Who did you go to see?

When I was a child I enjoyed going to church not necessarily because I learnt anything (it’s too long ago for me to remember if I did) but because it was the one sure day in the week we dressed up. My mum will lay out our clothes with matching underwear and smart shoes (my love of fashion and matching clothes did not start today, na my mama born me). 

As a teenager, it was the thought of meeting up with friends and wondering if the guys had started to notice that I was budding in all the right places 😀😉. As a young adult it was time to catch up on gossip and of course to check people out and be checked out. No one was spared being checked out, not even the priests and ministers🤭

Talking about the mass itself, I enjoy music and have been in the choir off and on through the years. When the music was good I enjoyed it, when it was not I tuned off. Same thing with the homily. When it was good I enjoyed it, and even took notes. When it was not, I tuned off while wondering in my mind why the priest or minister did not prepare adequately or how he could be so boring 😴

I think some or all of the above statements may be familiar to some. The point here is that a good number of us go to church for every other reason except that which should be the main reason - to encounter Christ in the fellowship of the brethren, in the word and in the Eucharist. 

So who do you go to see?

Now I go for several reasons. I still enjoy dressing up to go to church, because I understand that God deserves that I approach his temple in my best, the same way we put on our best when dignitaries are visiting. Have you noticed how beautifully dressed are the guests at a wedding? Well the mass is the celebration of the wedding between Christ and her bride, the church. It deserves my Sunday best. 

I enjoy the music; singing along and dancing when it’s one I am particularly fond of or just listening if it’s not one i’m familiar with or perhaps don’t particularly like the tune of.

I have a little notepad I carry along with me for mass to take notes. Some days I write so much and fill up all the space I have, some other days I can’t seem to get anything from the homily and struggle to write one word. On such days I spend some more time going through the readings to get the key message. Like my parish deacon says, the homilist dishes the starter. To get the main course we need to do some self study.

The height of the celebration is during the liturgy of the Eucharist, same way the height of a wedding celebration is during the exchange of vows. If we did not listen to anything up to this time, this is the time to be entirely focused on our spouse, on Jesus, to prepare to receive him and to be one with him. It is the culmination of everything.

And when all of this is done, we leave church but take the experience into our day to day lives.

So who do you go to see in church?

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Rome. Sweet Home.

Rome. Sweet Home.

This is the title of a book written by Scott Hahn on the story of the return of himself and his family to the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

Just a minute, before you get ideas, you're not about to read a similar story from me. I was born a Catholic and I grew up a Catholic. At the time of writing this article I am still a Catholic, and I intend to die a Catholic. 

What this piece is about, however, is the story of my first visit to the city of Rome, the seat of the Universal Catholic Church.

This visit was not really planned, I just took advantage of being in the area (Europe) with a Schengen visa that allows free movement amongst member states. As I was scheduled to be on a program, I could only get away the weekend before the program commenced and so planned a short 2 day visit.

I can't say Rome was everything I thought it would be as I really had no expectations of what I hoped the city would be, would bring or would offer. I went with a 'plain as canvas' mind, ready to partake of whatever the city had to offer. A couple of weeks before then however, I had written an article on the Basilica of Mary Major which is one of the four major basilicas in Rome. If there was anything on my bucket list for my visit, it was only to make sure I visited this basilica during my short stay.

On arriving in Rome, I proceeded immediately to my hotel, a place called Casa La Salle (http://www.casalasalle.com/index.php?lang=en). I liked this place very much because of its cool ambience both inside and outside with comfortable rooms. It also has a chapel on site where masses hold daily (albeit in Italian) and I appreciated that I had somewhere quiet to go and pray. It is a few minutes walk away from both the bus stop and the metro station so moving around town was easy. Downside for me was poor service from the team. Almost every request was met with 'Not Possible'. Can I get tea to drink in the night? Not possible. Can I have a later checkout - say 12 noon instead of 10am? Not possible else you will be charged an extra day. Ah, poor service was definitely the spoiler. 

Most of my time was spent touring the major basilicas assisted by Friar James, a Franciscan friar who was introduced to me and graciously accepted to show me around town. We visited three of the four major basilicas - St Peter's, Mary Major and St John Latheran. We also visited several other Basilicas including the church where the original image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is kept, the church where the pillar to which Jesus was tied during his scourging is kept, the basement of St Peter's Basilica where previous popes are buried (saw St Peter's tomb there amongst others), Castel D'Angelo which used to be the Papal Apartment and so many other places. 

