Fides Media Living the Faith
. . Defeats CMO in Friendly Match
By Chioma Ndife
It was indeed a celebration of a women’s uniqueness by the Catholic Women Organization of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, GRA, Awka, Anambra State as they joined their counterparts in other dioceses in Nigeria to celebrate the 2019 Annual Mothering Sunday Celebration.
Fides gathered that the activities lined up to mark the Mothering Sunday Celebration at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Awka, commenced a week before the mothering Sunday, March 31, 2019 and was aimed at showcasing the strength of mothers.
Some of the activities put in place by St. Thomas Aquinas CWO to commemorate the 2019 Mothering Sunday celebration included seminar, march past, football, different races among other competitions which the women participated actively in.
The highly contested friendly football match between the CWO of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and their male counterpart was decided at St. Thomas Aquinas Field on Saturday, March 30, 2019.
The CWO Team finally won after beating their opponent, the CMO team, hands down with one goal, 7 minutes before the end of the second half of the match.
Aside competing with the CMO, the CWO competed among themselves in March past, Egg, sack and needle races among others through the various zones in the parish.
The highly contested match past competition was won by Zone 7 with 77.3 percent while Zone 5 with 77 percent and Zone 3 with 70.6 percent came second and third respectively, leaving other Zones behind. Zone 1 however came 4th with 66% while zone 4 and 8 came 5th and 6th positions. On the other hand, Zone 6 with 38% came last closely followed by zone 2 and 9 with 51 and 55 percent respectively.
Addressing the mothers, Very Rev Msgr. Jerome Madueke highlighted the various sacrifices which mothers make in their homes and beckoned on them to continue in the responsibilities given to them as mothers by God. He noted that the home building functions of mothers can never be handled by fathers in any home. He urged the mothers to use the celebration and draw to mind some of the duties which they have neglected in the course of their busy day-to-day schedule.
He stated that the responsibility of nation building rests basically on the mothers who determine the fate of society through the training accorded to their children at their early stages.
The chairman of the occasion, Dr. J.C Aroh maintained that the celebration was a follow-up of an annual ritual for Catholic Mothers and expressed happiness that the new leadership of St. Thomas Aquinas CWO followed-up what others before them had been doing. He noted that the sporting activities which the women participated actively in, made the 2019 celebration different from others.
He opined that it was important for women to be celebrated by the male flock following the enormous sacrifice which they put in for the growth of their families. He beckoned on women who keep malice for a long time both in their home and outside their home to review such habit as it widens communication gap between couples.
Dr. Aroh tasked mothers whom he described as home makers and builders to pay more attention to their children especially in the usage of internet and the amount of time which they spend on social media, saying that the principle of moderation should be instilled in children at early stages.
Speaking to Fides, the President of St. Thomas Aquinas CWO, Dr. Obianuju Chiekezie noted that the Saturday’s event was in preparation for the Mothers’ Day. The different activities put in place according to her, was to enable the women come together to entertain their husbands alongside their guests and ease off stress. She maintained that the activities were put in place to showcase the strength which women wield, saying they would enable the women exercise their body.
Also speaking, the 1st Vice Chairman of the Parish, Sir Jonathan Ezeuchu described the football match put in place between the mothers and fathers as a way of encouraging the spirit of understanding within the family. He noted that one mustn’t always win in family issues but should allow love to always reign in the family. He called on mothers who pay more attention to church activities while disregarding their homes to strike a balance between the two for proper management.
For her part, the CWO Organizer of Awka 1 Deanery, Lady Ngozi Mac Okoye applauded the various activities which were put in place by the CWO of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish Awka to celebrate the 2019 Mothering Sunday. She described the activities as educative and expressed belief that such would impact positively on the lives of the members. She commended the turnout of people who came to join the mothers in the celebration. She called on mothers to add spirituality in all they do, saying that the mothers can overcome all life challenges through the power of the rosary.
