By Emmanuel Udom
Rev Fr (Dr) Peter Odetoyinbo, Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta in Ogun State, hit the nail on its head, August 12, this year, at St Mary Catholic Church, Alaja, Ifo,
Odetoyinbo insisted that since Mary is the Queen of Nigeria, clergy and Catholic faithful gathered to celebrate and request for her intercession in the affairs of Nigeria at this point in time.
His words: “We are expecting good news for Nigeria and Nigerians. This is why we come to our Mother Mary, the bringer of good news, to bring good news for our nation.”
Christians today have lost Jesus, adding, “let’s ask Mother Mary to be born anew Jesus in our hearts and the Nation so that we can regain our stand as Christians, he said.
“We should pray that Nigeria will be found again through the help of Mother Mary.”
He encouraged all the Christians to continue in their firm faith which is the only thing that can save us.
He admonished all the faithful to at least pray one Memorare or Hail Holy Queen every day and Mother Mary will surely come to our help.
The Pilgrimage talk which was given by Rev. Fr. Mathias Olutan centered on the Pilgrimage theme, ‘Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, Intercede for Us’.
Rev. Fr. Olutan, preaching on the theme, said that many have forgotten that Mary is the Queen Mother of the Christians and Queen of Nigeria.
He said that the appearance of Mary to the three little children in Fatima in 1917 after the Second World War II. He went ahead to tell the faithful that they should call on Mary at every moment of our trouble and she will not fail us. He urged them to always turn to her on her maternal intercession and that she would answer.
He noted that as Nigerians are known as ‘suffering and smiling people’, they should return to Mary. He said: “We are faced with lots of challenges in our nation today such as killings, kidnapping, hardships, and many others, we should run back to Mary the consoler of the afflicted.”
Rev. Fr. Oluto urged Christians to embrace and imitate the values of Mary to attract the blessings of God.
First, he said, is Mary’s ‘humility’, admonishing, “we should be ready to accept the will of God.”
The second value, he identified, is Mary’s ‘simplicity’, even as he enjoined Christians to copy this value from Mother Mary, which is the habit of being simple.
He stressed: “We should know that true happiness can be found in things of God. Her act of ‘Charity’, which is the third value; being charitable brings about other forms of value joy, happiness, and love.”
He said the lessons to learn from Mary are: That despite her fear of being a virgin, she accepted God’s message from the angel (Luke 1:28). She said ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to His word’. In the midst of her trouble, she continued to praise God. Let us continue to praise God in the midst of trouble like Mary, so that the devil will not continue to make a mockery of us.
“Her suffering drew her closer to God; as a Christian learn to lean on God in your suffering, completely rely on God and he will strengthen you.
“She trusted God in the unknown. Let’s learn to trust God in uncertainties.
“Mary surrendered to God’s will. This calls for greater trust in God, and this aids our spiritual growth.”
He said: “Mary’s role had been to intercede for Christians, which was why Christians in Nigeria made her ‘Our Lady Queen of Nigeria’, pleading for her continuous intercession for our Great Nation.
“Remember what happened in the wedding ceremony in Cana in Galilee. She interceded for the couple and the first miracle of Jesus was performed. Let us continue to ask for Mary’s intervention in our nation Nigeria and our homes. And learn how to depend on God through Mary and all would be well with us.”
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