Catholic priests have been tasked to carry on the works and values of St. John Mary Vianey, Patron Saint of priests by being plain and carrying out remarkable acts to the glory of God and the advancement of the Church. The charge was given by Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, during his Enthronement Anniversary Mass, held recently at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos. Archbishop Martins said what binds every priest together is the kind of ideals that St. John Mary Vianey, the model priest stood for.
He added that as the homilist noted, John Vianey was simple and significant in the things he did, as he urged priests to be simple and do something significant for God and the Church. According to him, the Church celebrates the recognition of the ideals which John Vianey stood for, which he carried on, which Archbishop Aggey carried on, and which he (Archbishop), as well as every priest and Christian should carry on. Speaking on the situation of the country, Archbishop Martins said that the government needs to do things to ensure the welfare of the people, adding that the people are struggling with life, due to the side effects of petrol subsidy removal as the price of commodities have increased drastically.
He said though there was need for the subsidy removal, but the hope was that it would be done in a way that measures would be put in place to make things easy for people in spite of the fall out of the subsidy removal. Calling on government to wake up to its responsibilities, the Archbishop prayed that the situation would not lead to a greater problem in the country. He said though long term efforts to make the economy breathe again are necessary; the government need to make immediate attempts to address the situation, so that people do not start to die before the long term efforts begin to bear fruit.
On palliatives meant to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal, the Archbishop said it is one thing to roll out things that would be done, adding that it is when people begin to see the effect that it becomes meaningful, otherwise, they are just words and letters on paper. On his 11 years as Archbishop, he said: “Whatever it is the Lord has done in this past 11 years, which is so much more that he wishes us to do together as priests and people, as the Church of God in the Archdiocese of Lagos as we journey into the future. Delivering the homily on the occasion, Very Rev. Fr. Philip Sosu-Mobee asked the priests to emulate St. John Mary Vianey, their Patron Saint whose actions in life were simple, but significant.
He commended Archbishop Martins whose actions in life he described as simple but significant as he compared the Archbishop’s life and that of his predecessor, Archbishop John Kwao Aggey to that of St. John Mary Vianey who he said spent years as priest in his parish delivering simple and direct homilies. On things to learn from events, he disclosed that celebrations form the rhythm of life of people, give them order of events in their life, as well as help to look back with gratitude to God for all he has done.
