Mary The Mother Of Jesus Cuts A Special Place In The New Testament And, In Fact, Through The Redemption Story In The Entire Bible. It Is She, The Young Virgin, Who Obeys Without Question, “Be It Done Unto Me According To Thy Word,” When God Asks Her. Through Obedience She Earns Her Right To The Magnificat In Which She Chants Her Readiness To Go Forward With God’s Bidding: “For Behold, From Henceforth: All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed. For He That Is Mighty Hath Magnified Me: And Holy Is His Name.”

That Young Woman Takes Up Motherhood With A Commitment; A Mother Constantly Behind Her Son, Growing Him Up Strongly In Character And Behaviour; Putting Him To Helping His Step-father Joseph With Chisel, Saw, And Plain In His Workshop. She Is There To Launch The Mission Of Her Son At The Canaan Wedding Feast. She Is There On The Way To The Cross Where She Comes Face-to-face With Her Suffering Son. The Sword, That Of Which The Prophet Simeon Spoke, Is Piercing Through The Tender Soul Of The Woman.

In The Course Of That Service As Mary The Mother, She Becomes Mary The Disciple. And, At The Vigil To Close Her Son’s Short Sojourn Of 33 Years On This Earth, She Wins His Dutiful Attention, The Son Who, With His Last Breath, Makes Final Arrangements For Her Security And Comfort When He Calls Out: ‘Woman, Behold Your Son; Son Behold Your Mother.’

What A Reassuring And Responsible Statement In Favour Of A Person Who Is Being Dressed In The Role And Robes Of A Matriarch And Mother-in-Grace, Above And Beyond Being The Physical Mother Of Jesus, But Now Over The Extended Family, Hers And The Millions In The World Today That Her Son Is In The Process Of Redeeming Into One Family. Therefore, With The Generic Label Of ‘Woman,’ Mary Takes On An Image Translating Beyond Just A Mother To The Symbol Personifying Womanhood In The More Universal Sense. She Becomes The New Eve, The Untainted Conduit In The Redemption Prophecy After The Downfall Of The First Eve.

The Pronouncement By The Dying Christ Accentuates That Love And Care For His Mother And That Respect For John As A Worthy Custodian And Careful Trustee Of The Welfare Of Such A Precious Woman. This Is The Social Security Guarantee For A Doting Mother Whose Loving Closeness And Constant Concern For Her Son Prompts Jesus In Many Places To Remind Her Nonetheless Of The Central Mission As In Cana, ‘Why Are You Pushing Me? My Time Is Not Yet’; In Jerusalem, ‘Know You Not That I Must Be On My Father’s Business’, Again In Another Setting, ‘Who Is My Mother And Who Are My Brothers?’ And Here Ordains His Disciples And Us, The New Church: Behold My Mothers And My Brothers.

Interpreters Sometimes Misunderstand These Responses To Be Cheeky, Brash, But Which Are Only Meant To Teach Us To Balance The Emotions Inherent In Motherly, Fatherly, And Brotherly Or Possessive Passions In Order To See Beyond To The Pre-eminence Of The God Who Chooses Mary In The First Place For The Role Of The Mother Of His Begotten Son. That Is The Same Reason He Says To A Grieving Son, ‘Let The Dead Bury Their Dead.’ Jesus Is The Missionary Who Preaches That Worldly Distractions Must Not Disturb Mission.

In Short, Not Even The Best We Have In Possessions And Desires Must Stand In The Way Of Our Service To God. Rather, Our Duty To Family Must Be Designed Around And As Part Of Our Worship Of God. Nevertheless, With These Last Words To His Mother, Mary, And To His Disciple, John, Jesus Underlines The Due Respect, Regard, And Duty That Must Be There As Entrenched In The 5^th Of The 10 Commandments, The Only Law Of Moses That Carries A Promise: That Thy Days May Be Long In The Land Which The Lord Giveth Thee,’ Being Consequent Upon Honouring Our Fathers And Our Mothers.

John, A Trusted Disciple, Is Given That Task To Take Care Of Mary As Much As He Would Be Able To. John’s Acceptance Was A Reassuring Attention To Duty And Detail That Children Take Full Responsibility For Their Parents And Aging Fellows For Food, Clothing, Housing, And Medical Concerns.

Thus, Become We Children Of Mary Through Jesus And Now, Through John, We Are Weaned Into The Brotherhood Of Discipleship. We See Mary Now, Not As That Ordinary Woman In Nazareth Town, But One To Be Venerated As The Blessed Virgin Mary. Through Her Prayers Of Intercession We Too Can Reach Jesus Just As She Offers On Behalf Of The Hosts And Guests At The Wedding In Cana, Who Reach Him Through Her To Discover What Rich Wine There Is To Be Drawn From Our Ordinary Waters.

