The presence of the Josephite’s Community, Akobo at the Harvest thanksgiving of Holy Family Parish Yawiri led by Rev. Fr. Jude Mary had glamour to the day’s celebration as they were fully involved in every aspect of the day especially serving at the sanctuary and rendering special hymns during the Mass. Their presence was indeed a blessing to the Parish.

The Chief Celebrant and homilist of the day were Rev. Fr. Jude Mary and the Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Francis Taiwo Omolade concelebrated. The Chief celebrant, in his homily which he titled “True Faith in Generosity and Sacrifice” talked about one of the principles of life called: Principle of Sacrifice. Explaining this principle, he said sacrifice is made to protect life from conception.

According to him, the father in the house is to go out and work for the sustenance of the family together with the baby in the mother’s womb; while the mother on the other hand will ensure the protection of the baby in her womb being cautious of the kind of food she eats or any other things going into her stomach. You have to sacrifice something to get something he emphasized. 

Making sacrifice is found in all religion of life especially in Christianity. We too must sacrifice for the growth of the Church and the individual member. The homilist said that all Christians are called to compassionate and sacrificial giving. Our giving must not be done from the duty mentality but from a compassionate dimension especially in relation to our Sunday offertory. 

To understand sacrifice better, Fr. Jude Mary enumerated two natures of Sacrifice as quantitative and qualitative. According to him, it is the qualitative nature that gives value to our giving because it determines the might of our offering. The absence of might would not make our offertory attract the blessing associated with it.

For instance, the might in the gift of the widow in the Gospel attract the attention of Jesus and thus brought blessing. He then asked the congregation: What is the quality of the gift you have brought on this day of your harvest thanksgiving? 

He further cited example of Biblical personage who gave quality sacrifice to God. Among whom were Abel, Abraham and the widows in the day’s First and Gospel readings. He said that the qualitative offering of the widow elevated her from the background she had been relegated to by her society.

He therefore called on parishioners to make giving their lifestyle following the example of some individuals who always ensure that allocation is made for widows, orphans and the less privileged in the society, emphasizing it is more blessed to give than to receive.

The homilist reminded the parishioners that Jesus hates show off in all ramifications with the story of a man who was to make offering during a Mass in a particular Church but selective in the denomination of currency to give. The man then decided to give twenty naira; but while bringing out the twenty naira note, one thousand naira fell off his pocket to the back seat.

The woman behind him picked the money and gave to him with the words: Your offertory money. The man collected the money; very happy thinking that the woman had offered him a big amount for offertory and made show of it during the procession until he dropped it in the collection box. On his return to his seat, the woman called his attention to what had earlier happened by telling him that the one thousand naira given to him earlier fell off his pocket. His face fell in disappointment like the man in the Gospel whom Jesus told to sell all he had and gave the money to the poor.

With the story, he warned his listeners to always ensure that they always give qualitative and not quantitative offertory. “You are to desist from what is called social media philanthropist who shows off with whatever gift they give to people. God is not moved by the quantity but the quality of our gift which comes from our heart.” 

He further said that Jesus is challenging us to ask: What gift do you bring? Proffering answer to the question, he said our gifts should not be ordinary by giving the spiritual dimension of giving.

He gave four elements of spiritual dimension of our gift namely: Give cheerfully- Our gifts must not be given grudgingly; Forgiveness and reconciliation- Gifts given without forgiveness and reconciliation will make our gifts not acceptable in the sight of God. He then advised faithful to always forgive whoever offends them before making their gifts; Have faith in God’s providence - As seen in the story of the widow in the First reading who trusted in God for sustenance and Make sacrifice- Our sacrifice must be covenantal, you can say words into your seed, believing that your seed will bear fruits, that is, having a covenant with God.  

In conclusion, he enjoined all parishioners to make qualitative giving the Hallmark of their givings. 

Before the close of the Mass, there was family harvest thanksgiving by all families in the parish with melodious songs from the Choir and the Josephite’s Seminarians in attendance. At the end of the Mass, there was love feast, which started with the Chairperson, Mrs Veronica Are’s opening remark, where she congratulated all parishioners and welcomed all visitors who have come to celebrate this year’s harvest with us. Everyone had plenty to eat and drink to their satisfaction. 

There were also some side attractions to make the day enjoyable by those who were present till the end of the celebration. Vote of thanks was given by Mr. Pius Akinniyi, while the closing prayer and blessing was given by the Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Francis T. Omolade. 

After the Blessing, all trooped into the dancing floor and danced to the glory of God for the successful completion of our 2024 harvest.