HAPPY NEW YEAR

Wed 03, Jan 2024 04:01 am

ADVENT/END OF YEAR PARISH PASTORAL LITURGY PROGRAME

Tue 12, Dec 2023 04:12 am

Novena to St. Jude Thaddeus

The novena to St. Jude Thaddeus will begin on 19th October and go on up to the 27th, then on 28th October, we shall host the National celebrations of the feast of St. Jude Thaddeus. 

Tue 17, Oct 2023 09:10 am

CONGRATULATIONS AND HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

On behalf of the Parish Council and on my own behalf, it is with great joy and privilege that, we welcome Msgr. John Baptist Kauta, our main celebrant today, as we celebrate our 69 years of existence and mission! Giving glory and honour to God for this great stride in faith.

Thank you so much Msgr. Kauta for honoring our invitation, we are indeed happy to welcome you to our Parish! I wish to thank the co-celebrants, our Mass servers, Ushers, the choir, and you all parishioners and our special guests for honouring this day! Congratulations and Happy Birthday to you all! By God’s grace and through the mercy of our Patron Saints, that is, Mother Mary of Perpetual Succor and St. Jude Thaddeus, Naggulu Parish is steadily growing spiritually, socially and economically for the years. We have also witnessed an increase in the numbers of devotees making pilgrimages here over the past six decades, from different parts of Uganda, of the African continent and beyond.

Our Parish growth, though not immune from challenges, can be witnessed through the spirit of togetherness, the leadership positions taken on by parishioners, an increase in the sacraments received, the devotional life of the parishioners, through their daily active participation in the life of the Church. Examples of which are, the Mass Servers, Choirs, Ushers, the Good Samaritan Ministry, always reaching out to the disadvantaged, St. Jude Devotion, Legio of Mary, The Children’s Ministry, Oratorio, the Charismatic Renewal, Bible Apostolate, Xaverians, the Women’s Guild, Men’s Guild, the BannaKizito in our school, these are all pathways leading us to eternity. Thank you leaders of these devotions, for the great work you do, and I wish to encourage each one of us to join at least one prayer group to enable us enrich our faith.

However, all these Church activities cannot progress without the support of the clergy, therefore, our gratitude goes to the priests, both current and previous who have spearheaded this mission. We also thank the parishioners, as well as friends of Naggulu Parish for the unwavering support extended to the Parish. Allow me to remember and pay a special tribute to our departed brothers and sisters, over the 69 years, who include our founder members, priests, parishioners, devotees, and friends of Naggulu. Eternal rest grant unto them oh Lord, and let your perpetual light shine upon them, may they rest in eternal peace. Amen

Allow me to thank in a special way our Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Joseph Mary Bbuye, his Assistants, Rev. Fr. Jude Kyekulidde and Rev. Fr. Viatory Muvunyi, our Deacons, our Head Catechist Sr. Immaculate Namakula and her team of Catechists, for the excellent evangelization work you do in our Parish thank you so much. Not forgetting the Administration and Support Staff, who maintain our Parish on a daily basis, thank you so much for your dedication.

Evangelization, however, is incomplete without the support of the parishioners, our Parish is comprised of 9 Basic Christian Communities, headed by the respective Community Chairpersons, who co-ordinate all activities in these respective families. These vibrant communities are; St. Ponsiano, St. Gonzaga, St. Kizito, St. Joseph – (the Lugbara Community), St. Charles Lwanga, St. Jude Nakawa Market, St. Balikuddembe, St. Anthony, and St. Paul (a mobile community of Christians who live outside the borders of Naggulu Parish), a big thank you, to you all for your selfless commitment and love for your Parish. The vibrancy of this diverse and unique community that is ready to serve, makes it easier to build a strong and united God fearing family. We therefore, take it as our mission and stead fast resolve to promote and strengthen unity of faith and purpose within our diversity for God’s glory and the salvation of His people. We thank the Parish Council members for their participation through the various Departments as channels of peace.

A Church is a body of Christ, our Pope Francis introduced synodality, where we all have to journey together and work together. This can be related to the function of a human body, all parts are important and work in unison, therefore, every member of this community is treasured and very important.

As we celebrate the 69 years, I would like us to remind ourselves, of the very big task we have before us, and that is the completion of our new Church. Allow me to thank you all in a special way for the support rendered towards this project, in terms of endless prayers, time invested, the finances, and continuous pieces of advice received are all very much appreciated.

In a special way I wish to thank the Building Committee headed by Mr. Michael Kyompitiira Sebalu, for their tireless efforts, working round the clock to ensure that our project is successfully completed, thank you so much for all your efforts. I’m very confident that by God’s grace and mercy a beautiful house of God will soon be unveiled, and we pray that our next celebration of 70-years will be held in that magnificent church. This, however, calls for more vigilant participation and involvement as parishioners, in terms of financial contributions. We still need a lot of your support towards this project, I therefore, call upon each one of you to keep on pushing until we achieve our goal. Do not tire, it is our Parish and we ought to be proud of it and this work can be a lot easier if we all stepped up and fully commit to the task before us.