In all the major basilicas visited, I passed through the Holy Door, which was truly a privilege and made my trip very fulfilling. I was also glad to see that even though people were allowed to wear anything up until the entrance of the churches, you were not allowed to enter into the church if you were not properly covered including your arms and thighs. If you turned up in sleeveless or anything about an inch or two above your knee, you were not allowed to enter the church. Yours truly was turned back at the door of St Peter's basilica for wearing a sleeveless dress and became depressed at the thought of having to go out to buy a scarf and then make my way back with the long queue with minimal chance of getting back in that day (the story of the 10 wise and 10 foolish virgins came to my mind so strongly then), but luckily I was able to borrow a shirt after which I bought a scarf for my subsequent visits. 

The churches are magnificent. They are all old but very stately, grand and magnificent. The paintings, the artwork, the edifice, everything was awe inspiring. Though I didn't get the opportunity to see it, Friar James told me that when all the lights are lit in the basilica during the celebration of the Holy Mass, you literally fell like you are in heaven. Anyway, I have saved that experience for another day. 

There are literally Catholic Churches on every street in Rome, several in most cases. To put it in context, Catholic Churches in Rome are like Reedemed churches in Lagos, at least one on every street. There is even a chapel at the airport complete with a Holy Door. Unfortunately, the churches are largely empty of worshippers even on a Sunday morning. Most people entering the churches are tourists. Rome is indeed filled with beautiful but empty churches. No wonder Pope Francis has asked the priests to leave the church and go into the world to seek the flock and bring them back.

Unfortunately I was unable to see so many of the usual tourist places - Sistine chapel and Colosseum (the queues to get in were just too long and I didn't have enough time), Spanish steps, the Pantheon, and so on. There is just so much to see and the expression 'Rome was not built on a day' really comes to life when one visits the city. In the same vein I would advise that if you are planning a visit and intend to do justice to the sights, plan to spend at least 5 days. Unless you're like me and intend to explore the town little by little over several visits. 

Will bring you an update in 2017 after my next visit.  

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Conspiracy of Silence

Matthew 16:18 'And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hades will not prevail against it.'

A couple of days ago the people of Ireland voted 'Yes' to gay 'unions'. Hearing and reading about this sparked up so many reactions in me. Maybe it was because it was the Irish that brought the faith to Africa and particularly to Nigeria. The Catholic Church in Nigeria was founded on the struggles and sacrifices of the Irish missionaries. 

Today, however, the church in Ireland has deteriorated so badly that it is not even a shadow of its former self. Years and years of cover up of sexual abuse and the practice of homosexuality by priests and religious have eaten deep into the fabric of the church. And the church's inaction on these matters when exposed and reported have not helped matters. While the leaders of the church have been busy protecting the culprits in the spirit of 'brotherhood', they have wittingly or unwittingly thrown open the gate of the sheepfold and exposed the sheep to wolves. 

It's so so sad what has happened to what used to be a strong catholic nation. But then again, is it surprising? The signs are everywhere and the Catholic Church all over the world is in peril. You don't have to look too far to see, pay attention to your local parish and your diocese. You will see the signs. If you haven't seen, you would have heard. It's actually not even hidden anymore; sexual abuse and molestation of the faithful of all ages including children, introduction of homosexual acts & practices among the clergy and also teaching these things to the faithful. And anyone who is brave enough to report these acts is 'silenced' and the report covered up. No corrective action is taken, the abused are silenced and the perpetrators covered up and allowed to go scot free. 

Why have our church leaders decided to be blind, deaf, dumb and closed? Why this conspiracy of silence? Where are the shepherds Jesus put in charge of the sheep? The instruction was very clear, they are to protect the sheep, even to lay down their life for the sheep. They are to beware of wolves in sheep clothing. Their primary responsibility is to the sheep, not to their fellow shepherds, but to the sheep. Why don't the church leaders get this? Why have they been more interested in protecting the perpetrators, rather than healing the wounds of the hurt and restoring what has been lost? 

