- 17 years of Bishop Olorunmolu’s episcopacy most difficult in Nigeria’s socio-political and economic evolution
Our first reading for this occasion is taken from Chapter 50 of the book of Ecclesiasticus (50:22-24). It is the latter part of a passage that describes a typical Jewish Thanksgiving Liturgy in the Second Temple period of the Jews (about 300 – 270 BC). The thanksgiving celebration was presided over by a well-respected High Priest known as Simon the son of Onias. Simon distinguished himself as a god-fearing, committed, and courageous High Priest, who provided for his people, and worked relentlessly to save them from destruction. He fortified not only the temple of God but indeed the entire city of Jerusalem against external attack or the siege of enemy forces.
The short section of the passage we had for our first reading is the blessing pronounced by the High Priest on the congregation. It is a fitting selection for today by our own High Priest, Martin Olorunmolu, at this Thanksgiving Liturgy to mark his 75th birthday, in good health of mind and body. May the Lord receive our thanks and praise on this occasion. Amen. Since the Diocese of Lokoja was created 59 years ago, we have not had the opportunity until now of witnessing here any of our three former bishops reaching their statutory retirement age, as sitting Bishop of Lokoja. So indeed, we have cause to role out the drums today in gratitude to God whose providential love has seen our Bishop through the rough and tumble of life, and whose amazing graces have sustained him in good health of mind and body through his 75 years sojourn on this side of heaven.
Of these 75 years which we celebrate today, he has been Bishop for over 17 years, and priest for nearly 45 years, having been ordained in this Cathedral on December 23, 1978. I am privileged to have joined Bishop Olorunmolu at the Ss. Peter & Paul Seminary, Ibadan, in 1975, and to have served as his assistant (or curate) at the Sacred Heart Parish, Kabba, for a very brief period of six months in 1982. But it is significant to mention that the mutual understanding and friendship we cultivated during that short period of six months has been maintained till today, and God sparing our lives, it will remain so beyond his retirement. The 17 years of Bishop Olorunmolu’s Episcopal ministry in the Lokoja Diocese have unfortunately been some of the most difficult years in the Nigerian socio-political and economic evolution.
These years have been characterized by widespread insecurity in the land, worsening economic fortunes for the people, and such emergency situations as the 2012 and 2022 flash floods that wreaked havoc on Lokoja and surrounding towns. The circumstances of our people have been further compounded in the last few years by the disaster of a reckless and punitive political leadership, the type which the book of Proverbs alludes to as it declares in Chapter 29:2 that “when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan! Our people have not only been groaning, weeping, and wailing, but for many years now they have been going through psychological depression, dying of hunger and disease, with some even committing suicide, over the unbearable circumstances of dehumanizing poverty and near destitution to which many, especially local and state government workers have been subjected in this jurisdiction.
The bishop and his team of priests and religious have been direct or indirect victims of these challenging circumstances. As bishop, Olorunmolu has had to respond to emergency situations of one priest or the other who has suddenly taken ill, gotten involved in an accident or has had a close shave with armed robbers or killer bandits. He has had to bury a number of his priests, including two former Vicars General. He even suffered the sudden demise of Matthew, his long-time driver and travelling companion. I often felt the anxiety in the voice of Bishop Olorunmolu, when on at least two occasions I called him over the plight of one or the other of our priests who were kidnapped by bandits, and when poor Lokoja Diocese was being harassed to deliver huge monetary ransom in millions, if the kidnapped priest is not to be “wasted.”
Yet, through all these emergency situations, Bishop Olorunmolu has by the special grace of God kept his composure. He has struggled through them with grace and equanimity, daily answering the call of the Lord Jesus to feed my flock and to tend my sheep. The mission of Christ in this jurisdiction has grown in many ways under his leadership, the many challenges notwithstanding. The number of parishes, quasi parishes and chaplaincies have risen from less than 20 in 2006 to over 40 today. With regards to the clergy, we have witnessed what could be described as vocation boom during the 17 years of Olorunmolu’s episcopacy. The five deacons to be raised to the order of presbyter at this ceremony will bring the total number of those ordained by him for the diocese to 50. Considering the small size and meagre financial resources of our diocese, this is indeed a record number.
As Psalm 118:23 says, “It is all the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” Or as we read in Psalm 125:1, “What marvels the Lord worked for us. Indeed, we were glad.” May the Lord receive our thanksgiving offering today. Amen. Now let me turn to the critical matter of the ordination today of five deacons to the Catholic priesthood. These young men are getting into the priesthood in the context of a very vicious, aggressive, and vindictive form of secularism that is accompanied by practical atheism demonstrated in the lives of many modern-day men and women, including even some of those who fill up our Churches on Sundays. The young men before us are getting into the priesthood at a time of widespread loss of God consciousness or the rejection by many of any spiritual reference point for the human person and the human society.
