“My Father Was an Ex-Seminarian and wished that at least one of his children be a priest or a sister”
Sr. Felicia Gbortsu, HSC, marked her 25th anniversary in Religious Life with a Thanksgiving Mass at St. Anthony Catholic Church, Hlefi, under the St. Anthony Parish, Kpedze of the Catholic Diocese of Ho on Saturday, September 12, 2026.
Very Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Richard Mawusi was the main celebrant, and Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Komla delivered the homily.
Reflecting on the milestone, Fr. Komla said 25 years was “not just a number but years of doing the will of God; years of prayer, years of community life, and years of serving the poor.”
He noted that religious men and women are able to keep their vows because God remains faithful and never leaves them.
Drawing on the Gospel reading from Mark 6:7–13, Fr. Komla likened Sr. Felicia’s mission to that of the Twelve Apostles sent out by Christ.
He described how she conveys God’s compassion through a listening ear, attending not only to people’s words but to the pain of the sick she encounters, and seeing Christ in the poor she serves through her work at the hospital.
Fr. Komla urged the lay faithful to embrace marriage as a vocation and a calling, encouraging them to pray for priests and religious sisters. He further appealed to young women to consider the religious life, noting the Church’s continuing need for more sisters in various fields of service.
The Mass was attended by members of the Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ( HSC), the Sisters of the Holy Cross, and the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church( SMMC).
Also present were the President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious-Ghana (CMSR-GH) Sr. Dr. Lucy Hometowu, SMMC, Rev. Fr. Eli Sebastian Tsedza, Parish Priest; Rev. Fr. Mark Torwoe; Rev. Fr. Rudolf Tsekpo; Rev. Fr. Eli Passah; Rev. Fr. Theodore Gbortsu; Rev. Fr. Samuel Eco Edem Kornu; and Rev. Fr. Anthony Azah.
Speaking to a member of Catholic Sister Communicators Network-Ghana (CASCON-GH) after the Mass, Sr. Felicia said her vocation was first nurtured by her parents, who grounded her in the faith at home and brought her along to church programmes such as priestly ordinations and religious professions.
She recalled always feeling a sense of excitement at seeing priests and sisters at these events.
Her parents, she said, never discouraged her when she expressed a desire to become a sister — even her father, himself a former seminarian who did not go on to the priesthood, had hoped one of his sons would be ordained. When she shared her own calling with him, he reiterated that wish. In time, both desires were fulfilled: one of her brothers became a priest, and she became a Sister.
Though her father has since passed away, Sr. Felicia believes he would be fulfilled to see his son a priest and his daughter a religious sister.
She described her greatest joy as ministering to the sick and seeing them relieved of their pain, while her deepest challenge lies in encountering people in need whom she cannot fully assist because of her vow of poverty and the constraints of community life and resources. “It hurts me,” she said, adding that in such moments she asks God to send them someone who can help.
Sr. Felicia, a trained nurse, has served in Ghana, Spain, and Liberia. She joined the Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus- her first and only congregation on the recommendation of Brother Johannes Torwoe, a member of the Brothers of St. John of God, also from Hlefi, whose congregation is a Sister institute to the Hospitallers.
To young women discerning a vocation, she advised that it is God who calls, and that they should seek to identify His will through prayer and guidance from their spiritual leaders. She added that religious life is not only about prayer and beautiful appearance, but also about hard work, and that aspirants should be prepared for that reality.
About the Congregation
The Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is an international congregation of women religious founded by St. Benedict Menni. Their charism centres on hospitality and care for the mentally challenged and handicapped. The congregation is present on every continent and serves in 27 African countries, including Ghana, where it operates in Assin Fosu and Adansi Dompase.
By: Sr. Angela Amoatwo, SMMC
( Catholic Sister Communicators Network-Ghana, CASCON-GH)