By Her We Can Learn To Honour And Protect Womanhood, Provide For The Family, Hold Our Womenfolk In Love And Respect, Stop Sex Discrimination, End Religious And Social Gender-based Violence, Stop Female Genital Mutilation, Eliminate Maternal Deaths, And Educate Our Women.

There Are Many Things We Can Bring To Prayer And Action For Women, Centring Our Thoughts On The Woman Whose Ready Obedience To Duty Brought Us IesusHominumSalvator—Jesus, Saviour Of The World. We Must Make Our Homes Nazareth Homes Because We Know From The Evidence That That Was A Good Home With The Nurturing Environment In Which To Live In Love And Grace. This Should Remind Us Constantly Of Our Responsibility As Keepers Of Our Children, Our Parents, And Of One Another According To This Profound Bidding Of God: ‘Woman, Behold Your Son; Son, Behold Your Mother.’ Amen.

 

The Moment Of Truth Has Arrived With The Bold And Decisive Pronouncement By The Minister Of Local Government And Lands, That The Government Is Poised To Decongest KMC.

This Measure Is Overdue And The Honorable Minister Must Be Commended For Visionary Leadership In Bringing Sanity To Urban Planning And Development. The KMC Over The Years Has Become A Dump Yard For All Sorts Of Fitter Garages, Welding Shops, Street Car Wash Businesses, Makeshift Corrugated Stalls And Second Hand Vehicle Dealerships, All Posing Threat To The Environmental Sanitation And Tarnishing The Image Of Greater Banjul. This Is In Addition To The Rampant Dumping Of Waste Anywhere And Everywhere And Second Hand Vehicle Tyres Repair Outlets. We See Food Vendors Scattered All Over KMC. It Is Difficult To Ply The Streets Due To Batch Cars, Donkey Carts And Dilapidated Trucks. One Wonders Whether KMC Is An Extension Of Rural Gambia. It Is Incomprehensible That ‘Operation Clear The Roads’ Failed To Effectively Keep Greater Banjul Clean And Safe To Boost The Image Of The Country To Modernity.

Honorable Hamat Bah Is A Decisive State Minister And Politically Profound Aide De Camp To Good Governance. The Interventions Of The Minister In Hajj Operations Have Brought Ameliorating Comfort To Gambian Pilgrims This Year For Which The Nation Applauded Him. The Minister Understands National Responsibility And Does Not Shy Away From Taking Decisive Actions Where Necessary To Implement Government Policies In So Far As His Sector Is Concerned. In Today’s Meeting With The Banjul Elders, If His Excellency Had Spoken About The Municipality, Tomorrow Will Be A Field Day For Opposition Attacks. It Is Hoped That Greater Banjul Will Soon See Massive Decongesting Exercises That Will Move The Environmental Hazards To A Designated Land Area In The Kombos. Such Functioning Ministries Like Local Government And Lands And Higher

Education Should Be Supported In The Fulfillment Of Their Mandates. This Is The ‘YEAR OF RESULTS’ And As Such, The People Expect Efficient And Effective Service Delivery To Move The Country Forward. In This Decongestion Of KMC, Stakeholder Institutions Like NEA, The Police, NRA, MOIW, Should Consider It Necessary To Render Collaborative Push The Local Government And Lands Drive To Bring About A Healthy, Clean And Safe Environment In Urban Gambia.

KMC Is The Face Of The Country And Therefore, Its Development Calls For Coequal Responsibility Between The Government And The Municipality. On Another Note, In The Said Meeting With Banjul Muslim Elders, His Excellency Reaffirmed His Commitment To The Peace And Stability Of The Nation. This Is What The Public Expects From A Leader Whose Record Earned Him The African Peace Award.

However, It Has Been Said By Observers That The Meeting Had Both Religious And Political Undertones. But EID Is A Day Of Celebration And If The Political Wind Blows Over Us, It Raises The Consciousness Of The People About The State Of The Nation. It Clears The Air Of The Politics Of Fabrications And Establishes The Truth About Nation Building.

Mr. Samba Camara Mballow, Permanent Secretary (PS), Office Of The Vice President (OVP) Is Redeployed To The Ministry Of Interior As New PS.

The Deployment Of Mr. Demba S. Bah, PS Office Of The President As PS Interior, Is Now Rescinded, And Mr Bah Remains PS, Office Of The President.

Mr. Abdoulie T.B. Jarra, PS, Office Of The President Is The New PS, OVP.

Mrs. Cordu L. Jabang, PS, Ministry Of Tourism & Culture (MoTC) Is Moved To The Ministry Of Information, Media & Broadcasting Services (MIMBS) As PS.

Mrs. Amie Njie-Joof, PS MIMBS Is The New PS At The MoTC.

Mr. Saikou Trawally, Deputy Permanent Secretary (DPS), OVP Is Deployed To The Ministry Of Gender, Children & Social Welfare.

Mr, Kajally Sonko, Current DPS At The Gender Ministry Is Moved To The Information Ministry.

Mr. Fanding Kinteh, DPS At Information Is The New DPS At OVP.