On this feast of Pentecost, we pray the Holy Spirit falls afresh on the Catholic Church, the body of Christ and on the faithful. I know that God doesn't sleep and just like in the parable of the wheat and the chaff, he has allowed the chaff to grow with the wheat in the Catholic Church. I know that the time of retribution is near when the chaff will be separated from the wheat. Because the word of God is certain that 'the gates of hades will never prevail against the church'. 

The FAITHFUL need to rise up now and defend the church. Not the catholic followers or the church goers, but the true FAITHFUL. We now more than ever need to stand up for the truth. And we all know the truth, the pure unadulterated word of God. Not the versions spewing out of the mouths of various church leaders, not the various referendums and propagandas being adopted all over the world, but the truth which has been written in our hearts. The FAITHFUL need to rise up and defend the faith. Question is 'Is there anyone with faith left? Have we gotten to the point Jesus spoke about in Luke 18:8 when he said 'But will the son of man find faith on earth when he comes?'

If there are any faithful left, one way we can defend this faith is to kick against the conspiracy of silence. We have to say NO. No to sexual abuse in the church, NO to molestation of children in the church, NO to cover ups of sexual immorality in the church, NO to our shepherds having no care for the sheep and leaving them to be eaten up by wolves. Enough is Enough. And should it be that there are no faithful left, then we can be sure that the words of scripture in Luke 19:40 will come to pass 'I tell you that if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out'. 

The church is the bride of Christ and if we do not cherish her like the bridegroom who gave up his life for her, if the shepherds he has put in charge do not look after the sheep, then he is capable of wiping it out as he did in the days of Noah and building afresh.

On this Pentecost day we pray; 'Holy Spirit Lord of Light, visit thou these hearts of thine. Fill our inmost being. Heal our wounds. Renew our strength. Pour thy dew on our dryness. Wash the stains of our guilt away. If thou take thy grace away, nothing pure in us will stay. Bend our stubborn hearts and will. Melt the frozen, warm the chill. Guide the steps that go astray, Amen.

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Our Mother - The Church

"Sweet mother, I no go forget you. For the suffer wey you suffer for me o." First lines from a popular Nigerian song by Prince Nico Mbarga.

And truly most mothers, if not all, suffer for their children. Some of the suffering comes from trying to take care of their children and provide for them, some of the suffering comes from the hurtful actions of their children.

The Cathechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that the church is our mother.  St. Paul sees the church as 'the Bride of Christ, the Mother from whose womb of grace each of us was born to a new life a life of Sonship'. 

How many of us Catholics truly see the church as our mother? And for those that do, do we treat her accordingly? Do we love, cherish, respect and bring her honour by our words and actions? Do we
obey her and listen to her wise counsel? Do we defend her and protect her from those who insult, libel and castigate her? Or do we betray her - by our words and silence, actions and inactions?

An excerpt from an article written by Mother M Angelica founderess of EWTN titled 'My Mother--The Church' is as follows

"The Church is a Mother because she is a Bride who is forever bringing forth children of light, pillars of holiness, sources of inspiration, challengers of truth, and defenders of the Faith. 

Yes, she has structures, laws, treasures, authority and human frailties mixed with Divine power, but we must look at the whole Church and not just part of her. What son of an earthly mother tells his friends that his mother is nothing but an ugly skeleton covered over with muscle and skin? What kind of son picks apart every fault and weakness in his mother and broadcasts it to everyone willing to listen? A child who concentrates only on the authority a mother has to correct and punish and refuses 
to see the deep love and concern behind the reproaches, leads an unbalanced existence a life of self-pity and childish peeves.

A true child of this God-given Mother is not one who is blind to her faults, weaknesses and wounds, but one who is discerning enough to see her need for improvement for healing for greater zeal and for generosity; loving enough to see her virtues, grace, truth and power and zealous enough to do something positive to help rather than something negative to destroy."

You can read the full excerpt of this article on https://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/churc2.htm

I think it's important that we always remember that the church is our mother and it behooves us to treat her well and make her proud. As a mother, she welcomes all her children, Saints and sinners alike, loving the sinner while hating the sin and praying that all her children 'Be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect' (Matthew 5:48).

It is so easy to get carried away by the things 'of the world' and so we must be on our guard. Let us be counted among those who are building up the church and not be found to be one of those bringing her down.

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