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