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