Parish Announcements – 28th July, 2024

1. SPECIAL BLESSING FOR THE MONTH: Today is the Last Sunday of the month. There shall be a special thanksgiving for those born in the month of July and those who had wedding anniversaries or any special celebration during this month.

2. FAMILY WEEK 2024: The annual Family Week begins today, 28^th July to next Sunday, 4^th August 2024 with the theme; “Strong Catholic Families: Stronger Intimate Community of Life and Love.” There shall be daily talks at the 6:30pm mass. There shall be a Couple’s Forum on Saturday, 27^th July, 2024 by 9:00am, interested couples should kindly register at the Parish Office on or before Tuesday, 30^th July, 2024. Please note that there will be SCC Meetings this Wednesday, 31^st July, 2024. Below are the daily topics: 

Sunday, July 28^th:                 The Marks of Strong Catholic Families

(Celebration of the Elderly and Grandparents) 

Monday, July 29^th:                Destructive Lifestyles Affecting Marital Love and Family

Tuesday, July 30^th:                Fostering Vocations in a Catholic Family: The Role of Parents and Guardians

Wednesday, July 31^st:           Special Care for the Poor and Vulnerable Members of our Families

Thursday August 1^st:            Peaceful Parents, Happy Siblings

Friday, August 2^nd:               Widowhood: The Widows and the Widowers in our Parishes and   Chaplaincies   

Saturday, August 3^rd:           Catholic Couples Forum (by 9:00am at JohnPall II Hall)

Sunday, August 4^th:              Closing mass in Parishes, Gifting Sunday, Renewal of Vows, and Special Family Blessings.

3. WORLD DAY FOR GRANDPARENTS AND THE ELDERLY: The 4^th Annual Day for Grandparents and the Elderly holds today Sunday, 28^th July, 2024. The theme for this year is “Do Not Cast Me Off in my Old Age (Ps. 71)”. There shall be a plenary indulgence for grandparents and the elderly, and those who perform a work of mercy by visiting the elderly. There shall be a special thanksgiving mass and a Health Talk/Check for all the elderly after the 10:00am mass.   

4. YEAR OF PRAYER: The Year of Prayer towards the Jubilee of Hope has begun and we shall have our parish programs every second and fourth Saturday of the month during the 6:30am mass. We shall have our first session on Saturday, 10^th August, 2024 with a study of the Vatican II document, on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. We are all encouraged to renew our commitment to prayer during this Year of Prayer.

5. DEACON: We welcome Rev. Thomas Aliegwu to our parish for his pastoral assignment. We wish him a fruitful stay here at Holy Family.

6. CYON TEEN CAMP 2024: 2024 CYON Teen Camp with the theme “Carpe Diem” begins next week Sunday, 4^th August 2024 to Saturday, 10^th August 2024 at St. Sacred Heart College Apapa, Lagos. We encourage our parents/guardians to hurry and register their teens now for N30,000. This is the only camp they should be attending. For partnership and sponsorship please contact: 08038234905, 09021232589 or 08131098290. You don’t want to miss this!!!

7. BIRTHDAY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY: Dear Parishioners, it is that time of the year again when we celebrate the birthday of our beloved Mother Mary in the Parish. Our celebration will kick off with a 9 days Retreat/ Novena from Friday, 30^th August to Saturday, 7^th September, 2024. The grand celebration will be on Sunday, 8^th September 2024. There will be sale of Ankara for this event at the rate of N6,000 per 6yards after every Mass on Sundays within the church premises. Freewill donations in cash and kind are also welcomed. Please contact the Parish office or the Associate Parish Priest, if you would like to make donations for this event.

8. CHRISTIAN WAKE: There will be Christian Wake for Late Mr Joseph Imazegwe Imachede on Tuesday, 30^th July 2024 by 6:00pm. Venue: Stone Field, beside 41 Road, H Close, Block 2, Festac. We are all encouraged to pray for the repose of his soul.

9. HARVEST: We appeal to all those who have made pledges to kindly redeem them by cash, cheque or POS at the Harvest Stand by the entrance of the church (On Sundays) and Parish Office (during the week). You can as well transfer directly to the Harvest Account: HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CHURCH, HARVEST, ZENITH- 1014506326.

10. 2024 HOLIDAY LESSONS: This year’s holiday lessons begins on Monday, 5^th August and ends on Friday, 30^th August, 2024. It is loaded with: Academic Work, Library Studies, Catechism, Moral Lessons, Coding Lesson, Excursion, Skill Acquisition and many more. Your children/ward must not miss this year’s edition. Registrations can be done at the Parish Office for #500 only while the Lesson Fees are: Nursery & Primary Classes (#5,000); JSS & SSS (#7,500).

