A Catholic priest of Mulago parish in Kampala Archdiocese, Fr. Aloysius Gonzaga Nsibambi has urged students to maintain their power of prayer, saying it is the only effective form of communication between man and God.
Fr. Nsibambi made the remarks while conducting a mass at St. Cyprian High School Kyabakadde in Kyampisi sub-county, Mukono district as they celebrated Saint Cyprian day, the school’s patron saint. The mass also marked the beginning of a three-day retreat as the school opened for third term.
He urged the students to always strive to get good reports that can be proudly hung on walls instead of embarrassing ones only fit to be kept under their beds.
The prelate advised the students to emulate St. Cyprian whom he said was born in a family with no trace of faith, but himself laid down his life for the love of Christ.
He advised them to love, work with and pray for each other, their parents, teachers and friends, noting that they need each other in life.
“Many people have deserted God, but like Paul who turned his acts of torturing believers into a source of strength for preaching the word of God, our patron was born in an unreligious family but stuck to God up to the last minute of his life on earth; we need to emulate him,” Fr. Nsibambi said.
He also praised the school founder, the late Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese Cyprian Kizito Lwanga whom he said was moved by unshakeable faith and decided to set up a monumental institution in the name of St. Cyprian High School Kyabakadde.
Fr. Nsibambi urged the students to be transparent in whatever they do, adding that this is what will attract God to stand with them in their needs.
In a message to the students, Fr. Joseph Mwinganiza called on students to avoid peer influence outside their fellow learners, adding that more often than not, such influence by people in the secular circles only serves to destroy the good virtues learnt instead of boosting them.
He echoed the earlier preacher by noting that the students are duty bound to internalise whatever they learn today because he advised, every bit of what they learn is a necessary component in preparing them for what they will be as grownups.
The headteacher, Joseph Kamya said it is historical that the third term opening coincided with the day of the school’s patron saint, St. Cyprian of Carthage whom he said was killed in Egypt in about 200 AD and was thereafter declared a saint.
Kamya said this is the reason why they decided to begin the term with a retreat and a holy mass in memory of Saint Cyprian, and to pray for the founder of their school, the late Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga.
The headteacher also noted that the retreat and mass would be used to remember and pray for all those, both living and dead, who encouraged the founder while starting the school.
