- Defend the Catholic faith with your life – Fr. Ayeni
- You must watch your actions, inactions at all times – Sir Mbelede
- Love, teamwork are powerful motivators for growth – Lady Obah
- Don’t renege on your promise to build formidable Sub-Councils – Sir Ezeh
The Knights and Ladies of St. Mulumba have been urged to defend the Catholic faith in the face of the increasing number of objections to, and misunderstanding about the divine faith of the Church that border on doctrinal confusion, hostile secularism and religious pluralism. Delivering the homily at the Mass to invest 61 Worthy Brothers and Sisters with the fourth degree of the Knights and Ladies of St. Mulumba at St. Leo Catholic Church, Ikeja, in Lagos, Very Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ayeni, Chaplain, Knights of St. Mulumba (KSM), Lagos Metropolitan Council cautioned them against complacency in upholding the values of the Catholic Church amid growing moral decay as well as lack of quality Christian teachings arising from proliferation of Churches.
He said, “Defend the Catholic faith with your life. In pursuance of defence of the faith, I want to draw our attention to the colour of your vestment as fourth degree knights and ladies. Soon you will be vested with red colour regalia. “In the Church, red stands for martyrdom. In the hierarchy of priesthood, the persons that put on red vestments are cardinals because at that point you have become automatically a martyr in the Church. So, when you put on red, you must know what it stands for in the Church, martyrdom. In other words, you must be ready to give up your life for Christ, His Church and the Order. “You will be vested in some minutes time. The question that comes to mind on this day is, are you ready, if the occasion calls for it, will you give up your life for Christ, or His Church and this Order? Let that be answered in your own mind. “
So please, beware of the life you live because of the level that you have gotten to, it is one that comes with a lot of challenges. So, be ready to give up your life for Christ and His Church.” The Chaplain implored them to see their investiture with the highest status of membership of knighthood as call for more dignified Christian life and more services to the Church, as well as humanity. He said, “Note that a lot of responsibilities will also be placed on your shoulders, and as Jesus tells us in the gospel of St. Luke 12:48, to whom much is given, much is expected. It is not just the case that we will stop addressing you as brothers and sisters and start addressing you as Knights and Ladies, it is also the case that we will demand more from you. “God will demand more from you; the Church will demand more from you in the form of your services to Him and to His Church.
And so, always remember that verse of the Bible. “Also, as Sirs and Ladies of the Knights of St. Mulumba, let your lives be guided by the Scripture verse of Matthew 7: 20. Jesus tells us in that passage of the Bible that by their fruits you shall know them. “So, in a manner of speaking, the life you live in your families should assume a new shape; charity begins at home. We must begin to see the difference. The first person to testify to this should be your wife as a Knight, and the first person to testify to this in your life should be your husband as a Lady, that we are changed persons. “Your children must be able to see that you are behaving differently, positively this time around. They must see; if they are not seeing this, then, it means that you have to go back to the drawing board.” Fr. Ayeni charged the intending fourth degree knights and ladies to match their new enviable height in the knighthood with attaining the highest Christian discipline. In his words, “And as you live your lives at this juncture; exemplary lives, I want to call your attention to live out the concepts of the Knights of St. Mulumba. You must live your lives as practicing married Catholics. You must aspire towards the highest Christian discipline; very important.
Aspire towards a higher sense of Christian discipline, a higher sense of Catholic discipline; very important. “Please note this point. Live exemplary Christian lives that will befit your new knighthood status. We must see you; those in the 3rd degree, 2nd degree, 1st degree, all of us must see you and say, yes, there is something to learn in your life. If they cannot learn anything from you, then you need to go back to the drawing board.” The cleric also enjoined the knights and ladies to be pillars of strength and support to Christ and His Church, especially as concerns priests in their parishes. He admonished them, “You must not be people who, as fourth degree Knights and Ladies are referred to as sources of conflicts in your parishes. No! “Your priest must be able to say that Sir and Lady A or B are strong pillars in our Church. If he needs consolation, he will call upon you. If he needs assistance, he will call upon you. If he needs any form of outreach, he will call upon you because you are now elders, not just in the Order, but also in the Church.
These are some of the virtues that you have as elders in the Church. “Of course, I want to take our minds to what St. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9; the words of Jesus Himself telling St. Paul that, ‘My grace is enough for you.’ “You have enough responsibilities on your shoulders. He who has called you and worked this miracle will surely be your strength. But please, you must work with Him. As we say, heaven helps those who help themselves. And so, if you corporate with the Spirit of God, He is going to be with you. “See your new life, see your new status as something that is so simple because with God, all things are possible.”
…KSM, Lagos Metro creates three new Sub-Councils
Sir (Dr.) Charles Mbelede, Supreme Knight, Knights of St. Mulumba (KSM) Nigeria enjoined Knights and Ladies of St. Mulumba to keep their actions honourable in manners worthy of knights and ladies of the Church. He made this assertion at the creation of three new Sub-Councils of the Lagos Metropolitan Council recently held at St. Leo Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos. Addressing the knights and ladies, he posited that honour and integrity is paramount at all times starting from the nuclear home.
The Supreme Knight said, “Your honour and integrity must be watched; your actions and inactions starting from the nuclear family must be watched, the children are watching what the mother and the father are saying, the way you speak to yourselves, the way you talk to yourselves arbitrarily sometimes. All your pluses and minuses, your children are watching them. And therefore, you must watch your actions and your inactions at all times. “So, your honour and integrity must be watched; what you say, what you don’t say, what you want to say and what you refuse to say, and the way you say them wrongly. “Moving out to the nuclear family to the bigger family, you must watch your actions and your inactions; what you say as a Knight, what you do as a Knight and what you don’t do.”
