The Most. Rev. John Alphonse Asiedu, SVD, the Bishop of Donkorkrom Apostolic Vicariate, during the Climax of his six days pastoral visit to the Lake Mission, urged the faithful to be obedient to the commandments of God.
The pastoral visit was incorporated with the Lake Mission version of the Missionary Childhood Congress, training for catechists and workshop for Christian Mothers.
His homily was on the theme “We are one in Christ, united in mission”, which is also the theme of the 2026 Holy Childhood Week Celebration.
He continued with his message that God is still in control of the universe and therefore he is the guide of humanity. But he doesn’t impose his laws on us. The fact that he respects our free will.
Hence, every individual is responsible for his/ her action. We must also acknowledge that there are consequences for our actions, hence we must be prepared to face them.
He said in the process of helping the Jews to understand the original intention of God’s statutes, Jesus faced a lot of oppositions from the Pharisees and the Scribes.
For instance, the fact that they shouldn’t put on gloomy face when fasting to make it public, which was the practice of the day.
Again, he pointed out to them that it is good to safe life than to lose it on the sabbath day. They saw healing on the sabbath as work, whiles the same people will save their animals when they fall into pits on the sabbath day, something they see nothing wrong with.
As Christians, we will also face oppositions when we are enforcing the laws of God. People will fight us to tarnish our image, because we stand for the laws of God.
The Chief Shepherd entreated Christians not to give up in such moments. But persevere to the end, just like in the case of Jesus. We shall overcome one day.
The prelate continued that Jesus also indicated to the Jews that anger is as sinful as killing. When one is angry with his brother or sister, then the person is indirectly angry with God. Because that brother or sister is created in the image and likeness of God.
Envy, gossip, jealousy, adultery and the others are all as sinful as those tendencies they the Jews consider as big sins. Bishop Asiedu called on the faithful not to ignore the tendencies we consider as minor sins, which was the case among the Jews. It is the minor sins which develop to become mortal or grave ones.
Bishop Asiedu also reminded the gathering of the call of Jesus to respect everybody irrespective of their background. The Jews attitude towards the gentiles was condemned highly by Jesus Christ. The way they treated the gentiles like second class humans wasn’t encouraged by Jesus. No human race is superior to the other. We must not consider some class of people as inferior.
The prelate condemned outrightly the tendencies of ethnocentrism, nepotism and all forms of discriminatory situations among humanity. Before God we are all equal.
According to the bishop, another area that Jesus threw more light to clarify the mindset of his people was the institution of marriage. The fact that divorce was not part of the original intention of God for marriage. Bishop Asiedu called on all couples to make their marriage work. Broken marriages affect the entire society. Some people are not happy with their divorced parents, but the same people are repeating the same mistakes of their parents. God wants couples to be one. There must be unity among couples. They must show genuine love to each other. And reiterated that it is possible to love.
He bemoaned the situation where children are copying the bad examples of the parents and elders.
He also called on parents to desist from preventing their wards from relating with individuals whom they are not in good terms with. He considered it as a bad example for the young ones.
He called on marriage couples and Christians in general to make Christ the center of their lives. There is the need to have a common purpose and mission as disciples of Christ. There is an urgent need to have a united front to embark on the great commission. With the power of unity, we can break all the barriers of divisions, and unforgiveness. It is only in doing so that we can strengthen our children to follow our good examples in order to have a brighter future, which will also give a good future to the church and the society at large.
After the Thanksgiving Mass, there were other activities such as fundraising, blessing of leadership of the various stations, and a presentation to the children who participated in the activities of the Missionary Childhood Congress. There was also various cultural dance in the evening for all the seven stations.
The pastoral agents who accompanied the bishop for his pastoral visit and were present as well for the climax were, V. Rev. Fr. Leopold Ettuh, who doubles as the Chancellor and the Director of Catechists of the Vicariate, V. Rev. Fr. Dionisius Kopong Ola,SVD, the Vicariate Director of Missionary Childhood, Rev. Fr. Coleman Aloysius Akrereke Getor,CSSp, the Director of Christian Mother’s Association, Rev. Fr. Matthew Akakpo, a member of the Vicariate DEPSOCOM, Sr. Francisca Kumevor, SMMC, the Vicariate Coordinator of Missionary Childhood, and Mad. Margret Ankomah, the Vicariate First Vice President of the Christian Mother’s Association.
Also present were Torgbe Nyamesorto IV, the Headman for the Battorkope, as well as representations of the various churches in the village.
The Lake Mission, also known as the Dwarf Island, is one of the Parishes within the Apostolic Vicariate of Donkorkrom, comprises of 7 outstations, namely: Nyakpuikope, Menekope, Kpatsakope, Koklobuta, Kedekope, Galelia, and Battorkope, all managed by Rev. Fr. Matthias Kudzo Yadar, SVD.
