Tribute to a Friend

Author: Sister Mary Patrick - Former Principal St Louis Co | Date: 03/03/2009

A tribute to a friend, a sister, Kate you went off gallantly and triumphantly into that place you lived and worked for. I saw you in the last few days of your earthly sojourn in constant communication with the heavenly court and knew, you were having such glimpse of eternity, you will not want to come back Kate, one will miss you, but you are happy where you are and will love us the more there.

We shall miss you for who you are – a woman of valour, a woman of integrity, a woman of great faith who loved and lived her Christian calling as a married woman to the best of her ability. You face all the challenges that went with your vocation with such great faith and courage. You were able to balance your civil responsibility with your responsibility as a house wife perfectly that you never allowed your family to suffer in anyway as a result of your civic participation or private enterprises. Kate you were a wonderful mother and Kekuut, Rangtiem, Naanzem and Kwaphoom’s lives can never be the same without your physical presence – but we assure you Kate that we will be there for them to become what you brought them up to be.

You will look down from there happily admiring your handiwork which God enabled you and George to do before you left. We will continue to see you and love you in them. Kate the church will miss your voice that is always in defense of the defenseless. Is it the Vatican, in the Nigerian church, and in your local church at Jos Archdioceses, Shendam Diocese and indeed at the Kwande parish where you were trying to pull resources and people to improve on the life of the people in that home parish.

Kate we shall miss that person that you were that we always proud of, that you can represent your country and church anywhere, any time. You were a pride of the catholic woman of Nigeria. Your uprightness distinguishes you all the time. You have not let us down but rather raised us up. Your presence at national meetings brought in a lot of your experiences that are usually very valuable to the organization and so we will certainly miss you. But I know you for the love of the church you have, you will spend your heaven praying for the church you loved and served so well and indeed for your family and country you impacted in your life time. You will continue to pray and defend the rights of millions of unborn babies lives being threatened by unjust laws. Continue with your crusade from heaven where you can influence more powerfully so that your dear country will not be as heartless and ungodly as to disregard the silent voice of the unborn child.

POVERTY AND THE FAMILY IN THE THIRD WORLD
The family remains the basic unit of society in the world today. In its modern meaning, the family is that social unit comprising a man, his wife and their children. In most sub-Saharan African countries, the extended family, which is a more inclusive definition of the family, includes uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents and other distant relations. This paper has deliberately chosen to make the family its center-piece for a number of reasons.

Excerpt from: A/S-23/1 8
The Holy See delegation has participated actively in the negotiations leading to this special session of the General Assembly, a session which has raised issues of critical importance to the lives of millions of women worldwide, and which has been evaluating the progress that has been made since the Fourth World Conference on Women.

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