They are getting into the priesthood amidst the growing scourge of crass materialism, senseless consumerism, an unprecedented degree of vanity and vainglory, as well as an ardent devotion to the cult of sensual pleasure, with the accompanying psychopathology which the Psychologist, Viktor Frankl identifies as existential nihilism, which is the widespread loss of any sense of meaning and purpose in human existence. It is this loss of the consciousness of God, and any sense of transcendence in the contemporary society, this rampant rejection among many in our generation of any spiritual reference point, that eventuates in the existential frustration which St. Augustine alludes to when he declares that that “the Lord has created us for himself, and our hearts will remain restless, until they rest in him.”
The Scriptures of our Judeo-Christian religion and the testimonies from all other major religious traditions sufficiently demonstrate that the more human beings move away from God, from the consciousness of spiritual or the supernatural realities, and the more they are motivated almost wholly by materialistic, this-worldly ultimate goals; the more human beings allow themselves to be con sumed and overwhelmed by lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life; the more confused, senseless and restless they become. Yes, as the men and women of our generation move farther and farther away from God, they gradually become disoriented and confused about their true identities, about the purpose of their lives, and about the meaning of their very bodies.
We are witnessing today an aggressive and heavily orchestrated global campaign seeking to compel every country to accept as “fundamental human rights” elements of LGBTQ++. But this amounts to embracing the open display or free expression of abominable sexual perversions and aberrations that for thousands of years nearly all human societies identified as sodomy and therefore never to be heard of. Is it not instructive that multiple psychopathologies, including drug addiction, depression, and suicide ideation, appear to be increasing geometrically in the same age and among the same generation that has witnessed what is called the “sexual revolution,” when men and women are being told that they no longer need to exercise any restrains, and when all inhibitions in sexual expression are gradually being seen as vestiges of a dying primitive era?
The truth that stares modern humanity in the face is the same one that dawned on St. Augustine in the 4th Century A.D., namely, that the human heart is either home-bound or death-bound; and there appears to be no resting place in between! Yet, a cursory survey of the dominant segments of our own youth culture in this country – especially as displayed in popular music and dance and on social media, will reveal that though our Churches are often filled up on Sundays, and though religion still appears to be thriving in our society, all is however not well with us at all. All is not well with us, because our youths are speedily abandoning the path of Christian virtues and values and losing their souls to the prevalent social and moral decadence of the age. Christian youths in this country these days are often the ones with the least respect for religion and religious persons.
They are often the ones blasting the Church, insulting religious leaders, desecrating religious symbols, and recklessly committing blasphemy. Most of the young Nigerians who are today addicted to pornography, and those engaged in Yahoo+ rituals – killing their mothers, and sisters and girlfriends for quick money, are often Christian youth who seem to have lost their way in the world. And so, I turn to you young men, who will soon be answering “Present,”“I am,” I am,” “I will,” “I will… ”and I say to you: Brothers, welcome on board. But braze up for impact. We are in an emergency. And so it is not party time. You are answering the call to the Catholic priesthood at a very difficult time in the world and in our society for truly religious people, not like 1978 when Bishop Olorunmolu was ordained.
The global environment of the time still retained some sense of spirituality and transcendence, and the Nigerian society at that time was still very religious. The powerful purveyors of global culture have today become increasingly secular, aggressively anti-religious and vengefully anti-clerical. So, braze up for impact I say. It is not party time at all. We are at the threshold of a new dark age and a new era of Christian persecution, when truly committed agents of the Gospel of Christ will be challenged to embrace martyrdom that will come from different directions, including even from within. Welcome on board my dear brothers, but I do not envy you at all.
These days, when I see newly ordained priests dancing around and holding parties all over the place on ordination day or soon after, I often say to those around me:“Ewoo, eleyi o mo nkan nkan.” “This one no no anything.” Those who are still relishing or reveling in any measure of clerical triumphalism today are only living in a fool’s paradise, because that era is long gone, and we are back to the Catacombs! I repeat that it is not party time and I do not envy you, because you are soon to commit yourselves to the ancient evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience, at a very difficult and inauspicious time in human history, when an increasing number of men and women, even among those who call themselves Christians, are rejecting the true gospel of Christ, and instead they are choosing to dine with the devil and to give themselves over to the most reckless forms of debauchery, self-indulgence and moral depravity.
