HOMILY ON THE CONSECRATION OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BENIN CITY THEME: THE LORD EXALTS THE LOWLY

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1 HOMILY ON THE CONSECRATION OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BENIN CITY AND THE CLOSING MASS OF THE MARIAN YEAR Augustine O. Akubeze Archbishop of Benin city THEME: THE LORD EXALTS THE LOWLY 1. INTRODUCTION: We are here today to thank God for the celebration of the wonderful gift of His Mother to humanity. Yes, Mary is a blessing from God to humanity. With Mary we can sing aloud, my soul magnifies the Lord, because he has exalted the lowly and humbled those who are proud of heart. It has been a year filled with graces from God. Grace is an unmerited favour. In the last few months we as a family in the Archdiocese have been celebrating the Marian Year; a celebration which has brought us together several times. We recall with vivid memory the celebrations of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and the sixth centenaries of the apparitions of our Lady at Fatima. At all these occasions we were reminded of the wonderful role of Mary in the history of salvation. In addition to these celebrations we also had Marian Day for various groups and societies in the Church. The Archdiocesan Marian Year Committee drew out a comprehensive program for the Marian Year. The visitation of the Pilgrim Statue to parishes and the public procession with the beautiful statue of our Blessed Virgin Mary offered us the opportunity to show to the entire people that Mary is the Mother of God and our Mother. As Catholics we are proud to honour the Mother of God. We are proud to honour her whom God has honoured. We are proud to honour the woman through whom the gates of paradise were opened again for humanity to access. We are proud to honour the woman addressed by the Archangel Gabriel as full of grace; the woman greeted by St.

2 2 Elizabeth as the most blessed among women. She is most blessed because of the fruit of her womb, which is, our Lord Jesus Christ. We are proud to honour Mary because God himself has exalted her to be his mother. Every praise and honour given to Mary goes to Christ. 2. THE NATIONAL MARIAN CONGRESS IN BENIN: Dearly beloved in Christ, we are witnesses to the wonderful spiritual graces God bestowed upon us during the recently concluded National Marian Congress in Benin City. During this time, we heard from the Nigerian Bishops who all came to Benin City to Re-Consecrate Nigeria to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In the land of Benin, the Church in Nigeria was Re-Consecrated to Mary. What a beauty it was. Our land is blessed to have hosted the Church in Nigeria. The members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria had asked that I specially thank all of you for being good hosts. The Bishops speak for the many Catholic faithful who came from the North, South, East and West of Nigeria. The Office of the Papal Nuncio in Nigeria greets all the faithful of Benin City. All over Nigeria, and even outside Nigeria, the constant discussions have been about the wonders that happened in Benin City. 3. THE MIRACLE OF THE DANCING SUN : Many of you witnessed what many have come to tag: the miracle of the dancing sun. We the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria also witnessed this extraordinary phenomenon. We saw it all. Any search online relating to the dancing sun, whether on google or yahoo search engine will bring up the miracle of the dancing sun in Benin City, Nigeria. The Catholic Archdiocese of Benin City will forever be remembered as the land in which this extraordinary phenomenon happened. Many people have been inquiring from us what happened that very 13th of October 2017 at UBTH Field. 2

3 3 Media men and women have come to ask me, what happened that very day. We have received inquiries from outside Nigeria on this matter. More importantly, there are indications that the Holy See in Rome is also interested in what happened on that day. We thank the good Lord and our Blessed Mother Mary for putting Benin City in the consciousness of the world for positive reasons. We want to be remembered for doing what is good, and that is what we are now known for. What do we make of this extraordinary manifestation of the sun? What is obvious is that God is pleased with us. Our Mother Mary is happy that the message of her son is being proclaimed. The message of peace, unity, reconciliation and forgiveness of sins is being preached. Hatred is replaced by love. Conflict is replaced by peace. You will recall that the President of the CBCN, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama stated several times that as true sons of Mary we must work together for the upliftment of our people. You will recall that His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Valerian Okeke urged all Catholics to take Mary home. You will recall that your humble servant in the Lord, my humble-self told the entire faithful at the Opening Mass that Mary has a unique role to play in the history of human salvation. Mary leads us to Christ. No one, finds Christ without finding Mary, and no one finds Mary without finding Christ. We must always seek Christ through Mary. After the Marian Year Mary must never be forgotten. The daily recitation of the rosary must not come to an end. The statue of Mary in your homes must remain. Mary must take a place of prominence in your family. Mary must never be a stranger in your home. When you take Mary home, keep her in your home. Christ has given us the privilege to share his mother s life with us. Jesus has given us Mary. Let us receive her. 3