11. IMPACT: Our monthly First Friday praise and worship program holds on Friday, 2^nd August, 2024 beginning with the Holy Mass at 6:00pm. This is an avenue for Intense Moments of Praise/worship and Ceaseless Testimonies (IMPACT). Remember, there is joy in the presence of God, so let us all come with hearts full of joy to sing and dance to God. We are all cordially invited!! DO NOT COME ALONE!

12. FIRST FRIDAY COMMUNION TO THE SICK AND HOME-BOUND: The First Friday visit and communion to the sick and home-bound comes up this Friday, August 2^nd, 2024.

13. FIRST SATURDAY: The First Saturday Marian Devotion and Rosary Procession comes up this Saturday, August 3^rd, 2024 after the 6:30am Mass.

14. ALTAR WINE: Please be reminded that our altar wine is now sold for N6,500 (per bottle) and N78,000 (per carton). We apologize for any inconveniences.

15. BULLETIN ADVERT RATES: Due to the increased cost of publication, adverts on our weekly bulletin is now: Full Page (N25,000); Half Page (N15,000); Quarter Page: (10,000). We apologize for any inconveniences.

16. SECURITY ALERT: Dear beloved parishioners, we wish to bring to your notice some fraudulent act that has been on the increase in recent times. There have been cases of people hacking into the various WhatsApp platforms of the parish, requesting for either money or a particular code to be sent. We appeal to us all to be careful of these hackers who may try to trick you into divulging sensitive information. Please be cautious of any messages or emails asking you to send codes, money or personal information, claiming to be from the Priests or Parish Office. These are likely fraudulent attempts.

Remember:
– Our parish will never ask you to send money into an account that does not belong to the parish nor send codes or personal information via email or message.
– Be wary of suspicious requests, even if they appear to come from a familiar name or email address.
– Always verify the authenticity of such requests by contacting the parish office or the Priests of the parish directly.

LET US ALL STAY VIGILANT AND SAFE ONLINE SO AS NOT TO FALL VICTIM TO THESE FRAUDULENT ACTIVITIES.

17. PARISH ID CARDS: This is to inform parishioners that the Parish ID cards of those who registered since last year 2023 and beyond are ready for collection at the Parish Office, kindly go to the Parish Office to check. Also, we encourage our new members to please register at the Parish Office and those whose card is expired can as well renew at the Parish Office.

18. NOVENA TO OUR LADY UNDOER OF KNOTS: Our Parish novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots comes up every month from the 1^st to 9^th of the month. Let us participate actively with the prayers on the various parish platforms.

19. TITHE SUNDAY: Next Sunday is Tithe Sunday, those who wish to pay their tithes should pick up an envelope for use next week. You can also make your transfers to our Fidelity Bank 5080032193 in favour of Holy Family Catholic Church, Festac.

20. CLEANING OF THE CHURCH: We hereby urge all parishioners to imbibe proper maintenance culture as relating to keeping the church and its premises clean always. As we encourage all parishioners to use the waste bins rather than litter the church with dirt, we also appeal to all parents to please keep their children away from the flowers as they keep damaging them. We appreciate those parishioners who have been helping in sweeping and keeping the church compound clean. As we keep the House of God clean, may God keep us clean from sin and free us from all evil. Amen.

21. HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC PARISH LIBRARY: We are pleased to inform you that the Anthony Cardinal Okogie Reference (Parish) Library located beside the Anthony Cardinal Okojie Lower Hall is here to serve you better. At very affordable prices, we offer the following services: Photocopying, Lamination, Binding, Spiral Binding, Typing, Printing, Colored Photocopy etc. We also offer a vast range of books ranging from Literature to Accounting to Economics and a lot more. Working Hours: Mondays to Fridays. Time: 9am- 4pm. God bless you as you patronize us. For further enquiries on how to use to library or any of its services, please call: 09036389533 or 08169228063 (Ms. Chinwe).

22. (1%) ONE PERCENT BIBLE CHALLENGE: We wish to encourage all Parishioners to read and study the word of God for at least 15minutes every day; which is about 1% of 24 hours. For this week, we shall be continuing with the Book of 2 Samuel. Take up this challenge faithfully as stated below and be enriched spiritually.

Day/Month	Bible Passages
28th July	2 Samuel	Chapter 1
29th July	2 Samuel	Chapter 2
30th July	2 Samuel	Chapter 3
31st July	2 Samuel	Chapters 4 & 5
1st August	2 Samuel	Chapter 6
2nd August	2 Samuel	Chapter 7
3rd August	2 Samuel	Chapter 8

23. RETURN TO THE SACRAMENTS: We wish to encourage those who have been estranged from the sacraments for one reason or the other especially the Holy Eucharist, to return to the Sacraments. Kindly meet any of the Priests if you are having any difficulty in this regard. May Christ grant us life through His Body and Blood. Amen.