Papal Envoy to Ghana’s Diamond Jubilee Anniversary Encourages Thankful Attitude

Papal Envoy to Ghana’s Diamond Jubilee Anniversary Encourages Thankful Attitude

CANAA || By Damian Avevor, Ghana || 06 March 2017

The Papal envoy to Ghana’s 60^th anniversary of independence, Giuseppe Cardinal Bertello, has encouraged Ghanaians to express heartfelt gratitude to the Lord for the abundance of His graces, to have accompanied and sustained the nation in these last decades during its most sensitive periods of transition, in the joyful moments as well as in the difficult ones.

Cardinal Bertello said this Sunday, March 5 at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra where he presided the Holy Eucharist on the occasion of Ghana’s diamond jubilee celebration and 40^th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Holy See.

“Knowledge of having God’s loving presence by your side, who is at the origin from the beginning to the end of one’s destiny, and who wants us saved is, in fact, what truly marks the life of a people and of its individuals; this knowledge guides its entire existence,” Cardinal Bertello said in his homily.

“I pray that you will be ever-joyous witnesses to the Risen Lord, placing your lives with generosity at the service of goodness, of your country and of the Church,” the said and added, “I implore Mary, Mother of God and our Mother as well, to intercede through her Son so that Ghana will be granted peace, prosperity and harmony, so that the works of evangelization will bring closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus the beloved sons and daughters of this noble and beautiful land.”

He noted that the providential love of God, if embraced, makes one realistic and confident, impeding one to think like a singular and self-reliant author of his own destiny.

“Faith is what gives us intimate joy and strength to confront hardship in our lives, not in solitude or abandonment nor relying solely on our own feeble resources, but in the company of Jesus Christ, our one and only way to salvation,” the Cardinal said.

He went on to emphasize, “The faith, which grants stability and tranquility, tells us that every action and every choice must be responsible ones because we are vitally interconnected with other brothers and sisters, with creation, with God and with our ultimate destiny, because when divine love calls we must respond with love.”

He added that Faith reveals that we will be judged in mercy and in justice, and that the measure of judgment will be charity.

“To recognize the presence of the Son of God next to us liberates us from the idols of this world, from the slavery it entails, from the emptiness of an existence that lacks an authentic and permanent center of gravity, a presence capable of accompanying the course of life and to give meaning and appreciation to things and events thereof. But one must find the time and space for a serious dialogue with the Lord in order to enliven the relationship with Him,” said the Cardinal

“For this purpose,” he said, “the time of Lent is ideal. It is a time whereby prayer must become more ardent; stronger should be our resolve to renounce sin; acts of charity toward our neighbor and a disposition to forgiveness should become more acute so that we may be worthy to receive the same, when we need charity and forgiveness.”

The Cardinal cited Pope Francis saying, “As Pope Francis teaches, Lent comes to us as a providential time to change course, to recover the ability to react to the reality of evil which always challenges us.”