BY PAUL AWORTWI-MENSAH

Ghanaian Catholics in Worcester, Massachusetts joined other Christians throughout the world to usher in 2010 with watch-night service, singing songs of praise and hymns amidst dancing and waving of white handkerchiefs, in honor of God for brining them into another year.

At the St. Joan of Arc Church on Lincoln Street, the watch night service took the form of spontaneous and intercessory prayers interspersed with songs of praise and worship, Rosary Prayers, testimonies and Holy Mass.

At the stroke of midnight, the congregation went ecstatic as there were spontaneous shouts of 'afehyia pa', jubilation and singing songs of praise in honor of God for ushering them into the new year.

Preaching the sermon, Rev. Fr. Frederick Kofi Kutubebi advised Christians to discard and forget the past, plan ahead and confront the New Year with confidence, hope and determination as they would be doomed if they allowed the past to override their present situations. Rev. Fr. Frederick Kutubebi explained that until Ghanaians learned to put off old habits and adopt new and positive ones they could not face the challenges of the New Year.

He said hatred, selfishness, envy, anger and divisions should be things of the past and be substituted with love, peace, happiness and joy.

Such attributes, he said, should be demonstrated to every individual, irrespective of their religious, economic or social backgrounds. Rev. Fr. Kutubebi said though the New Year would pose challenges, every Ghanaian must make conscious efforts to overcome them while Christians should continually depend on God for direction.

"Be ready to give off and allow God to give you what would benefit and make life pleasing and more assuring in the New Year," he stressed.

Rev. Fr. Kutubebi said there was hope for every Christian in the coming year adding that Christians must not focus their attention on the impossibilities of life but should be reliant on God for a breakthrough.

He said though temptations, trials, deprivation and other uncomfortable situations could befall them, they needed to stand firm and continually trust in God.

"God's power supersedes all powers and every individual should accept and make God the centre of all their decisions," he added.

Rev. Fr. Kutubebi challenged Christians to rely on God for their liberation from worldly pleasures and the pressures of the New Year.

In his New Year Message, Nicholas Obeng, President of the Ghanaian Catholic Community in Worcester, urged Christian to continue to have faith in God and to rely on Him in whatever they did during the year.

He said 2010 would be a year of success for all those who relied on God and charged Christians to live peaceably with their neighbors and lead lives worthy of emulation.

Written By: Paul Awortwi-Mensah, Worcester, Massachusetts Source: Awortwi-Mensah, Paul