Consecrated persons have been tasked on the sacred duty of ensuring that contemporary issues that threaten to dominate their space and psyche, which are inimical to their vocation and the mission of Jesus Christ in the world do not win against their cherished faith and values. The charge was given by Most Rev. Emmanuel Badejo, Bishop of Oyo Diocese during the Ibadan Ecclesiastical Provincial Day celebration, organised by Nigeria Conference of Women Religious (NCWR), with the theme, “Formation of consecrated persons for the modern world in the face of neo paganism”, held recently at St. Paul Pastoral Centre, Aawe, Oyo State.
Bishop Badejo said consecrated persons need ongoing formation which will help them to focus on mission and therefore, adopt the best practices of synodality in their preparation and action in the world. He added that this will help them not to focus on self-preservation, feathering their comfort zones at every opportunity, but to be an active part of the “Church in the street”, ready to “dirty their habits” and “smell the smell of the sheep” as Pope Francis has said in order to engage with the neo pagan world. The Bishop commended NCWR on the theme which addresses the formation of consecrated persons for the modern world in the face of neo paganism, noting that life itself is formation in the sense that it offers new experiences from which people can learn.
According to him, “As one writer wrote: ‘If you do not regularly update yourself in this life, you soon will become outdated’. In fact, neo paganism, a key concern in your theme, is just a broad umbrella for the contemporary issues that threaten to dominate our space and psyche today and which are inimical to our vocation and the mission of Jesus Christ in the world, namely; consumerism, individualism, indifference, secularism, transgenderism, transhumanism, nihilism and outright atheism. “All of these without exception, attempt to deconstruct our most cherished faith and values as expressed in the Creed; belief in God, in Jesus Christ, in the Church and in humanity at large. “
Consecrated persons have a sacred duty of ensuring that these forces do not win against our cherished faith and values. That, however, cannot be achieved in theory. We need to have “transforming boots” on the ground. For that to happen, we need formation so that we do not keep giving yesterday’s answers to the questions of tomorrow. He urged the NCWR to pray for the intentions of the diocese, the people and Oyo State in general.
