More than a thousand Children Celebrates Feast of Holy Innocents at St. Mary Yambio Parish.
From the ages of zero years, carried in the arms of their loving parents, to teenagers who came either accompanied by parents or unaccompanied, more than a thousand children congregated at St. Mary Mary Mother of God Parish in Yambio to receive the blessings of the day on the Feast of Holy Innocents.
The Feast of the Holy Innocents is celebrated on 28th of December in the Catholic Church in honour of the children killed by King Herode during his attempt to kill baby Jesus Christ in the City of Bethlehem right after his birth.
It was upon the invitation of Barani Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio who for some years now has made it a tradition to celebrating holy mass on this particular date with as many children as possible from across Diocese.
The 1,500 children who participated in the year 2020’s celebrations were drawn from a number of lay groups in the diocese. These included Shalom Movement Group, Noble Boys and Queens of Purity Group, Children of St. Monica Group, Alter servers, Atita Gasi, St. Joseph FC Academy, Christ’s Youth among others. In addition to these, children who are not Catholics but from other faith within Yambio town also participated in celebrations.
The Program began with Holy Mass presided over by Bishop Hiiboro and most of the liturgical activities during the mass were all done by the children. These included singing, proclamation of the Word as well as reading of speeches and entertainments among others.
During the Homily time, Bishop Hiiboro, allowed the children to tell the congregants what they don’t want and what the need of which most of them called for an end to child sufferings at all levels. Many of them expressed fear of death owing to continued conflict in the country and hopes that the situation will end soon. They also promised to diligently any responsibilities given to them by their parents as they aspire to be responsible people in the society.
Bishop Hiiboro advised the children to be prayerful, love education, do all sorts of works and respect themselves and everyone. After the holy mass the children were able to share one meal together and exchanged gifts and know each other and made new friends.
By Elias Ginana Mangbondo
