His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has joined family members, mourners and well-wishers at the funeral mass of his elder brother, the late Josie Michael Bio, who departed Mother Earth on 1 October 2023, aged 60.
Reverend Fr. Samuel Von Tucker, while preaching around the first and second readings of the mass from the Holy Book of Wisdom 3:6–9 and Romans 14:7-9, 10C–12, reminded mourners and family members of how they were expected to take care of their lives, pointing out that “there is resurrection for those that believe in the Lord”.
The Man of God said the assurance of resurrection was in the hands of those who believed and practiced the ways of the Lord by working in His path. He noted that the closer human beings got to God, the more testament they were bound to face as a result of the many challenges in the path of righteousness.
Rev. Fr. Tucker observed it was a trying time for the Bio family but acknowledged the fact that “death is inevitable”. He prayed to God for the forgiveness of sins and the acceptance of the sublimation of the late man.
President Julius Maada Bio, while delivering a consolation message, called on family members and mourners to accept the death of their brother, father, uncle, and friend as one of the most certain things in life.
The President prayed that God grant his late older brother eternal life, while he also prayed for God to give their family strength to continue to protect the children of the late man. He urged his family to take solace in the fact that God had taken the soul of their late brother.
The clergymen at St. Joseph Catholic Church also thanked President Bio for his continued support and devotion to the Catholic Church and the priests upon receipt of sacramentals, including ciborium, chalice, pattern, and thurible, as gifts to the church.
The Church recognised the fact that love was better expressed in action than in bogus words, stressing that it was even better expressed in actions, as demonstrated by His Excellency, President Julius Maada Bio.
The clergymen recognise that President Bio had expressed faith and fear of God and that he was a good leader by every standard.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Republic of Sierra Leone State House.