The Catholic Bishop of Bomadi Diocese, Most Rev. Hyacinth Egbebo, MSP, urged young men and women to heed God’s call to priesthood and religious life, emphasizing the urgent need for more vocations to address pastoral current challenges in Nigeria.
Bishop Egbebo made this call in his homily at the Mass celebrating the 2024 World Mission Sunday, with the theme: “Go and invite everyone to the banquet,” at St. Gabriel Chaplaincy, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Abuja.
“Despite our blessings, we acknowledge that the word of God has not reached everyone. Much work remains to be done,” Bishop Egbebo emphasized. “We prayerfully implore more young men and women to answer God’s call into the priesthood and religious life.”
The bishop stressed that the mission work is not solely dependent on human efforts but requires divine guidance. “We must pray constantly for the grace of God to direct us, as our theological education and resources are insufficient to accomplish this mission task.”
Furthermore, the homilist emphasized on the importance of collaboration among priests and religious to revitalize communities where the church and the faith is declining. “We hope that our priests and religious will work together effectively to contribute to the revitalization of their communities.”
Alluding to Pope Francis’ message for World Mission Sunday, Bishop Egbebo encouraged Catholics to go beyond their parish boundaries and spread the Gospel to all. “Mission is not about reaching out to distant lands alone, but our neighbors, friends, communities and our world.”
Bishop Egbebo invited all Catholics to support the mission through prayers, financial support, and witness by example. “Let people see our lifestyle and see in us, the Bible they read. We are challenged to know our faith a lot and explain it to people.”
The Secretary General of CSN, Rev. Fr. Zachariah Nyantiso Samjumi while soliciting for support for the mission collectionย challengedย all to support the mission, as it is part of our mandate as Christians. “Let us together with the holy Father, say that we’re ready to spread the message of Christ as missionaries in all we have.”
Fr. Samjumi further emphasized that the church needs support to build churches, develop and support the work of evangelization in difficult areas in the country.
The National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), Rev. Fr. Solomon Patrick Zaku, charged all to pray for and support mission work. He explained the symbolic illustrations on the altar, representing the universe, continents, challenges, and the Bible as the principle tool for mission work.
“The symbols beside the Altar, symbolically reminds us of what we’re doing today. the globe signifies the universe, the whole world, the five candles with respective colors represent the various continents of the world, the represent the difficulties the missionaries go through in their various missionary terrain and the Bible symbolize the principle tool of the mission work which is the word of God we’re called to spread.”
The 2024 World Mission Sunday, which is the 98th edition of the annual celebration, was established by Pope Pius XI in 1926 to promote global missionary awareness and support. Celebrated on the second-to-last Sunday of October, it serves as a reminder of the universal call to evangelization, emphasizing the need for Catholics to embody the missionary spirit.
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