Our Parish has great potential to grow to greater heights, if we foster peace and love with one another, embrace teamwork, forgiveness, respect for one another, openness, honesty, transparency and accountability in all that that we do. Let our Christianity be visible and felt by others through our personal actions, of love and charity towards one another, we should all be peace agents and not war mongers.

I also wish to remind you that we are into an election period of new church leaders, if elected please do not shy away, come and serve God through the various offices, Governing, Teaching and Sanctifying. Leadership is about sanctifying the people of God, and it is beautiful to serve God, because it comes with numerous blessings. You may never know this until you come in and serve and like our Theme today states, “we are called for servant leadership” – (Mark 10:45) We are not leaders to be served, but to serve God through his people. Do not expect a salary, it is all voluntary work, so please come on board and help our Parish grow, the reward is in heaven.

As I conclude, I kindly urge all of us to remain focused, true and faithful about who we are, supporting our priests to carry out their work effectively, by leading the path set out for us by the Church, which will in turn lead us to eternity. Let us embrace synodality, by journeying together and UNITED as one great family of God. Choicest blessings to you all, let us enjoy our day and continue to pray for one another, our beautiful parish, our country Uganda and the entire world for peace and respect for humanity.

Fri 30, Jun 2023 04:06 am

NAGGULU AT 69

On this occasion of celebrating the 69^th Parish Day, I warmly greet you all Parishioners and congratulate you upon reaching this day. Allow me to commend the Mill Hill Missionaries who are the founders of this Parish, and in particular, Fr. Henry Steegmans, the founding Parish Priest, and various Priests who have worked in this Parish over the years and contributed to the spiritual, and social and temporal growth of Naggulu Parish.  Thank you to all parishioners, friends, and St. Jude devotees who have proudly associated with this place.

It was on the 15^th of June 1954, when the Bishop of Kampala, at that time, the Right Reverend Vincent Billington, blessed our church here and dedicated it OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR (whose feast falls on 27^th June) and ST. JUDE THADDEUS (whose feast falls on 28^th October). It has become a practice here at Naggulu to mark the Parish Day on a Sunday close to the 27^th of June. This time, it is falling today, on the 25^th of June 2023.

To get to this day, we got started on the 15^th of June with a novena (nine days of prayer) to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (Help).  We had three general intentions:

1. Thanking God for the 69 years of this Parish
2. Praying for our Parish leaders, and then
3. Praying for the success of the construction of our new Parish Church, which is also the National Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus.

Thank you to all those who got the opportunity to pray with us.

Our celebration this year is coinciding with the election of new leaders of the laity throughout the Archdiocese of Kampala, for a five-year term of office; from 2023 to 2028. It is that spirit that is informing our theme today: We are called for servant leadership, (Mark 10: 45). When we are baptized, we qualify to serve in the Lord’s vineyard.

May I take this opportunity to thank the leaders who are serving us in this soon-to-end term of service. You have committed your time, talents, and resources. I cannot take this for granted, no, not at all; rather, I am indebted to you for offering yourselves to serve the church. With my human eyes, I can see that you love the church, you are energetic. Those who can, do not walk out on Jesus our Master; offer yourselves for service in this new term as well. I also notice that amongst you the laity, there are those who are quiet and a bit laid back, yet they seem to have talents that could serve the church.l humbly request you to come so that we can work together in the Lord’s vineyard of Naggulu.

The current leaders of this parish have done a commendable job over the years. At the moment, together as a community and with the support of friends and St. Jude devotees, we are constructing the new National Shrine of St. Jude. This project is estimated to cost 6. 4 billion Uganda shillings. I am grateful to all of you for the moral, spiritual, and financial support that you give to this project.

So far, on the church construction project, we are done with phase one, that is, the foundation.

We are now getting set for phase two; the portal frame (pillars and roof) together with walling. This stage is expected to cost us 1,144,101,769/=.

One of the key components of this phase are the pillars. Each one is valued at UGX 27,500,000/= (Twenty-seven million and five hundred thousand shillings). I wish to appeal to all of you as individuals, companies/ institutions to sponsor a pillar for this noble cause. For those of you who have already made pledges, thank you.

I thank our building committee for their commitment to this project and support. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

Lastly, I wish to thank my fellow Priests; Fr. Jude Kyekulidde and Fr. Viatory Muvunyi, the Parish Executive, and you parishioners and St. Jude devotee for all the support that has enabled us reach this far. May God bless you abundantly.

Happy Parish Day and Happy Birthday Naggulu.

