, suya, shawarma, popcorn, donut sales etc. Venue is the Parish Event Center.
    Come and rejoice in the Lord with thanksgiving and praise in a fun filled atmosphere. Do not miss out on the fun.

11. CHARITY EVENT- EASTER LOVE OUTREACH 2022 (2 Cor. 9:6-8): The youths in the parish wishes to appeal to all parishioners to patronize the selling of cakes to be done after Stations of the Cross and Sunday masses so as to raise funds for the needy. The proceeds from the sales will be used to: offset hospital bills of the poor, feed the hungry and visit the old and sick parishioners.Donations can also be given to any of the priests or directly to the account number: 0026548146 (Access Bank: Holy Family Catholic Church, Festac). Date: Sat., 30^th April- Sun., 1^st May, 2022. Time: 11am daily. Remember, “Whatsoever you do to the least of your brothers, you do unto me” says the Lord Jesus.

12. HARVEST 2021: The Harvest of Testimony 2021 committee is winding down her accounts. We wish to appeal to all those yet to redeem their pledges to do so as soon as possible for proper accounting. Kindly redeem to the Harvest account: Zenith Bank- 1014506326, Holy Family Catholic Church, Festac.

13. SUPPORT FOR CHRISM MASS: Parishioners who wish to make a donation towards the support of the Chrism Mass holding at Festac should kindly contact any of the Priests or the Parish Office.

14. MOTHER’S DAY CELEBRATION: Mother’s Day Celebration comes up on Sunday, 24^th April 2022. In preparation for this celebration, there will be a 3-Day program for all mothers in the parish from 22nd to 24tth April 2022. The 3-Day Programmes are as follows:
    Day 1: Fri., 22^nd April 2022– Woman, Beautiful Handmaid of God (Lk 1:26-38)
    Day 2: Tues., 23^rd April 2022– Skill acquisition: (Makeup, Gele-tying, Production, Shoe Polish etc)
    Day 3: Sun., 24^th April 2022– Thanksgiving and Mother’s Day celebration (Fashion Parade and Dance competition).

All women are expected to be active in this program. We appeal to every woman in the church to pay a levy sum of N1000 to make this day a memorable one.

15. PARISH OFFICE: The priests will not be available at the office during Holy week except for emergency cases. The Parish Office will however be open. It shall close for the Easter break on Wednesday April 13^th to reopen Monday, April 25^th, 2022. Mass bookings shall be available after each morning mass at the sacristy.

16. LIFE IN THE SPIRIT SEMINAR: Our Parish Life in the Spirit Seminar comes up next month, 24^th April, 2022. Let us all prepare to participate actively and deepen our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Registrations can be done either at the Laity Office or the Parish Office.

17. CONFESSIONS: There shall be no confessions during the Holy Week and Easter Octave. Confessions shall resume on Tuesday, April 26^th, 2022.

18. CATECHISM: Dear parishioners, this is to inform you that Catechism Classes will resume on Saturday, 23^rd April, 2022 at the usual time (3:45pm). Also, we wish to inform our parishioners that registration for confirmation classes will begin next month (May). Registration can be done at the Catechist Resource Center on Saturdays of the May.

19. PRE-MARRIAGE COURSE: This is to inform all parishioners that pre- marriage class which holds every Sunday at 4:00pm will resume on Sunday, 24^th April, 2022.

20. PARISH ID CARDS: This is to inform parishioners that the Parish ID cards of those who registered since last year till February 2022 are ready for collection at the Parish Office, kindly go to the Parish Office to check. Also, we encourage our new members to please register at the Parish Office and those whose card is expired can as well renew at the Parish Office.

21. HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC PARISH LIBRARY: We are pleased to inform you that the Anthony Cardinal Okogie Reference (Parish) Library located beside the Anthony Cardinal Okojie Lower Hall is here to serve you better. At very affordable prices, we offer the following services: Photocopying, Lamination, Binding, Spiral Binding, Typing, Printing, Colored Photocopy etc. We also offer a vast range of books ranging from Literature to Accounting to Economics and a lot more. Working Hours: Mondays to Fridays. Time: 9am- 4pm. God bless you as you patronize us. For further enquiries on how to use to library or any of its services, please call: 09036389533 or 08169228063 (Ms. Chinwe).

22. HOLY CHILD CHOIR: The Holy Child Choir invites all parishioners within the ages of 9 and 19 who can play any musical instrument to come use their talents and skills to serve the Lord in the choir. The choir meets on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 6pm in the upper hall of the parish center. Registration is free.  Sing praises… unto the Lord!

23. (1%) ONE PERCENT BIBLE CHALLENGE: We wish to encourage all Parishioners to read and study the word of God for at least 15minutes every day; which is about 1% of 24 hours. We are continuing withthe whole chapters of 2^nd Letter of Corinthians during this period of Easter Break. Take up this challenge faithfully as stated below and be enriched spiritually.

24. RETURN TO THE SACRAMENTS: We wish to encourage those who have been estranged from the sacraments for one reason or the other especially the Holy Eucharist, to return to the Sacraments. Kindly meet any of the Priests if you are having any difficulty in this regard. May Christ grant us life through His Body and Blood. Amen.