This Sunday

 This week in the Bulletin:

Dear Parishioners,

            Our hearts and prayers are with Father Justin Agbir. As you read this, he is traveling to Nigeria to be with his family. Last Saturday, his father passed away at age 81. It is sad that pandemic travel bans prevented his summer vacation trip home. Please look for his note to you in this bulletin.

            I hope you are doing well. Here at Ss. Peter & Paul there are daily pandemic prayers by sisters, priests, deacons, and many parishioners. God bless us with what we need to stay healthy, to be healed of illness, and to deal well with the disruptions.

            I would like to remind you to seek the Sacraments before you are admitted to the hospital. Our ministry at the Banner University Medical Center is limited by the COVID-19 protocols. In February, SSPP Eucharistic Ministers and Deacon Paul Duckro brought Holy Communion to hundreds of patients. Now, no volunteers are allowed in the hospital. In February, we priests celebrated the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick for 74 patients. In October, Fathers Bala and Justin anointed only 13. The BUMC hospital usually allows one visitor for one hour per day for non-COVID-19 patients. A priest’s visit to hear a confession or to give the anointing counts as the only visit that day, so then family has to skip that day. The hospital chaplains have been allowed to bring one of us in at “end-of-life.” That is good, but not ideal. The patient is usually unconscious.

            So, if you are scheduled for surgery or other hospital admission (or admission to a rehab center, nursing home, or hospice,) please call the parish. Tell our parish secretary Magdalene (or whoever answers) that you will be going to the hospital and you would like an appointment for the Sacraments.

            Let us observe with gratitude Veterans Day this Wednesday. Thank you, veterans and active military service members. We live in peaceful security because of your patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. Our appreciation extends to veterans’ families, too. We respect your sacrifice in the challenges of deployments in peace and in war.

            Did you see the new touchless Holy Water fonts? One of our parishioners provided us with two powered dispensers. No need to dip a finger or press a pump. Look for one at the St. Joseph altar door and the other at the vestibule main aisle door. 

            This is a good way to bless ourselves with Holy Water safely, until we can use the normal fonts. On a spiritual note, please think of how you “came into the Church.” You were baptized with water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So, that is what we should think about when we do the spiritual practice of dipping our fingers in Holy Water making the Sign of the Cross each time we come into the church building.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

          

Beloved brothers and sisters. Last weekend, we had announced that my father has passed. I would like to take this moment to give you a few updates. It was reported to me at midnight through a phone call that he departed the earth in Nigeria at about 8:00 AM on October 31, 2020.

Mr. Linus Agbir was born in 1940. He was blessed with 13 children and I am the 12^th. He lived to see many grandchildren and more than 10 great grandchildren. Until his death, he had been in and out of the hospital for about 8 years.

He was so loved by many because of the lives he had touch in many positive ways. My father was a very happy businessman to an extent, and later switched to being a subsistence farmer. He spent a good amount of time with us with much love and great wisdom.

When his time was ripe he left us peacefully, with some of my siblings present. It is so sad to know he is no longer among us physically, but we pray with the hope and belief that we shall meet again to live forever.

I will be in Nigeria for his funeral scheduled for November 12, 2020 – Thursday. I am so grateful to all of you for your prayers and wonderful words of consolation. Please, let us continue to pray for one another. Peace and Blessings!