Mr Kelvin D. Sunkpal, the Acting Head of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Upper West Region, has urged members of the public to show unconditional love and affection to people in society who desire love, especially during the festive seasons.
He said festive seasons should be seen as opportunities to share the little things they had with the less privileged people in society as that would lead to social cohesion and shared love.
Mr Sunkpal said this in Wa during the occasion of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, organised by the FDA as part of efforts to ask for pardon from people and institutions the authority might have offended while executing its constitutional mandate.
Representatives of the Narcotics Control Commission, Pharmacy Council, Road Safety Authority, and Economic and Organised Crime Office among others joined the FDA at the event to give thanks to God for a successful year.
The Power Voices Choir from the St. Andrews Catholic Cathedral provided carols to make the occasion spectacular and a sight to behold.
Mr Sunkpal read the Ninth Lesson from the Book of John 1:1-14, centred on the birth of Jesus Christ, an epitome of God’s love for mankind, which they ought to replicate to other people.
He explained that it was not just enough to read the lessons and listen to the hymns but to put the messages of the lessons and the songs into practice.
“We must learn something from the nine lessons. Yes, it is Christmas; it’s time to show love. Let’s show love to one another whether the person is a Muslim, a Christian, poor or rich. Love does not discriminate.
“Those who need love are those we don’t show love to. There are people who don’t have a mother, they don’t have a father. It is a Christmas day, and how to eat is a problem…please let’s try and identify those who need our love most,” Mr Sunkpal exhorted.
Reverend Father Barnabas Duorinaa, a Catholic Priest at the St. Andrews Catholic Cathedral, explained that the essence of Christmas was for people to take time off their busy schedules to come together to share joy and happiness.
He quoted the famous Mother Teresa as saying: “Our world is so busy that two people cannot stop, look at each other, eyeball to eyeball, and smile,” which he said, was the essence of Christmas for people to come together.
Rev. Fr. Duorinaa expressed happiness for joining the FDA to observe the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and prayed for God’s grace for the staff of the FDA to continue to work to make Ghana a better place for all.
