Most Rev. Martin Igwe Uzoukwu, Catholic Bishop of Minna Diocese, has admonished his fellow Bishops to pay attention to their motto as a special reference point of prayer. Bishop Uzoukwu who was the Chief Celebrant at the Mass on Day-5 of the first 2024 plenary assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), gave the admonition in the light of the gospel reading of the day where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray.
He said, “The gospel reading of today focuses on one of the most important aspects of our Christian life – prayer. As we all know, prayer is one of the pillars of the season of Lent and its observance. Our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated its importance by teaching his disciples how to pray and he also taught them how not to pray. Christ admonished them in these words, ‘do not heap empty phrases as the Gentiles do…Pray then like this…. So, our reflection is on praying in accordance with the way Christ taught us.”
The homilist also urged the Bishops that as leaders of the Church, they should emulate Jesus by seeing prayer as a necessary ingredient in their ministries as leaders of God’s people, because it links them to God as faithful servants and helps them to faithfully carry out their sacred responsibilities to God’s people under their care. He said: “Prayer supplies the graces we need to face each day and the divine strength for the work entrusted into our hands.
It helps to transform us into the servants who are like their Master who came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a Ransom for many (cf. Mark 10:45).” Quoiting Mother Theresa’s words that “A prayer is not asking, putting oneself in the hands of God – at His disposition,” the prelate said that prayer helps Christians to relate to God in a way that pleases Him and also directs people to seek to do God’s Will at all times.
According to him, “Episcopal motto is a short sentence or phase often grounded in sacred scripture or taken from a prominent prayer, litany, or saint quote that is important to a particular Catholic bishop. It is intended to represent the bishop’s spirituality and theologically-based philosophy of life. It is something each bishop gets to choose himself, to best communicate his testimony of faith to the flock, especially when he steps into such a significant role of leadership in the Church.”