Yes, it is not party time, as many in the upcoming generation in our society and elsewhere are becoming like those described by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9, as “fornicators, adulterers, catamites, sodomites, thieves, greedy persons, drunkards, revilers, and robbers…. It is not party time, for the harvest of the Lord is plentiful and the labourers are few. The vineyard of the Lord today is made up of many ignorant but arrogant, fun-seeking, power hungry, enemies of God and enemies of Christ, who shamelessly display and audaciously promote abominably perverse behaviours that insult the sensibilities of god-fearing people of all times. In this kind of degenerate dispensation, you must consider yourselves as being sent out like a flock of sheep among a pack of wolves.
Thus, in case anyone of you is under the illusion that after eight or nine years of seminary formation, and with this ordination ceremony, you have finally arrived, I will say once again very bluntly to those around me: “eleyi o mo nkan nkan,”this oneno no anything.”You have not arrived anywhere. Instead, you are just about to begin what may be a very difficult and challenging spiritual, pastoral and social enterprise.
Your ordination is the beginning of what may be a via Crucis – the way of the cross, which may take you toward Calvary, and therefore it will daily demand of you a high sense of humility, service, self-abandonment and such self-sacrifice that is open to martyrdom; because as I said earlier, the world of today is getting engulfed in the darkness that manifests itself in new forms of paganism, such as we see in the radical Gender, Transgender and Non-Binary ideologies that aim to destroy traditional religious and family values. Such neo-pagan ideologies must be courageously confronted with the light of the Christian gospel.
But there is much more: We are on the verge of a new era of Christian persecution and what I described earlier as a brutally vengeful wave ofanti-clericalism that may turn out to be unprecedented in the history of our Church. Those we require as ministers of the Word and Sacraments today are not persons who have arrived in any way, but Christian pilgrims of exemplary faith and humility, who are daily working out their own salvation with fear and trembling, and who are prayerfully submitting themselves as instruments in God’s hands for the salvation of souls. Those we require as ministers of the Word and Sacraments today are persons of extraordinary courage and fortitude, who accept the call to shine the light of Christ amid the darkness of contemporary society, and to constitute themselves into signs of contradiction to a world of ruthless and aggressive competition for wealth and power, and mindless devotion to the cult of sensual pleasure.
Those we require as ministers of the Word and Sacraments today are persons of faith endowed with prophetic imagination, who, like Jeremiah and Isaiah, and Amos and Daniel, can interpret the signs of the times, as well as offer gospel discernment on the historical circumstances of their people. We are in the midnight hour, and the Ship of Peter is battling amid turbulent waters, as is sufficiently demonstrated in the buildup to the October 2023 Synod on Synodality. At this time of widespread mediocrity, hypocrisy and apostacy among agents of the gospel and even among high ranking personalities in the Church, the Lord requires men and women of extraordinary commitment that would be part of his remnant few, with the fiery spirit of Elijah the Tishbite, the all-consuming passion of John the Baptist, and the missionary zeal of St. Paul – holding the fort, standing in the gap, and putting on the whole armour of God against the wiles of the vicious enemies of God’s people in our day. For as St. Paul reminds the Ephesians, it is not against flesh and blood that we must contend, but against principalities and powers, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, and against the spiritual forces in the heavenly places… Therefore (he says), take on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand firm … and quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one (See Ephesians 6:10-17).
And for you the rest of the congregation, let me say that my admonition to the priests today should not be taken in isolation. Not at all. The challenges we have highlighted above are challenges for all Christians to contend with. All Christians without exception. I will say to the young people gathered in this Cathedral Church today, and especially to young Christian parents, that I do not envy you at all. You will have to practice your Christian faith and raise your children in a world that is becoming terribly hostile to any form of religiosity and spirituality, and particularly hostile to traditional Christian values; a world that is completely different from the one in which Bishop Olorunmolu grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. The principal agents of socialization at the time when Bishop Olorunmolu was growing up were the family, the Church, and the school, in that order. And those whom the children saw as heroes and mentors to be emulated were from among their parents, church leaders and teachers.
But all that has changed today. With the mobile phone in the hands of our children, the television in our homes, and the billboards littering our towns, villages, and highways, the more powerful influencers of our children’s values today are often social media personalities, popular musicians, Nollywood stars, comedians, and sundry entertainers. Many of these celebrities are school dropouts, products of broken homes or dysfunctional families. Many of them are drug and alcohol addicts, serial polygamists, and unrepentant sexual perverts. Some of them are known psychiatric cases. Others regularly display symptoms of one psychopathology or the other. But they are rich and famous. They often have millions of young followers on social media. This is why they are called social influencers and they are regularly recruited as brand ambassadors by corporate organisations.