4 4 4. THE FIRST READING (MICAH 5:2-5): In the First Reading, the prophet Micah addresses the people of Israel in the name of the Lord. He says the little town of Bethlehem will produce the Messiah. Among the clans of Judah, Bethlehem is the little. The littleness of the town will not be an in hindrance for the Lord to enter. The Lord will stand and feed his flock to give them strength. Lowliness is not an impediment for God to work. In fact, God manifest his greatness in us when we humble ourselves. The word little is an adjective that connotes smallness in size, amount, or degree. It is often used to convey an appealing diminutiveness or to express a condescending attitude. So, when we say that a person is little, we mean to compare the person to someone who is not little. Little as an adjective gives us the quality of a thing or a person. Therefore, when the Prophet Micah describes Bethlehem as little, he means that the others are bigger than it. God always wants to surprise us from our position of littleness. God works best with little ones. The Lord s promises in the First Reading are still true to this day. Our littleness is never an impediment for God to work. We may be confronted in life with many challenges. We may look at our problems and come to the conclusion that we are little before our problems. You may feel little before the sickness you have. You may feel little before the financial challenges you have. You may feel little before the trouble of your children who are no longer listening to you. You may feel little before your brother or sister in law who never show you love. You may feel little before your many attempts at business that have failed. You may feel little before that trouble you have no solution to 4

5 5 in your heart. We all have one challenge or the other that completely makes us feel little. There is no challenge or problem in life that does not disappear before God. When we put our trust in God, we shall dwell secure as the Prophet tells us today. When we trust in God, our littleness melts away because we gain inner peace that comes from God. The Lord assures us today, that our littleness is the background from which he will work. In the Gospel of Luke 14:11 we are told that the Lord exalts the lowly and humble those who exalt themselves. This state of humility is what is required of us. The exaltation that comes from God is made prominent when we are little. When we are little we allow God to take control. We allow God to stand by us. We allow God to feed us. We completely trust in God. Mary is the best teacher when it comes to humility. She who humbled herself has been exalted by God. Dearly beloved, we must learn to be humble. We must learn to respect other people. Never talk condescendingly to others. Treat them with respect and love so that God can exalt you. 5. THE SECOND READING (GAL 4:4-7): Saint Paul tells us that when the appointed time came, God sent his son born of a woman. Mary was the woman ready at the appointed time. Mary was the one who made it possible for us to have the Redeemer. Mary was the one who made it possible for us to be adopted as sons and daughters of Christ. Mary was the one who gave us Christ as our brother, and through Christ we can now call God Abba Father. To call God Abba Father means we are close to God. The words Abba Father was never used to address God before Christ came. The words will be equivalent of our baba, papa, daddy. It shows our intimate connection to God. Mary leads us to God who is our daddy. Through Christ we are no longer slaves but heirs to the Kingdom. 5

6 6 What is it in your life that still enslaves you? What are the personal sins that you are struggling with? Come to Christ through the sacrament of reconciliation. Through this sacrament the chains that tie us down are broken. When you go to confession you set yourselves free from sin. I was glad to see many of you go to confession today. Confession is the spiritual medicine of the soul. We call on all priests to make themselves always available for this Sacrament. We priests must also use this sacrament frequently. As you know, no priest can absolve himself of his personal sins, not even in danger of death. Not even the Roman Pontiff can absolve himself. We all need another priest to receive absolution from our personal sins. The frequent use of this sacrament will help us priests as well as lay faithful to grow in holiness. It is a sacrament that humbles us so that we can experience the power of God in our life. If you are not humble you cannot make a good confession. Confession requires us to admit of our failures before God who through a human instrument cleanses us of our sins. 6. THE GOSPEL READING (JOHN 19:25-27). The Evangelist John tells us that when Jesus saw Mary his mother at the foot of the cross, he entrusted her to the disciple whom he loved. He also entrusted the disciple to Mary. Then the disciple from that moment took Mary to his home. Dearly beloved in Christ, this Biblical scene underscores the fact that Mary is given by Christ to the Church. This disciple stands for the Church. Christ gave his mother to the Church. Christ also gave the Church to his mother. The Catholic Church has since kept Mary in the Church. Mary must remain with us in our parishes and in our Archdiocese. We are taking Mary home in a special way today through the consecration of our Archdiocese to her Immaculate Heart. 6

