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By Cosmas Omegoh
The Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Most Rev Dr Alfred Adewale Martins, last Thursday, ordained eight priests and three deacons of Congregation of the Holy Ghost Priests Province of Nigeria South West (Spiritans) said to be 300 years old.
He also used the occasion to challenge Nigerian politicians, tasking them to make sacrifices rather than investing in things that do not add immediate value to the lives of the people.
The ordination ceremony which held at SS Mulumba and David Catholic Church, Lawanson, Surulere, Lagos, was witnessed by no fewer than 40 Catholic priests, Reverend Sisters, relatives of the priests and deacons, and lay faithful.
The priests ordained on the occasion, included Rev Frs Kelvin Udumebraye, Felix Olatuni Yayi, Matthan Kanaesochukwu Nwalozie and Emanuel Ogheneochoko Odafe. Others are Emmanuel Ukiosewa Aghidi, Okoihue David Abuneme, Emmanuel Aveweosuohene Okenedo, and Philip Olisaeloka Okocha, while Francis I. Okonkwo, Peter Osaluwe and Peter Owolanwo were ordained deacons.
Most of the newly ordained priests are already on their way to The Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, and Ghana, as missionaries.
Elated Archbishop Martins told Sunday Sun that “seeing more men added to the service of God is a thing of joy,” noting that “God is happy and the people are happy when new priest are ordained.” He described the new hands as “enrichment” as “they are going to bring their individual talents to support what is going on in the church.”
He informed that sending priests overseas as missionaries, remains part of the Nigerian church’s contribution to the Catholic Church worldwide.
Earlier in his homily, Archbishop Martins described the new priests as men who responded to the call of God to serve as priests.
“God had chosen these men and qualified them; He made them worthy of service as ministers of the word and sacrament. As they sacrifice their lives to God and for service, it is marvelous in our eyes.”
He reminded the newly ordained that they had chosen the path of sacrifice and self denial, urging them to rejoice for being called, rather than arrogating to themselves “the honour of choosing to be priests.” He also charged them to be united to He who called them into His service and seek to be close to Him as their best friends by word and action.
He also called on the new priests to live a life of prayer as way of staying connected to God, reminding them that people would look at them with the same lens they looked at Jesus when they asked him: “Lord, teach us to pray.”
Turning to the older priests, he charged them to be weary of aberration in the celebration of sacraments, warning that, that may invalidate the sacraments themselves. That, he said, was the decision of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) in its meeting in Auchi, Edo State lately.
On the state of the nation, he said “there is a whole lot for people to feel completely dissatisfied with the government and its functionaries.
“But, all we can say here is to ask those who asked for our mandate to become our rulers to remember that what they do today becomes part of their personal history and part of the history of their government, and also to remember that what they failed to do, God is going to ask the for account at the end of time. Therefore, they certainly need to do their best to lead people by example.
“For instance, if the government is asking Nigerians to make sacrifices, we need to see government officials also make sacrifices rather than the kinds of things we see – government officials buying all kinds of things that do not add value to the immediate life of the people.
“People presently want food on their table; they want to able to pay their children’s school fees. They want money in their pockets and all of that. So the government should pay a lot more attention to that. We are still believing that when the politicians came asking for our votes, they had experts who would be able to help them see through the challenges we have at this moment,” he said.