Thus, in the absence of good parenting, adequate evangelization, effective catechesis, and appropriate pastoral care for our children and youth, these celebrities who are themselves often in need of spiritual, psychological, and social rehabilitation, have unfortunately become the prime influencers, the principal inspirers, the key mentors, and the opinion molders and teachers of our vulnerable and gullible young people. So, once again, I would say that I do not envy our young people, and especially those of you who are young parents. Christian parenting today involves a lot more effort and investment than was required when Bishop Olorunmolu was growing up.
Your children may not turn out to be good Christian children if all you are able to do is take them to Church every Sunday. You will need to do a lot more, with the grace of God. You will need to be Christian parents in all truth and with all seriousness, making your homes domestic Churches, giving loud witness to Christian values, and teaching your children from their earliest days to be signs of contraction to the evil generation, to stand out and shine their light amid the surrounding darkness, and with all boldness to defend the hope that is in them, as St. Peter urges believers in 1 Peter 3:15.
This is by no means an easy task, but with God all things are possible. After all, the Lord has promised us that the powers of hell will not prevail against his Church. On a positive note, however, I hereby declare my belief that the priesthood in the Catholic Christian tradition is one of inestimable, ineffable, and indescribable dignity. It is a privilege, an honour, and a grace, for us weak and sinful men to be called upon to participate in the mediatory role of Jesus Christ the High Priest. In the mystery of the Incarnation, God the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit, stoops down to every man and woman, offering the possibility of redemption from sin and liberation from death. By God’s special grace, we are ministers of this profound reality. By grace, we are mediators between God and humanity, celebrators of the Paschal Mystery, leaders of the Christian community at prayer, ministers of the Lord’s prophetic Word, and we preside over the Church’s programme of pastoral charity.
However, far from being impersonal dispensers of the sacraments, we as priests are called to be living instruments of the mysteries of Christ. We are to preach repentance and conversion to the people, after having experienced repentance and conversion ourselves. May we strive each day to make ourselves amenable to the transforming influence of the Holy Spirit, so that we can more easily become agents of transformation in the world. May the Lord grant us the grace, even in an increasingly godless society, to answer his call to holiness of life and faithful discipleship, so we may be more fitting agents of the gospel for our troubled generation. Let us go forward with courage, knowing that we have at our side the One who called us and who will not abandon us.
May the certainty of his presence sustain, strengthen and comfort us as we undertake the difficult task ahead. Amen. Finally, since we are celebrating the 75th birthday of our bishop, I would like to challenge all the senior citizens here present to take responsibility for the future generation. Many of our young people are today behaving like sheep without shepherds. Many have lost their souls to debauchery and depravity. We need experienced old people in their 60s, 70s and 80s to help these young people answer the most profound and critical question of life’s ultimate meaning and purpose, which they seem to be grappling with daily.In the face of the tragedies and frustrations of life, and especially in the face of the mess which successive generations of rogue leaders have made of this country, Nigeria needs a “remnant few” among our elders, and especially among our religious elders, who have been sufficiently schooled by both the positive and negative experiences of their lives, and who have learnt some of the profound truths of our human existence, so they can now become teachers, inspirers and mentors of the younger generation in a life of discipline, virtue, meaning and purpose.
I therefore challenge all the senior citizens here to take responsibility for the future by using your time and resources, your skills and talents, your rich knowledge and privileged exposures, your successes and achievements, but also your own record of failures and disappointments – from which hopefully you have learnt good lessons–I challenge you to use these experiences to disseminate those values and principles and promote those norms and habits that will make for meaningful existence of future generations of our people. It is in this way that you all will live your lives purposefully, that you will age gracefully, and that at the end, when the Lord calls you, you will have the honour of exiting this world as it were gallantly. Amen. For you, Bishop Olorunmolu and all those who are gathered to celebrate you today, I pray: As we all grow older each day, may we grow wiser.
As we grow older each day, may the good Lord show more of his face to us. As we grow older each day, may the Lord inspire us to send our roots deep into the soil of life’s enduring values. As we grow older each day, may we be prepared to do the much-required detachment and the necessary disengagement here below, which will mark the start of that great destiny that lies in Eternity. Amen. Finally, my dear Bishop Olorunmolu, I am told that you are in a hurry to go to your retirement home – that you threatened to leave as soon as we finish this celebration. No, my lord. Not so soon. You know yourself that, according to the provisions of Canon 401 #1, you remain our Diocesan Bishop until the Holy Father formally communicates to us that he has accepted your resignation. So, until then, you will keep shepherding the flock of the Diocese of Lokoja. May the Lord grant you the required health of mind and body and the other necessary graces to continue your work. Amen.
• A homily by Rev. Fr. George Ehusani at the Thanksgiving Mass in celebration of the 75th Birthday of Bishop Martin Olorunmolu, held recently in Lokoja.
