The Thirty-first of December, the last day of 2022, still remains a memorable day. There was excitement in the whole compound. My Grandmom of about 100 years was preparing for the occasion even though she wasn’t able to go for the Mass. The preparation for the cooking had started the day before, and the cooks came very early in the morning to continue. We finalized our preparations with people trickling in for the ceremony.
The Choir and the altar servers were there. Fr Fred came with Fr Jude and both concelebrated at the Mass. The Mass soon started and was in Igbo. I was required to bless everyone and sprinkle Holy water on the attendees. The participation was active and there were people from many places. Fr. Stanislaus Iheoma was the priest who preached the homily. He got in contact with Opus Dei after writing to the communications office.
The Mass ended around 12 noon and the photo session started. This took about 25 minutes, after which a reception organized by the parish council was held at the parish grounds for me. There was also another reception ongoing at my parent’s house which the majority of people went to. At the parish council reception, many people go to know about Opus Dei. Following the reception, everyone went to my parent house for the rest of the celebration. There was a couple that approached me and said that their son’s name was Josemaria and that when he grows up, they hope that he will follow the ways of his patron saint. There was another who was saying that the prayer card of St. Josemaria had a prominent place in their house although he could not speak English. St. Josemaria will be very happy seeing how in a small corner of Nigeria, Mbaise, Opus Dei was on the lips of many.
