I still remember the day I heard of the first confirmed case of COVID 19 in Nigeria with some humour. “What! Corona virus in Nigeria?” (As if, Nigeria was not on this planet) I was greatly alarmed, and I went about breaking the news to anyone who may not have heard, until I broke the news to one man and he told me “Sister ema wori (Sister do not worry) it will come and go, we will beat it”.

In the California Region, Sylvia Valdez heads up the Human Trafficking Committee. As a lay collaborator and friend of Mary Aikenhead, Sylvia takes her activism seriously and continues to invite others into action. Recently Sylvia was honored by the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, the Waymakers, for her efforts among school children.

Concern for marriage and the family has always been central to the Mission of the Church. The future of humanity passes by way of the family (Saint Pope John Paul II). It became emphatically urgent in our day for so many varied reasons. In Nigeria as in the rest of Africa, the reasons have emerged to include but not limited to:

Life is sustained from the fruits and gifts that the planet provides for us, without these precious resources that we use to live, life would be unsustainable. It is important that we look after this gift from God and make sure we all play our part in leaving the world as we found it.  Often when we speak of the environment we associate it with words and phrases such as ‘pollution’ and ‘global warming’, while there is a very real and important reason for this, there is no reason that we can’t decide to make a conscious move to associate the environment with positive changes within our own lives.

Sunday 24th May marks the 54th World Communications Day, on this day we celebrate communications and its role in helping to spread the word of the Gospel and the opportunities that it affords us to do so. This year, His Holiness Pope Francis, writes about storytelling, the theme for this year. Storytelling is an integral part to being human, it allows us to communicate, relate and bond together, share common stories and learn new ones too.

“Sister some Muslim women came looking for you today.” Muslim women? What for? “They want a sister from our office to make a presentation on Unity in Diversity at a symposium which they organized to mark the World Hijab Day” was the answer I got.

The Religious Sisters of Charity today confirmed it has received approval from the Holy See to transfer ownership of St Vincent’s Healthcare Group.  The Religious Sisters of Charity state they intend to gift lands at the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group sites worth some €200 million. The Religious Sisters of Charity hope that the transfer can now be concluded without undue delays.

The world has almost entirely gone into lockdown. Entire countries and economies have shut down while healthcare staff attempt to slow and stop the spread of Covid-19. It is important that we listen to their advice and play our part towards keeping our communities safe. While we find ourselves in the unusual world where streets have turned empty and cities have grown quiet, we must remember that real people are still living their lives.

Today marks the 57^th‘World Day of Vocations’, a day for us to pray for our own vocation and for others to find the strength to seek their own vocations. The word vocation is often associated with those who dedicate their lives to God, but a vocation is more than this, it is one’s calling from God and can include a vocation to one’s spouse or responsibility in civil society.

Globally, people experience lots of natural disasters in different forms, likewise, floods have become a threat to the people of Delta State especially communities living in the riverine areas and those in the lower land. Every year most people in these communities are displaced from their homes. The flood occurs suddenly across a limited area associated with very heavy rainfall and worsened with the overflow of the River Niger.