Rev. Fr. Joseph Mary Bbuye

Parish Priest 

25^th June 2023

Sun 25, Jun 2023 05:06 am

69TH PARISH DAY

Tue 20, Jun 2023 03:06 am

NAGGULU PARISH PRIEST’S MESSAGE IN PREPARATION FOR THE 69TH PARISH DAY.

Greetings to you all parishioners of Our Lady and St. Jude Parish Naggulu, and to devotees and friends of St. Jude Thaddeus, on this 15^th day of June 2023.  The 15^th of June is memorable to Naggulu.

It was on the 15^th of June 1954, when the Bishop of Kampala, at that time, the Right Reverend Vincent Billington, blessed our church here and dedicated it OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR (whose feast falls on 27^th June) and ST. JUDE THADDEUS (whose feast falls on 28^th October).

Today, therefore, Naggulu Parish the National Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus has in effect made 69 years of age. Happy birthday to you all parishioners, friends of Naggulu and St. Jude Thaddeus devotees. May I also congratulate my brother Priests; Fr. Jude Kyekulidde and Fr. Viatory Muvunyi.

As stated, the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, falls on 27^th June. It has become a practice here at Naggulu to mark the Parish Day on a Sunday that is close to the 27^th of June. This time around, we will celebrate it on Sunday 25^th June 2023 at 10:00 AM. Mass will be celebrated by Msgr. John Baptist Kauta, Secretary General of the Uganda Episcopal Conference.

In preparation for that anniversary, I wish to request all of us to say the novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, from tomorrow, Friday, 16^th of June up to Saturday 24^th June.

 On top of your personal intentions, I would suggest that:

1. We thank God for the 69 years of this Parish
2. We pray for our Parish leaders, and then
3. Pray for the success of the construction of our new Parish Church, which is also the National Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus.

Please pray this novena from wherever you will be. Here, at Naggulu, we shall say it during our regular Masses.

Happy birthday to you all; and may the Lord bless you: THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN

I am Father Joseph Mary Bbuye, Parish Priest and National Director of St.  Jude Thaddeus Devotion.

Thu 15, Jun 2023 10:06 am

NAGGULU PARISH HOSTS 16TH GANAL PROVINCIAL MASS

On Sunday 04th June 2023, we hosted 16th GANAL  (Gulu, Arua, Nebbi, and Lira) provincial Mass which was led by Archbishop John Baptist Odama.  "We are not only meant to develop together as Catholics, but also with our other brothers and sisters, we must encourage togetherness both among ourselves and with our neighbours. " said Archbishop Odama in his homily.

Thu 08, Jun 2023 10:06 am

The Most Venerable Sacrament of the “Holy Eucharist”

Moved by the incident that befallen Nswajere Junior Seminary by the notorious thugs who invaded the seminary on 19th March, 2023 and maliciously injured the priests almost to death, stole the seminary finances and many other venerable and valuable vessel not excluding the ciboria, and worst of all they committed a very belittling act of dismantling the tabernacle (the dwell place of the most high, God and the present day, ark of the Covenant). Not knowing the mystery hidden into the divine sacrament, they went ahead to pour the Blessed Sacrament allover down the floor of the chapel in pursuit of obtaining the ciborium. This is very unfortunate! And to me, this is not only categorized as aggravated theft, but a diabolical attack on the Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Following this catastrophe, below is an abbreviated look the sacrament of Holy Eucharist and the justification of the three day act of reparation that was called for by the Ordinary of Kampala archdiocese, Rt. Rev. Paul Ssemogerere.

A sacrament by definition is a visible sign representing an invisible grace ordained by Jesus Christ for the sanctification of the human race. There are seven sacraments that were instituted by the Lord to make us holy and pleasing before the heavenly Father: these are; Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Order and Matrimony. These gained the number seven, following the deliberation of the Ecumenical Council of Lyon in 1274 and later on held and affirmed definitively by the Council of Trent (1545-1563) up to date.

Narrowing down to the Eucharist, this is the most August sacrament in which Christ the Lord  himself is contained, offered, and received and by which the Church continually lives and grows. The Eucharist sacrifice, the memorial of the death and resurrection of the Lord in which the cross is perpetuated through the ages is the source and summit of all worship and Christian life, which signifies and effects the unity of the people of God and bring about the building of the body of Christ. Indeed, the other sacraments and all the ecclesiastical works of the apostolate are closely connected with the most Holy Eucharist and ordered to it. This privileged position of the Eucharist bases on the fact that Jesus only acts in the other six sacraments by the merits of his redeeming death, yet in the Holy Eucharist, he himself is fully contained there; Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Thus all Christ’s faithful upon reaching the 7th year (age of reason in the Catholic Church) are called upon to hold the most Holy Eucharist in a highest honor. Violating the Blessed Sacrament therefore is an abomination and a blasphemy of the Lord Himself, our redeemer. All sacraments being connected with the Eucharist imply that Jesus is so loving and he creates for us all possible channels to draw closer to Him (in the Eucharist) for salvation. Distancing ourselves from the Eucharist, is distancing ourselves from salvation; and also all abuses to this sacrament like the “Nswajere incident” is a great insult to the Lord, who humbled himself to stay with us in the Holy Eucharist. Being invoked to come on our altars every now and then whenever Mass is celebrated, imagine the Lord, being called by the sinful priests and He never denies; Also priests are sinners because they are chosen from among follow sinner to offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord for themselves and on behalf of others (Heb. 5:1-10). Therefore Jesus wishes to be close to us in all ways, but we have the obligation of venerating Him with humility and all the time observe a very high degree of sacredness, which the Nswajere junior seminary intruders violated.

