…As Agege Deanery organises prayer for 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope
The Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Catholic Archbishop and Metropolitan See of Lagos, has asked Nigerians, especially Christians and Catholics in particular, not to stop praying for the country to overcome her multifaceted problems of security, political and economic crises, among other vices holding her down, noting that there is light at the end of the seeming dark tunnel.
Archbishop Martins stated this on Monday, September 16, 2024 at St. Kizito Catholic Church, Iju, Lagos, during the Mass to kick-start the 2025 year of prayer tagged: “Jubilee Year of Hope,” declared by the Universal Church, and held simultaneously across the 20 Deaneries in the Archdiocese. The prelate who spoke through Very Rev. Fr. Jude Abulu, Parish Priest, St. Catherine Catholic Church, Alakuko, Lagos and chaplain of Laity Council in the Deanery, quoted severally from the Holy Book (Lk.18: 1, Lk 21: 36), and Catechism of the Church to prove the efficacy of prayer by lifting up our hands and raising our voices in supplication, asking God for our daily needs; praying for our neighbours, families, friends; that God hears us.

He emphasised on the essence of prayer of supplication, approach the altar with Thanksgiving, even if what one is seeking for is delayed, adding that praying in faith, be constant and steadfast, with the assurance that the breakthrough would come one day. Very Rev. Fr. Richard Fasuyi, Parish Priest of St. Cyprian Catholic Church, Oko-Oba, in a remark, enjoined the faithful to read the Word of God, concentrate and meditate on a particular portion of the Scripture, frequently go to what he described as mountain of life, the altar erected within the family home, go down on our knees to establish personal relationship with God, and say the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.
According to him, prayer is the oxygen of life, and food for the soul, stressing that when one stops to pray, he or she is inviting Satan to take over, and prayed, that shouldn’t be the case. Very Rev. Fr. Sebastian Ngene, Dean of Agege Deanery and host of the event thanked all those who worked assiduously to make the programme a huge success; the priests, sisters, religious, faithful, all drawn from the 14 Parishes of the Deanery, the organising committee, and his Grace for his support in the overall success of the beginning of the year of prayer in the Archdiocese. The prayer activities which coincided with the feast of SS Cornelius, Pope and St. Cyprian, Bishop, featured Rosary recitation, Stations of the Cross, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Intercessory prayer, Confession, and the Mass to round off the event.