7 7 7. THE CONSECRATION OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BENIN CITY TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY: "Consecration to the Mother of God," says Pope Pius XII, "is a total gift of self, for the whole of life and for all eternity; and a gift which is not a mere formality or sentimentality, but effectual, comprising the full intensity of the Christian life - Marian life." This consecration, the Pope explained further, "tends essentially to union with Jesus, under the guidance of Mary." Today, we are entrusting the Archdiocese of Benin City into the hands of Mary the Mother of God, the Queen of Peace. By this act we are asking Mary to take total control of all the faithful in our Archdiocese. We are completely saying to Mary, we are totally yours. We are saying to her; I am all thine, my Queen, my mother, and all that I have is thine. We strongly believe that many blessings from Christ will flow to us through Mary s hands after the consecration of the Archdiocese of Benin City to the Blessed Virgin Mary today. This consecration of the Archdiocese, and indeed our state to the Immaculate Heart of Mary should make each one of us strive to promote healthy devotion to Mary. Mary must never be excluded from any society in the Church. It is true that there are some societies that have special devotion to Mary, but in reality, every true Catholic is Marian. How can you not be Marian when Christ himself in a sense is Marian? The only person he entrusted to care for the Church he founded was Mary his mother. The only breast he sucked was that of Mary; the blood he used to redeem us was that of Mary, the humanity he received to save us was that of Mary, the language and the vocabulary he used to preach the word of God was from Mary. Can you not see that Jesus was very Marian? We therefore, strongly recommend that every society develop a certain form of connection to Mary. The 7

8 8 recitation of the Rosary is part of the spiritual patrimony of the Church. We Catholics in the Archdiocese of Benin City must thus ensure that we pray the rosary daily. The Rosary is not meant only for Legionaries, Block Rosary, and World Apostolate of Fatima (Blue Army). It is meant for every Catholics, every society in the Church. We are all the children of Mary, and Mary loves and cares about us. May the consecration of our Archdiocese bringing lasting peace, unity and love to all of us and to our state, through Christ our Lord. 8. THE COMMISSIONING OF THE EXTRAORDINARY MINSTER OF HOLY COMMUNION: The law of the Church permits the deputation of a lay person to assist in distributing Holy Communion when there is need for it. The need may arise because there are no enough ordinary ministers of Holy Communion. Canon 230, 3 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law states and I quote: When the need of the Church warrants it and ministers are lacking, lay persons, even if they are not lectors or acolytes, can also supply certain of their duties, namely, to exercise the ministry of the word, to preside offer liturgical prayers, to confer baptism, and to distribute Holy Communion, according to the prescripts of the law. In the same vain canon 910, 2 states: The extraordinary minister of Holy Communion is an acolyte or another member of the Christian faithful designated according to the norm of can. 230, 3. The rite of Commissioning is the liturgical and canonical means of designating these persons as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. Today we will be commissioning extraordinary minsters of Holy Communion. This rite of Commissioning will empower these men to function by helping to distribute Holy Communion within the Mass and 8

9 9 taking Communion to the sick at home. We thank these brothers of ours who have volunteered their time to help in this special ministry in the Church. This work requires you to live above the ordinary standard. You must avoid living a sinful or scandalous life. You must not belong to any secret society. You must strive to be upright. There should be daily effort to conform yourself to the Christ whom you distribute to others. As Christ is broken for us in the Eucharist so must you be broken for the good of the Church and your family. Never become proud because of this new function entrusted to you. Always remember that the Lord exalts the lowly. We thank Rev. Fr. Palmer Ikponmwonsa who is responsible for the formation of these men. We are aware that Fr. Palmer used other resource persons to educate these men, we therefore, thank all those who were involved in the formation of these candidates. We will like to use this medium to stress the need for the lay faithful to respect these men who are to be Commissioned by us today. Do not avoid receiving Holy Communion from their hands. The host is transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ at the Eucharistic Consecration. The doctrine of transubstantiation means that the bread and wine become the true body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine after the words of consecration said by the priest who acts in the person of Christ. The substance does not change or lose its divinity even when in the hands of a lay person. It is the same Christ whom you receive from the hands of a bishop or a priest that you also receive from the hands of a lay extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. We therefore, call on all those who keep avoiding receiving Holy Communion from the extraordinary minsters of Holy Communion to stop this practice that is not in line with the teaching of the Church. In as 9

10 10 much as we do not mandate who you are to receive Holy Communion from, we strongly encourage you to allow your disposition to reflect the teaching of the Church. The Church clearly teaches that the true body, blood, and divinity of Christ under the appearance of bread and wine retain its substance irrespective of the person who gives us the Holy Eucharist. We will like to use this opportunity to emphasise the need for the faithful to receive the body and blood of Christ in the state of grace. The Church forbids a person who is conscious of grave sin and has the opportunity to go to confession and does not take the opportunity from receiving Holy Communion. Canon 916 states: A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible. We must therefore treat the Eucharist with utmost respect. It is better to abstain from receiving Holy Communion when you in a state of grave sin than to receive it unworthily. Priests and extraordinary minsters of Holy Communion are to ensure that only those who are manifest grave sinners are to be denied Holy Communion. The law states: Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion (canon 915). Denial of Holy Communion must be connected to a grave sin committed by a person who is known to be a sinner. We want to use this opportunity to state that priests and 10

