Author: Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Taiye Fadairo
Reviewer: Very Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ayeni
Book: Daily Bread For All Seasons
Introduction
The book “Daily Bread for all Seasons” by Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Taiye Fadairo, is a simple yet insightful corpus or homilies from the desk of an experienced priest and pastor. In it, Fr. Anthony Taiye Fadairo, using fifty-eight (58) in-depth reflections, sums up the mystery of the Christian faith and life in the person of Jesus Christ. According to him, Jesus Christ is the essence of the Christian life; he is the reason for all seasons. This volume is actually the first of a four-volume work. While this volume focuses on Advent and Christmas, the second volume will enrich us with the mysteries of Lent and Easter. In the third volume, the author will illumine our spirit with the wisdom of God that is praised on the Sundays of the liturgical year; while in the fourth and final volume, he will take us on a daily spiritual journey through the weekdays of the liturgical year. In a phrase, Fr. Fadairo is set to gift us a handy guide on our Christian journey of faith.
The Season of Advent
In this first volume, the author dwells on the purple season of Advent and the white season of Christmas. He defines Advent as a season of devout and joyful expectation of the Lord (P.17). While the word devout connotes purity, piety, sincerity and holiness, the word joy connotes happiness, gladness, delightfulness and cheerfulness. In his use of these adjectives to qualify the season of advent, Fr. Fadairo opens us up to the quintessential element of Advent- a season when we blissfully embrace holiness in order to be fit to welcome our God at Christmas. In driving home his point on Advent as a season of blissful embrace of holiness, the author expounds his thought in the four weeks of Advent of years A, B and C. He employs a dramatic and practical approach to his delivery by appealing to the key Advent figures or characters contained in the church’s Advent liturgy. He reflectively appeals to the prognosis of Prophet Isaiah (Pp. 19,21&60), the rugged and unbridled devotion of John the Baptist in his call to holiness and baptism of repentance (Pp. 32-33,36& 49), St. Paul’s call on us to be alert and ready (P.47), St. James’ call for human patience (P. 22), St. Peter’s teaching on divine patience (P. 33), King David’s acclamation of God’s mercy (P.37), Prophet Jeremiah’s canticle on God as our integrity (Pp.43-44), Prophet Baruch’s pledge of divine assurance (P.46), Prophet Zephaniah’s hymn of God’s apparent arrival in the midst of His people (P. 48), St. Joseph’s gentle obedience (Pp.25&88) and Mary’s fiat as a joyful abandonment and longing to fulfil the will of her beloved God (Pp.39, 50&73). In each of these key characters, the author makes good his theological definition of Advent as a season of devout and joyful expectation of the Lord.
The Season of Christmas
The Season of Christmas In his “Daily Bread for all Seasons”, Fr. Anthony Fadairo begins his Christmas reflections with the words of Pope Francis: “Christmas is a promise fulfilled”. He expands this thought by observing that the true meaning of Christmas is that “God has come down to earth to embrace us” (P.100). This coming of the Son of God is the historical event that changed everything for us as humans. Aligning his thought with that of St. Augustine, the author helps us to understand that this change hinges on the fact that with Christ’s coming into our midst at Christmas, we are no longer alone and forsaken. He is now a part of our history and destiny (P.102). While Advent is a time of blissful and devout expectation, Christmas is a time of thanksgiving to God for meeting our Advent expectation. At Christmas we celebrate the love of God; for Christmas is not the giving and receiving but the loving that gives meaning to our giving and receiving. Finetuning his Christmas theology of loving, Fr. Fadairo submits that at Christm a s God expresses his love and oneness with us by giving us His divine life through Christ and receiving flesh from us (P.103). In his coming into the world, Christ becomes our light. As our light, he dispels all darkness from within us; the darkness of sin, indifference, selfishness and damnation. At Christ’s coming, all the ends of the earth were bedewed with the salvation of our God (Ps. 97). In his celebrated dramatic and practical approach, the author again appeals to some Christmas characters in driving home his message.
He recognizes Prophet Isaiah as the “main proponent” of the Christmas forecast. Isaiah foresaw Christ as the one who brings good news. Cueing from this, Fr. Fadairo calls his readers to be harbingers of good news, peace and happiness; and by so doing, make Christmas real and relevant to the people of our time (Pp. 105-106). He appeals also to the Prophet Simeon as a righteous and devout man whose life resonates with Christmas character and calling (Pp. 109-110). In Hannah the daughter of Phanuel, the author calls us to constantly seek to live and serve in the presence of God, who at Christmas came to live among us (Pp 111- 112). Appealing to the teaching of St. John the Evangelist, the author calls us to be aware of falsehood and fake predictions that are far from the truth of Christ’s gospel (P. 113).
Mary, the Greatest Honour of our Race
In this first volume of his homiletic framework, the author gives a prominent place to Mary, the Mother of God. This is well summarized in his reflection on this title. He hails Mary as the greatest honour of our race (P.114). Her prayerful meditation even when she didn’t fully grasp the ways of God, her ability to endure and trust God amidst the unsettling mysteries that surrounded the birth of her son, and her total surrender to the will of God put her as our supreme human model.
Lastly: Epiphany and Baptism of the Lord
Fr. Fadairo concludes this first volume of his book “Daily Bread for all Seasons” with the two feasts that mark the end of the Christmas season, namely, the Solemnity of the Epiphany and the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Reflecting on the Epiphany, he exhorts his readers on the virtues of the Magi, which are their focus on following God’s ways as symbolized by the star and their generosity in offering their precious gifts to the infant Jesus. Appealing to the above, the author opens the eyes of our minds to the rewards that we stand to gain in following the ways of the Lord and in being generous. He leaves us with a bang in the words: “God is much more generous than any of us” (P.118). On the baptism of the Lord, the author was bold in his charge: “We must be baptized…for God wants everyone to be saved”. Furthermore, we have the responsibility of inviting all peoples to the waters of baptism. In living the life of our baptism and calling others to do the same, we celebrate the feast of holiness and become a living force for all humanity; a light shining in the world (P. 134).
Conclusion
Evaluating this first volume of the book “Daily Bread for all Seasons”, I would like to make the following submissions:
1. The book in a strict sense, is not an academic text, thesis or treatise, but as the title suggests, a simple guide to a fruitful Christian life.
2. Though the book does not dwell much on the daily hiccups or challenges overwhelming our lives today, and more importantly how we humans are the causes or originators of these problems, it gives us a Christological recipe that will help us live lives that will not give rise to such unnecessary hiccups in our day-to-day living.
3. The book is the product of the author’s deep reflections that call us to examine the faith we profess. The many questions that form the style of his delivery espouse this perspective.
4. The author’s practical and biblical approach of appealing to known biblical characters makes the work an easy reach; a handy faith tool.
5. On a final note, I recommend this book for all Christians because the need for a continuous examination of our attitude to the Christian faith as exemplified in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, is the bedrock to the true and authentic Christianity that will win us eternal life.
I congratulate the author and pray that God will grant him the wisdom and strength to complete the remaining volumes of this beautiful book and may his faithfulness to the task of winning souls for God win him the salvation of his own soul. Amen.
• Very Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ayeni is the Administrator, St. Gregory’s College, S.W. Ikoyi, Lagos