It is incumbent on the human race to repair the spiritual damages made on the Blessed Sacrament especially whenever a public scandal against our Lord is made eternally manifested. Why should we offend the Lord yet he chose to stay with us? During his public ministry on earth as God-man he was beaten, bruised, crowned with thorns, nailed and crucified to death. Any attack on the holy Eucharist is an act of persecuting Him again and a disrespectful attack of our God. The act of reparation has been in the Church since time immemorial because Masses have been celebrant as early as the first century by the Apostles. In case of any violations, Church traditions have it that they carried out act of mortification to repair the damages caused on the Lord. But this act became too common during the middle ages between, 500 CE to 1400-1500 (5th to 15th century) because the church was often attacked, Holy altars, vessels and the Blessed Sacrament were abused notably by the Moslem jihadists beginning with the early 7th century, the vandals (barbarians) and by notorious kings like Napoleon Bonaparte the great in France who at the very beginning of the 19th century during the papacy of Puis VII (1800-1823) abused so many catholic churches as well as imprisoning the pope. During his papacy, Puis VII greatly called for the perpetual reparation of the Blessed Sacrament on which indulgences were attached. Even up to the present day, holy mother church fully aware of the centrality of this sacrament has never ceased to repair the Lord in case of any humiliating attack on the Most Venerable Sacrament. The church repairs the Lord as an act of restoring our union with him especially for the public offenses committed against Jesus and to ensure that he is ever united with us and also acquaint us of this humiliating and sinful act against Him.

The Catholic Church has a compendium of laws known as the “Code of Canon Law”. This set of laws is meant to guide the behaviours of the all the people of God. Much as the law is administered in the spirit of the gospel, that is, in the spirit of love, but at times the church imposes corrective sanctions (cann. 1311-1399) for notorious offenders. Once it comes to the one who has abused the sacrament of Holy Eucharist, the law states that:

“A person who throws away the consecrated species or take or retain them for a sacrilegious purpose incurs a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic see; moreover, a cleric can be punished with another penalty, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state.” (can. 1367).

In simple and clear terms, the code of the law states that, the person who for impure motives violates the sacredness of the Holy Eucharist earns himself/ herself an automatic self-expulsion/ excommunication from the church (he/ she has placed oneself outside Mother church and he/ she is no longer in communion with the church). Self-excommunication also comes with an interdiction from reception of sacraments   except when full communion is revived by the Ordinary (the diocesan Bishop). Since this person is not allowed to receive sacraments, then he cannot receive the sacrament of penance worthily except when re-admitted into the church after a thorough detailed catechesis to him/ her as may be deemed necessary by the competent authorities. Therefore, if among the thugs who dismantled the Nswajere seminary tabernacle one was a Catholic, he/ she as of present pushed himself/ herself outside the Catholic Church; he only claims to be a Catholic but in reality following the act done he/ she is not.

The same canon above also cautions priests to be too reverent with our dealings with the Blessed Sacrament because if it is found out that a priest gravely offended the Lord in the Eucharist, he is dismissed from the clerical state which implies that he can no longer carry out priestly functions as a cleric, that is, cannot administer any sacrament either under normal circumstance or even in abnormal situations like in grave danger of death. Yet a merely suspend priest can validly administer some sacraments because he is in full communion with the church, unlike the dismissed one.

Dear people of God that is who important the Eucharist is in the life of the Church: “No Eucharist, No Church!” The act of reparation was called for to restore our relationship with God as the whole human race. If any perpetuators was a Catholic he/ she is bound by the canonical implications of the law as highlighted earlier; however the mercy of God surpasses the binding force of the law, so that upon presenting oneself with a contrite heart to the competent authorities, Holy Mother Church will acquaint this person and admit him/ her in the Church, but most likely accompanied with thorough catechetical classes to deepen the understanding of this mystery.

Tue 04, Apr 2023 09:04 am

HOLLY WEEK PROGRAMME

Fri 31, Mar 2023 11:03 am