11 11 extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion do not have the discretional power to deny a person Holy Communion if the person is not a public sinner who has not repented. Therefore, Holy Communion cannot and must not be denied to a person on the basis of whether the lady is putting on lipsticks or whether the lady is wearing trousers. These are not manifest sins. Although, we stress the need to be decently dressed to Church for Liturgical worship, but we must not arrogate to ourselves the authority to determine who is to receive Holy Communion and who is not to receive Holy Communion. As long as the person does not fall into the categories of those identified in canon 915 we should not stop the reception of Holy Communion. After all, the Psalmist in Psalm 130:3-4 rightly states and I quote: If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. 9. APPRECIATION TO THE DONORS AND MEMBERS OF THE MARIAN YEAR COMMITTEE: Before I formally declare the Marian Year in the Archdiocese closed, I would like to thank all those who contributed and supported us in the hosting of the National Marian Congress. Some of you donated money to help pay for some of the cost of hosting. (we also thank those of you who made pledges which we know you will redeem). We thank all of you for your participation in the National Congress. About half of the over thirty thousand participants were from the Archdiocese of Benin City. In a special way, we thank the members of the Marian Year Committee in the Archdiocese. They worked so hard to ensure that we had what is now generally accepted nation-wide as one of the best ever organized National Event in the Catholic Church in Nigeria. Many of the post event reviews we have had so far are all positive. This 11

12 12 clearly shows that the members of the Committee worked tirelessly and selflessly for the good of the Church. As we thank all of them, we also entrust them into the hands of our Lady Queen of Nigeria. May she provide and protect all of them and help every one of them to enter the Kingdom of her Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. 10. IN HONOUR OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA: Some persons have come to ask me, Your Grace please let us keep this Pilgrim Statue in our parish. I have always told them that I will pray to God to help me decide where to place this Statue that is now an historical icon. Having prayed over this matter, we have come to the conclusion with regards to where Statue will be kept. Given the fact that Nigeria was Re-Consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in our land with this beautiful Statue blessed by all the Catholic Bishops in Nigeria on that occasion, we have decided to honour our Lady of Fatima by decreeing that a Church be named after her. This historic Statue that is now a National Statue as was pronounced by the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, who spoke on behalf of all the Bishops, shall be kept in the parish to be named as Our Lady of Fatima. This is a mark of honour for the centenary celebration of the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima and the Re-Consecration of Nigeria to Mary. By virtue of our authority, we decree that the Catholic Church of Assumption Ugbor, Benin City shall enhance forth be called Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church and the Church shall have the privilege of keeping the National Pilgrim Statue within her premises. We therefore, call on the Parish Priest, all the parishioners and all Catholics who love our Mother Mary to help build a befitting grotto in which this Statue will be kept. 12

13 CONCLUSION: All of us, priests, and lay faithful today will be involved in this important act of consecration of the Archdiocese of Benin City to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We are by this unique act flying to the patronage of Mary our Mother. We are invoking Mary to come to our aid as an Archdiocese; to help us in evangelization. As you may know, the harvest is rich but the labourers are few. There are vast areas of the Archdiocese that needs evangelization. Less than 10 percent of the population of the seven local governments of Edo South that make up the territory of the Archdiocese of Benin City are Catholics. In the World, one in seven persons of the over seven billion population of the world is Catholic. Nigeria has close to 18 percent Catholic population. The percentage of Catholic population in the Archdiocese is lower than the National. The Archdiocese of Benin City needs to grow in the number of Catholics in her territory. How do we achieve this? One way is by establishing new Churches and outstations where there is no immediate Catholic presence. Many of the suburbs of Benin City are opening up. We are struggling to purchase land to build churches in these areas. We thank those who have been supporting us in this work of evangelization. Some of you have given us money, some of you have given us land, some of you have given us your time. We thank all of you. You must continue to remember the Archdiocese of Benin City in your prayers and planning. Support the work of evangelization so that many more people in our territory we embrace the faith. It is our prayers that God will continue to bless you and your family with peace and prosperity. May God bless his words in our hearts through Christ our Lord. Amen. 12. THE FORMAL ACT OF CLOSING THE MARIAN YEAR IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BENIN CITY: We by virtue of our authority which we 13

14 14 share with the Roman Pontiff and the College of Bishops that are the successors of the Apostles, do today formerly declare the Marian Year Closed in the Archdiocese of Benin City. By Virtue of our authority, we invoke the power of the Holy Trinity to bestow divine blessings upon all our faithful who have participated in this Marian Year. We invoke and ask God to bless their families and keep them holy and free from every evil. We also on this occasion of imparting our Apostolic Blessings upon the faithful, who have participated in this celebration, grant the privilege of gaining a plenary Indulgence having fulfilled the other requirements (i.e. going to confession and praying One Our Father, One Hail Mary and one Glory be for the Pope s intention). We hereby declare the Marian Year Celebration in the Archdiocese of Benin City closed. May God bless all of you for your participation. Amen. 14