St. John Berchmans Society donates to OLA Parish

The members of St. John Berchmans Society, made up of older Mass Servers in the Our Lady of Assumption Parish at New Achimota, who served on the Altar on palm Sunday have donated five Communion Plates and a Humeral Veil, worth about Ghc2,000 to the Parish.

Making the presentation at a Mass to mark World Youth Day, Mr. Mawuli Gardemor, the President of the society, the sacred items were their widow’s mite to support the Church.

He said the intention serving on the Altar was to appeal to parishioners to avail their children to join the ministry of the Knights and Ladies of the Altar (KNOLTA).

Many of the Mass Servers were currently in Secondary and Tertiary Institutions. Most of the members are in boarding school (SHS and Tertiary) and hence the great vacuum created, he added, appealing to Parents to encourage their children to join the Ministry.

The Communion Plates and a Humeral Veil being blessed by the priest

 Rev. Fr. Francisco Machado, MCCJ, an Associate Priest of the Parish, who received the items, thanked the Society for the donation and tasked the members to take care of the ministry of the Mass Servers and to help train many more young people to be of service to the church and at the sanctuary of the Lord. 

The St. John Berchmans Society was formed in 2014 and was named after St. John Berchmans, the Patron Saint of Altar Servers, who died at the young age of 22 while preparing to become a Jesuit Priest.  Since 2014, it has donated ten sets of Surplices and an Altar bell to the Church. 

The Mass servers in a photograph with  reps of the donors

 The society was formed purposely to bring together all former Servers in the Parish who no longer serve and are not in any existing societies. The group’s main aim is to support the well-being of the current Mass servers with whatever means possible, as well as the Church as a whole. The group also focuses on the spiritual and social development of its members. 

In a related development, as part of activities to climax the World Youth Day Celebration, the Chairman of the Youth Affairs Committee of the Parish, Mr. Joseph Obu Snr, in a message, encouraged the youth of the parish to be involved in parish activities and to avail themselves for youth programmes.

By Ellis Edem Dzitrie