Jude
Abanseka
Members of the Catholic Men Association, CMA in the
Archdiocese of Bamenda have been urged to emulate the example of their patron,
St. Joseph and be protective of their individual families. The CMA diocesan
Chaplain Rev. Fr. John Ambe made the appeal Saturday August 24, 2019 while
giving a keynote address to CMA members.
His paper presentation was within the
context of CMA annual seminar for 2019 that held at the Mankon Cathedral Parish
Hall from Friday August 23 through Sunday August 25, 2019.  |
| Some CMA delegates at the start of the meeting |
Day two of the seminar which was the climax opened
with a Eucharistic sacrifice whose liturgy the CMA members themselves led. In
his homily, the lone celebrant, Rev. Fr. John Bosco Ambe making reference to
the day’s gospel text, urged the congregation to avoid being like Bartholomew. The
day was the feast of St. Bartholomew and the Gospel was about the call of
Bartholomew and how Philipp told him that he had found the Messiah. In reaction
Bartholomew wondered if anything good can come out of Nazareth. Fr. Ambe told
the congregation that Bartholomew’s reaction was bias. So he called on all to
avoid being quick to pass judgement because of stereotypes. The preacher
equally spoke about the attitude of Christ who praised Nathaniel: “here is an
Israelite, worthy of the name, incapable of deceit”. Christ is exactly the
opposite of Bartholomew, Fr. Ambe explained. He saw Nathaniel for the first
time and immediately goes for his good points, Fr. Ambe added. So he exhorted
the congregation to always emphasize on the good points of people. Since the
context was the seminar for the CMA, the Chaplain asked the CMA members reflect
whether when people see them they can say they are men of honour, men of
character, people who are incapable of deceit.
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| Rev. Fr. John Bosco Ambe |
Part two of the day’s activities featured a keynote
address from the CMA Chaplain; a speech by the Vice President of CMA Bamenda
Archdiocese; deanery by deanery reports presentations; Bible quiz and Choral
music competition. The keynote speaker, Rev. Fr. John Ambe titled his paper: “The
Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt”. He stressed the role which St. Joseph
played in leading the Holy Family into Egypt as they fled from Herod who wanted
to kill the baby Jesus. In emphasizing the role of St. Joseph, the Chaplain challenged
the CMA members as most of them are the leaders of their natural families. He
urged them to examine the role they play in their families and asked if they can
emulate the example of St. Joseph who was forever protective of his family; who
risked his life to lead the family to Egypt and bring them back? In conclusion
Fr. Ambe drew the attention of the CMA members to fact that they have a pillar
role to play in their own natural families after the manner of St. Joseph.
On his part, the diocesan CMA Vice President, Bah
Edward Nsanyi centred on “Honesty” in his address. According to him, truthfulness
and honesty are the essence of every human being. People are not bound to have
riches on earth but are bound to have in heaven, he went on. In conclusion the
vice president noted that here on earth everyone is bound to be honest and not
to be rich or intelligent or to be too influential; so he urged the CMA members
to endeavour to be honest in all they do.
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| Bah Edward Nsanyi |
Talking to the press, Bah Edward Nsanyi listed some projections
of CMA Bamenda archdiocese between now and next annual seminar. The association
plans to organize a fund-raiser for the construction of the CMA national
secretariat. CMA also intends to acquire pieces of land on which to cultivate
crops to sell and raise funds for its projects in the archdiocese of Bamenda. As
regards the things members have to improve on after the 2019 seminar, Bah
Edward Nsanyi said the two things to work on included their quality of
liturgical singing and their knowledge of the church’s documents.
The objective of the CMA annual seminar is to examine
the activities of the past year, note the successes and the failures and chart
a way forward. During annual seminars Bible quizzes and choral music
competitions are organized for the different deaneries to compete in and prizes
given to winners. These competitions start from branches to parishes then to
deaneries. Throughout the entire diocese, the CMA members are asked the same
questions in the Bible quiz and have the same theme for the choral competition.
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| Some CWA members who were present for moral support |
The jury for the 2019 annual seminar were some members
of the Catholic Women Association CWA who in solidarity with their male folk
attended the seminar all through. By the end of the day Bambui, Bafut and
Widikum emerged first, second and third, respectively.
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