By Fr. Charles Uganwa
The 1992 graduating set of Saints Peter & Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan, gathered for the 28th edition of their annual reunion, from Tuesday 16 to Thursday 18, 2024, hosted by Very Rev. Fr. Stephen Oluwatade Folorunsho, in the Domus Pacis facility at the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Generalate in Ikeja, Lagos.
At the opening Mass of the reunion, where Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Francis Adedara was the Chief Celebrant, the homilist, Rev. Fr. Michael Nsikak Umoh, admonished his colleagues on the need to constantly rededicate themselves to the priestly service by trusting in God’s grace and power in their lives like the young David who was able to defeat the Philistine warrior with just few stones and a sling.
“My dear brothers, it’s already 31 years we have been in the priestly ministry and we must draw strength from the experience of the young lad we read about in the first reading, David, who was a simple shepherd boy, but because the grace of God was upon him and he trusted in God, he could defeat the dreaded Philistine warrior. We too must trust that no matter the difficulties we encounter in our ministries, if we allow God and put our faith in Him, there is nothing we cannot overcome. This surely resonates, as many of us have had our fair shares of battles and troubles at different times in our journey so far; but we must not think it is over yet as the evil one never stops seeking the ruin of souls.
“God’s grace is always with us and this consciousness should be constantly renewed, by doing our best to remain under his direction and the maternal protection of our Mother Mary. Armed by this grace therefore, we have a duty to follow the example of Jesus by being available to our people and ensuring that we do everything to help in restoring “withered right hands” of the many people under our care.
“My brothers, the deplorable economic situation we have found ourselves in the nation has immensely multiplied the number of persons with “withered right hands” in our communities. Anything that robs people off their human dignity, like hunger, unemployment, injustice, lack of medical care, lack of education; all of these add up to dehumansing our people.”
The preacher went forward to press on his colleagues to seek all avenues to creatively support their parishioners, beyond just the administration of the sacraments and the preaching of the Word.
“Besides administering the sacraments and the duty of preaching, Jesus calls us to be aware of these serious needs of our people and to do something about them. We must not be tired of raising people up from their despair, and not to be tired of giving hope to our people. It is a defining element of the Church, which we need to be creative about,” he concluded.
The Holy Mass was followed by the plenary session under the direction of the Class Coordinator, Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Anthony Igbekele, who has just been installed the Rector of the Major Seminary. In his speech, Fr. Igbekele thanked the Bodija 92 set for contributing financially towards the installation of solar in the seminary. Very Rev. Fr. Patrick Udotai chaired the meeting which was attended by members both physically and virtually. The class members understood an excursion to Fela’s house and appreciated the preservation of artifacts, pictures and other things used by the music Legend The members resolved to keep positively impacting and encouraging one another as we take up the tasks of ministering to the people of God entrusted into our hands by God.
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