HOMILY AT THE FUNERAL MASS OF LATE BISHOP AYO-MARIA ATOYEBI OP; EMERITUS BISHOP OF ILORIN DIOCESE AT ST. JOSEPH CATHEDRAL, ILORIN. MARCH 28, 2025.

I greet your dear brothers and sisters in the name of no one else than the one at the mention whose name all knees shall bend and all heads shall bow; Jesus, the Resurrection and the life. The scripture says anyone who believes in him shall never die. He is the Lord of times and seasons; he was there before the world was created, there is nothing in existence that did not come to be through him and when everything comes to an end, he will still be there because all times and seasons belong to him.
Jesus about whom I am speaking and in whose name I greet you was there when Bishop Ayo-Maria was conceived in his mother’s womb about 81years ago, he was there when BAM was called to faith and received baptism, he was the one that called him to the priesthood and he was there when he was chosen and ordained a priest on 17th December 1978 for the Order of Preachers; he was the one that called him to episcopal ministry and saw him ordained a Bishop on 17th May 1992. Jesus saw him to his retirement from episcopal ministry on 11th June 2019 and called him back home on 8th March 2025 at the age of 80years.
Jesus is the only Lord and master that Bishop Ayo Maria served for all of his 80years sheltered under the mantle of the Blessed Virgin Mary. May the most holy name of Jesus be praised now and forever more. May his blessed Mother be revered and honoured for all generations to come and by all peoples TCOL.
Today, we gather in the presence of the Lord with faith, in sorrow, and in gratitude for the life and times of Bishop Ayo-Maria Atoyebi. Faith because we believe that at death, life is changed, not ended. Sorrow because even the strongest faith does not remove the pain of the death of a loved one. And gratitude because we have come to celebrate the life of a good and faithful servant, who ran his life race with unwavering commitment to Christ and His Church. It is not every day that we witness the burial of a man who bore the triple weight of priesthood, consecrated life, and episcopal office with such grace and humility. But here we are, facing the mystery of death and resurrection, hearing again those comforting words whispered into our hearts in Wis 3:1 that was read to us today “The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and no torment shall touch them”. Bishop Ayo-Maria Atoyebi, O.P., has run his race to the finish and he awaits the crown of glory that has been promised him and all those who strive unceasingly for the joys of heaven.
What about us who are still in the race and running it in our beloved country Nigeria? We are running the race in a land in which hardship is not a visitor but seems to have a permanent residence. A land in which the lady Justice often peeps behind her blindfold to see who is on trial in passing judgement and so the scale of justice is not balanced and the sword strikes in a selective manner. A place where the louder the poor scream, the more in vain she is shouting as nothing significant changes. Our country is that in which those who appropriate what belongs to the common purse to themselves get streets named after them, receive honorary degrees and chieftaincy titles while the man who steals a loaf of bread to assuage his hunger is thrown into jail and left to rot away, Awaiting-Trial. Corruption does not hide in the dark anymore but operates in broad daylight.
Yet, here we are, in this same country gathered to honor a man who walked the roads of this same Nigeria and is generally acclaimed to have been an example of authentic leadership who chose righteousness over any other value. He had power and authority but he did not abuse it. He had influence, but he did not use it for personal gain. Every bishop carries a crozier, a staff not simply as a part of the ceremonial dressing, but as a symbol of his duty to guide, protect, and discipline with love. Bishop Ayo-Maria held his staff with the steady hands of a shepherd who loved the sheep entrusted to him. He was a man of prayer, a preacher of truth, and a father to his priests and people even if not fully appreciated by all. He lived for Christ and for the people entrusted to him.
Preaching for Bishop Ayo-Maria was never about eloquence but about conviction, no wonder he spoke to the hearts of those who listened. He was a teacher of faith, not merely because he had studied theology at the Angelicum in Rome, but because he had learnt holiness at the feet of Christ. We have fond memories of him as a zealous preacher of the word of God, ready to bear any inconvenience as long as he can preach the word of God. He was one that many people wanted to listen to proclaiming the message of the gospel in his own unique style; he was one that at a point in time that people used to record his homilies in cassette tapes and later on compact discs so that it could be spread far and wide. How I wish that the sort of social media platforms that we have today had been available long before now in order to preserve his homilies in a way that no cassette or CD could ever have.
