TUESDAY OCTOBER 1, 2024
TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY SIXTH WEEK OF THE ORDINARY TIME B
OUR LADY QUEEN & PATRONESS OF NIGERIA (SOLEMNITY)
Isaiah 11: 1-10
Ephesians 2:13-22
Matthew 2 : 13-15.10-23
OVERCOMING THE GREAT STORMS OF OUR NATION NIGERIA
The state of our nation Nigeria at 64 years is one that is pathetic, disappointing, and nearing total collapse. The Catholic bishops’ Conference of Nigeria were not exaggerating when celebrating our 60th independence anniversary message titled their message “URGENT CALL TO SAFE NIGERIA AT 60, FROM TOTAL COLLAPSE.” And four years more down the line, the situation has not abated but has even worsened.
Our reflection today, basing on the readings of today, and putting into consideration that Nigeria has been consecrated to Our Lady, QUEEN AND PATRONESS of Nigeria, on this feast day points to those values we need to live out in each one of us to be able to contribute meaningfully as Christians to the healing, peace, development and justice in our country.
The situation of our country is worrisome and very discouraging. It seems things are getting worse each day. Our lives seems to hang upon a keg of gun powder. There is so much apathy, lost of hope and discouragement. In one word, the nation is sliding into anachy, and total collapse.
There is nothing basically to glory in. Education has been bastadized, our economy is very bad, the social sphere is tensed and very unsafe, life has become meaningless and value for life is no more. Killing, kidnaps, banditry, robbery and insecurity generally is now the new norm and unabating .
Our government or rather the political class aid these crimes, they seem to incubate all these vices. They have neither sought for solution nor have ever the desire for change. They only pay lip service. Rather they are self serving, indifferent and worse still collaborators in the whole scheme of the decaying state of the nation.
The people of the country seems helpless, clueless and very undesirable to even understand the precarious situation and evil society they live in. The citizens stands helpless and tend to be complacent, indifferent and worse still all have a silent attitude or sometimes blame game that we tend to shift blame, rationalise and postpone the evil days. The best many have done is to “japa”- leave the country for greener pastures. No concrete action is being taken to help ameliorate the lawlessness and hopelessness of our lives in this nation.
This more or less paints the situation of our country Nigeria at 64 year of independence. In a word, we are hopelessly sliding into anarchy and total collapse as a Nation.
WHO will deliver us? Who do we run to? Where do we go from here? What is the solution to our precarious situation?
The book of Isaiah, our first reading paints a different and hopeful picture of the messianic age, the time of liberation prophesied. It is a time of peace, development, progress and security. It is a time of unity, oneness and peace. The coming of Christ is not for war, but for peace for all who understand it all. “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.”
Isaiah the prophet tells us that those who live in the messianic times, those who believe in Christ and follow his ways, will experience these things. It means that we as Christians have not fully accepted the message of Christ. We are yet to begin living the gospel message yet. We are only using the message of Christ for our own profit and not for what it is.
The gospel recognises that many Herods are fighting us on every side. The devil continues to fight the children of God. They fought Jesus and never allowed Jesus even to have peace from the moment of his birth. Herod made Jesus to flee to Egypt and stayed there before coming back to carry out his mission. That may also be situation here in Nigeria. So many problems are confronting us, bad leadership, corrupt society, insecurity in the land and all forms of injustice and evil intentions perceived and imagined.
Let us remember always that OUR HELP is in the NAME OF THE LORD WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH. Our first instinct is to listen and act on the word of God. If every Christian begins to adopt the word of God sincerely and faithfully listen and act on it, our whole lives will be better. The Herods in the nation will fall asunder and our lives will escape from the strangulation it is experiencing now.
Relying on God’s word is one thing and acting on it is yet another thing.
By relying on God’s words is depending on God, living in the faith of Christ. Trusting on God, offering prayers to God, serving the course of our God. Remembering that the world and all belongs to God alone.
We must recall that our nations has been consecrated to our Lady as Patroness of Nigeria and committing all to her maternal care and support in prayer will help resolve our many problems. Let us therefore join in praying the rosary throughout this month as a devotion to ask her intercession in our predicament. We must be men and women of faith and live in faith. The bishops has called for prayers and we must continue to listen to their call and follow their instruction.
Again, Our faith makes demands of us to act and live the ideals and virtues of Christ and our Lady. So a lot of sacrifices is demanded. It means that we end cooperating with evil and disassociates ourselves from the evils of our times. We become better citizens, obey laws, fight for our rights, help one another, live the virtues of obedience to laws, faithfulness in action, in offices devotedness to duty, sincerity in matters of money, accountability and transperancy in leadership and decency in action. It means acting with good ethics of work, shunning all forms of evil, corruption and injustices and speaking boldly about them.
Until we have these intentions and begin to act likewise, we may be beating round the bush.
There should be no more blame gave, we are the government of our times. So do not blame the government. Every body must contribute in whatever position one finds himself or herself to the overall interest. We are all guilty for the decay. We all contributed to the evil in our land. Until we begin to work against those evil tendency as individual or isolated persons we may never attain the dream of our desired nation. Our change begins with me.
Relying on Christ and with Christ and our Lady, Patroness of Nigeria our nation will blossom again. Let us keep faith alive. Let us cooperate then and strive to be good citizens by becoming good Christians as Saint Paul will advise in the second reading of today. “You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
Lord Jesus, our Nation Nigeria needs your healing, protection of our lives and peace. Come to us and heal our land. Restore the fortunes of our life as a nation. Build us up again, forgive our insincerity, unfaithfulness and sinfulness. And grant us a nation whose leaders value the lives of their citizens and seeks the wellbeing of all: a nation where peace is sought and lives, where progress abides and where oneness is our watchword. Bless us and our country Nigeria through Christ our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
