For members of the Catholic Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria (CAMPAN), their entertainers counterpart (CAEAN), and umbrella body, SIGNIS, Sunday January 24 was a special day as they celebrated their Patron Saint, St. Francis de Sales, at the Catholic Church of Presentation, Festac Town, Lagos. The celebration of St Francis de Sales Feast Day started with the 9:30 am mass which was officiated by the duo of Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu, Parish Priest of Church of Presentation cum Director of Social Communication of Lagos Archdiocese and Rev Fr Cornelius Okeibunor a visiting priest. The mass started with the symbolic enthronement of the Word of God; the Bible, in line with the directive of Holy Father, Pope Francis who last year directed that the third Sunday of the ‘Ordinary Time’ every year be used to enthrone the Word of God in the universal church.
Fr. Okeibunor while delivering the homily noted that all the readings of the day point to the fact that we are already gearing up for season of Lent. The priest while harping on the need for Catholics to make the scripture part and parcel of their lives said the mobile phone is simply useless if it does not have the Bible App. “We must have the Bible app downloaded on our phones. We must visit it every day and make the reading of the Bible in our families a daily affair,” Fr Cornelius said. He stressed that the readings of Sunday, January 24 point towards the season of Lent as they all dwelled on repentance. He insisted that Christians must heed the call of Jesus to repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1: 14-20) and like the sons of Zebedee, James and John we must leave the life of sin and follow Jesus. Fr. Okeibunor was quick to admonish Christians to live out their Christian life by “fishing for men” as Simon and Andrew did by leaving their nets and following the Lord. Fr. Godonu who offered prayers and blessed members of SIGNIS, CAMPAN and CAEAN who attended the mass later hosted them to a brief reception where light refreshment was served. The priest charged the Catholic media practitioners to always uphold the truth and be good ambassadors of the Catholic Church, even as he charged his parishioners to always buy the Catholic Herald, the rebranded Weekly newspaper of the archdiocese, not just for themselves but for their friends.