He urged the knights to display exemplary honour and integrity to the betterment of mankind, society and glory of God. “From that bigger family to the village, what you do; your pluses and minuses are checked, your actions and your inactions; reason being that sometimes you can be the Bible people can read. “And because you are the only Bible, people watch what you are saying as a Knight. What you see or hear, what you do, how you address things, your approach to that thing, that land that is being contested, belonging to an orphan, and so you know as a Knight or Lady that this land truly belongs to this person and you keep your mouth shut instead of testifying that this is the rightful owner, and that land is wrongly taken away from the orphan. “
So, it’s not only the person who pulls the trigger that kills, you are part of pulling the trigger if you don’t do what is right and refuse to say what is right, or act what is right. So, your actions and inactions must be checked at all times. From the village to the town; the same thing, from the town to the state, from the state to the entire Federal Republic of Nigeria, your actions and your inactions must be watched.” He emphasised the essence of ethical conduct, professionalism and attention to detail. “Some of us are captains of industry, architects, engineers, professionals, lawyers, professors; people of all walks of life. And so, people are watching what you do as KSM or as an LSM; your actions and inactions, because there you are like a candle that is lit, and you are supposed to illuminate the entire world. “You don’t light a candle and hide it under the table.
Therefore, at all times, you must check your actions and your inactions and see that you are fair to all concerned and you are noteworthy. “If you move outside the framework of this family, we have Knights that are commissioners, judges, senators, members of the house of representatives, and even special advisers. So, at every point in time because of KSM, you must act ethically. You must be an ethical practitioner, an ethical Knight or an ethical Lady with full sense of responsibility, and at all times with attention to details to what you are doing. Your pluses and minuses must be checked. “Your actions and your inactions must be watched. Your honour and integrity; say the truth at all times and do what is right. Being an ethical Knight or ethical Lady is very key.” Speaking further, Sir Mbelede described KSM as an Order that has etched itself as a global brand.
According to him, KSM is a brand. “And it remains a brand because we are a family Order. We have the Knights, we have the Ladies and we have our youths. So, it’s a brand. And because KSM is a brand, you have to watch and monitor, and guard that brand jealousy. And the only way you can do this is being an ethical Knight, doing what you are supposed to do as and when required, not being an impartial judge.” He reminded the knights and ladies that all Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life, and to the perfection of charity as he urged them to strive to become saints.
… Love, teamwork are powerful motivators for growth – Lady Obah, Nobel President
Lady Ngozi Anthonia Obah, Noble President, Ladies of St. Mulumba (LSM) Nigeria, congratulated the Lagos Metropolitan Council for the creation of three Sub-Councils – Ajao Arepo and Sagamu Sub-councils. She urged the Worthy Brothers and Sisters to love one another, stressing that love edifies, builds, enhances and lifts everyone as well as the society. According to her, love is the most powerful motivator for growth. In her words, “I just want to tell the newly created Sub-Councils that for you to succeed, you must love one another. We talk about love every day, every moment, every hour, every minute of the day, yet, it is the most difficult thing for us to do. “
For you to succeed, you must love one another. You must work in one love. Forget about whatever differences you might have had in other Sub-Councils. Come together as a Sub-Council, both the LSM and KSM, and work as a family. Recalling the Supreme Knight’s description of KSM as a brand, she enjoined all the Grand Knights and Lady Presidents to keep the brand growing, paying attention to respect and teamwork. “Each time we talk about KSM as a family, I feel so happy. But there is need for us to improve in our quest for family-hood. “Let us love one another in whatever we are doing. Let us tell ourselves the truth.
The integration should rather bind KSM and LSM the more. Worthy Brothers should work harmoniously with the Sisters, so also the Sisters. Grand Knights should work harmoniously with the Lady Presidents, so also the Lady Presidents. If we have issues in the course of our respective leadership endeavours, let us resolve them.” She however, prayed God to bind everyone together and grow KSM with LSM to greater heights. For his part, the Metropolitan President, Sir Don Ezeh expressed appreciation to members of the Sub-Council Creation Committee led by Sir Lawrence Ojemen for their contributions, commitment of time that led to the success of the event.
We really thank God because you know the intricacy of this; the amount of efforts that went into this, from the time last year when we set up the Ojemen Committee through all the deliberations up and down, some say yes, some say no, but at the end of the day, we got to the meeting point, we landed, and we landed strongly. He charged the Knights and ladies to uphold the KSM brand values, the essence of what the Order stands for.
… Don’t renege on your promise to build formidable Sub-Councils – Sir Ezeh, Metro Grand Knight
Sir Ezeh charged the members of the three new Sub-Councils of Ajao, Arepo and Sagamu not to renege on their promises to build formidable Sub-Councils. He said, “I congratulate you. But please also know that our eyes are on you. You must accomplish the promises you have made. A lot of you made lot of promises when we said should we go ahead with this or should we not, and you kept saying yes.
In fact, you were swearing every minute that you will remain feasible and viable, in fact, you will be first in the donations you are required to do. “You made all that promise, part of which is on growth. You said you will grow your Sub-Council satisfactorily. So, we are holding you to that. Part of it is the financial. “I want to stand on the basis you have given that you will run these Sub-Councils to be vibrant and to be viable and to grow. But the work starts now.”