It is impossible to speak of Bishop Ayo-Maria without mentioning the Blessed Virgin Mary, our mother. Many speak of the BVM as Mama Maria today, I believe it is mostly following the lead of Bishop Ayo Maria who always spoke about her with filial fondness. His devotion to Mary was not superficial, it was pastoral and deeply personal. He lived the Marian spirituality of Totus Tuus. His love for the Rosary, his establishment of the Annual Marian Pilgrimage in Oro, all were testaments to a soul consumed by love for the Mother of God.
Of course, we have come to bury Bishop Ayo Maria and not to praise him and even less to canonise him today; that will come in the future by the grace of God. He was a man with his own fair share of human weakness but he was a man that we can clearly associate with the beatitudes that we read about in the Gospel passage of today from Mt. 5:1-12: Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil about you because of me. This litany of blessedness and the rewards attached to them are meant to encourage us as we continue our journey through this life back to God from whom we came in the first instance. Bishop Ayo Maria was able to reflect the beatitudes in his life because he understood the purpose for which God created him and lived in accordance with it.
According to the Penny Catechism, God created us to know him, to love him and to serve him in this world so as to be with him forever in the world to come. The world in which we live does not make it obvious that our purpose in life is to know, love and serve God. In fact the world in which we live tries to confuse us and set goals that cannot lead us to the joys of heaven and so it is necessary that we continue to remind ourselves what our true purpose in life is. We must take our bearing from Christ and learn from him who is gentle and humble of heart in order that we may be on the right path, the path that leads to the salvation of our souls, the reason for which God created us. The main work that we came into the world to do is to use whatever we do, whatever profession or vocation we pursue, whatever status we achieve, whatever we have and whatever position we occupy as tools for attaining the salvation of our souls.
Dear friends, it goes without saying that life is not about food and drinks, it is much more; it is much more than seeking pleasure of all kinds. Our life is only not about success in career or in business; acquiring wealth, power and fame. It is not all about material possessions. Even though it is among the desirable goods in life to be wealthy, to be famous, to be very important persons who occupy positions of influence and power, we must advise ourselves that unless these temporal goods assist us to fulfil our purpose in life, unless we use them in seeking to know God, to love God and serve him, unless we use them to attract goods that last for eternity, our eternal life with God in the company of saints will be in danger.
By divine providence, I went to visit Bishop Ayo-Maria the day before he died. He was calm and peaceful, no sign of fear or struggle. He looked like a man who had settled his accounts, packed his bags, and was only waiting for his train to arrive. Some people die fighting, some die with fear written all over them but not Bishop Ayo-Maria. He died as he lived; in peace. That must be the goal for each one of us and we can achieve it only of we live in accordance with the purpose for which God created us and sent us to the world. If we do, we shall not just die like all living things die but we shall die well, breathe our last knowing that we have loved enough, given enough, served enough and so we are not ashamed of the part we played whenever the curtain falls.
One last thing to say; I crave the indulgence everyone; the president of CBCN, the Metropolitan of Ibadan, the Bishop of Ilorin and all you good people gathered here to read a eulogy that one of the daughters of Bishop Ayo Maria sent to me. She did not know that I was asked to give the homily and even I didn’t know I would be asked at the time I received it. It was written in Yoruba and I crave your indulgence to read it in Yoruba because I wish to recommend the virtues mentioned in it as an effective pastoral strategy for the clergy of Ilorin diocese in particular but also as virtues that make for heaven to the entire faithful of Ilorin diocese, virtues that their departed bishop emeritus is leaving behind as a legacy:
Ijeri aye ni ijeri orun.
Baba alufa tooto, baba oninuure, Baba jeje, baba onigbagbo, baba alaanu, baba alayo, baba onireti, baba olufe agbelebu, baba olufe Ara Oluwa, ti nbola fun un loore koore, baba onirele, baba onisuuru, baba ti gbogbo aye nfe, baba ti nbani daro, baba ti ngbadura fun onile, falejo, fun oniponju, baba ti ngbadura fun isimi emi ologbe laidekun, baba ojulowo omo Mama Maria, baba to to gbarale, baba adura, baba olutosona, baba ti ngbo teni laigara, baba alaponle, baba ti ko see paaro, baba olubadamoran, baba oniwa mimo, baba to see fiyangan lawujo, baba to see sato nigba gbogbo, baba ti kii gbagbe omo, baba ti nba ni tan isoro pelu adura. Sun re o, baba rere.
We commiserate with the clergy, Religious and faithful of Ilorin Diocese, with the Provincial and all Dominican Friars and indeed with the biological family of Bishop Ayo-Maria Atoyebi OP. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.