By Volunteer Writer, Houston, TX
The Assumption Cameroon Catholic Community of Houston (ACCCH) at St. Nicolas Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Galveston – Houston celebrated the 2012 Mother’s Day in a grand style. It is intended to be a day set aside to celebrate motherhood. Many churches and families in the United States recognize the second Sunday in May, specifically May 13th as Mother’s Day. For millions of Catholics worldwide May 13th is also the feast of Fatima and special day of prayers for members of World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO).
Mother and daughter on 2012 Mother's Day at St. Nicolas Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Galveston - Houston
The cards, flowers, the gifts, and all the goes with the commercialization of Mother’s Day is what many African men find hard to swallow. African men in general and Cameroon men in particular will readily tell you that Mother’s Day does not make sense because as they often put it mothers and motherhood is celebrated every day in their native land Cameroon and should not have a day set aside. However, the significance and meaning of Mother’s Day; an American feast is not lost to Cameroonians in their adapted home.
Mother’s Day 2012 marked the first Mass for the month of May on the ACCCH calendar. The Catholic Men Association (CMA), the male equivalent of Cameroon Catholic Women Association (CWA) was ready to honor their sisters, wives, daughters and mothers. A collection of women whom as the CMA spoke person Mr. Kevin Pacha called phenomenon women. The day started with a mass led by the chief celebrant Fr. Desmond Ohankwere MSP, and the music was provided the Chorale Notre Dame, one of three choirs that called the ACCCH home. The mass proper, offertory, communion, and recession animated congregation with a combination of French, Bameliki, Ewondo, French and Lingala songs; a showcase of Cameroon and ACCCH rich cultural diversity. Fr. Desmond’s homily was centered on the Gospel of John, the gospel of the day. His charismatic manner of celebrating the Holy Eucharist made the mass engaging and interactive.
At the end of the mass, the congregation was ushered to a transformed courtyard between the sanctuary and the fellowship hall in the waiting arms of the loving fathers, brothers and husbands. The ACCCH men manned the BBQ pits, the buffet tables, the water and soda stands. They cooked, served and cleaned up cheerfully. There was plenty to eat and drinks enough to feed the crowd from mass numbered at over 400 person including children. The Texas style banquet lasted a little over four hours. The women left St. Nicolas premises feeling very grateful.
When in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution of Congress recommending that the United States Congress and the executive branch of government recognize the observance of Mother’s Day, he had no idea he would be sending African men to the kitchen with humble hearts and similes. The love and appreciation for ACCCH women by the men on Mother’s Day was evident. In the US, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May and in the UK, mothers are honored the fourth Sunday of Lent on a day the Brits refer to as Mothering Sunday.
ACCCH is a recognized Catholic Community at St. Nicolas Parish in the Archdiocese of Galveston – Houston. The Assumption Cameroon Catholic Community of Houston mass is held twice a month, on the second and last Sundays of the month. Mass begins 11:30am.
