Fr Ogundipe Sdv

GO INTO THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOOD NEWS:  MARK 16:15,  A SUMMARY ON THE PASTORAL LETTER OF MOST REV. PETER ODETOYINBO THE CATHOLIC BISHOP OF ABEOKUTA DIOCESE, 2018  The Catholic Bishop of Abeokuta, Most Rev. Dr Peter Olukayode Odetoyinbo has emphasised the need to promote the ideals of the kingdom of God through the preaching of the Gospel. The Bishop captures the essence of the missionary mandate in his recent pastoral letter addressed to the clergy and lay faithful of the diocese in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of his episcopal ordination.  The Pastoral message resonates with the continuous effort to improve and promote the missionary activities which are pivotal to the evangelisation programmes in the diocese of Abeokuta. According to the Chief Shepherd, the good news of the gospel must be spread in every nooks and corner of the diocese dethroning the menace of fake news flying everywhere. Every Catholic, particularly in Abeokuta diocese, is ...

WHO IS JESUS FOR US. (A reflection given by Fr Stephen Ibitokun to priests of Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta on the day of priestly sanctification at holy family Catholic church Ewupe) What a very simple question that takes us back to the fundamental root of our Christian calling. The essence of our gathering this day, besides many of our gatherings is to reflect on this. Let us try to answer this question: Jesus Christ is our Savior and Master. Yes He is. That is why we are here on this account as Christians and His disciples. How does our Christian calling make positive impacts on the lives of others in the bid to win more souls/disciples for Christ? “Jesus my Savior is all things to me, Oh what a wonderful savior is He, Guiding, protecting o’er life’s rolling sea, Mighty deliv’rer, Jesus for me.” Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. Yes He is. As His disciples,  we have been called to carry this light wherever we go; to illuminate our lives, society, community ...

CORPUS CHRISTI Today’s Solemnity is a celebration of the gift of the Eucharist “the source and summit of the Christian life.” “The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.” The traditional day for this celebration is the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. The reason Thursday is chosen is because Jesus celebrated the Last Supper on the Thursday before he died when, according to the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke), he shared the gift of himself with his disciples during the Passover meal. Many local churches have moved the celebration to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday. The Passover meal or Seder meal is the meal celebrating the Jewish exodus from slavery in Egypt. This meal has great and profound religious meaning in the Jewish community. It recalls their exo...

SAVE YOUR OFFSPRING, MOTHER LAND By Rev. Fr Linus Akali Ihebirinachi It’s another midnight Though faint, not the darkest night Only the brightest of this nightlight The colors and rays of the moonlight So has become the ordeal of our nights Worst when not time for moonlight The horrors of the darkness Coupled the cries of the helpless People rendered homeless Crying and panting yet helpless While many of their beloved lie lifeless But I call you mother of all Not too late , no not late at all To call to know why you fall So heavily not to raise at all To the tears and weeping of all Can’t forget you for once Brace up your voice To shun  this menace That murder sleeps from the eyes Of these offspring in their innocence O my darling Motherland Who has bruised you so profound That you pant and weep hard Without a moment of joy to find Even with all these blessings you had? Who created such vacuum in your heart That you always fill it with blood Swal...

INTRODUCTION According to the revelation, and within the infallible teaching of the chatholic church our faith requires ut unum Deum in Trinitate et Trinitatem in Unitate Veneremur, neque confundentes personas, neque Substantiam separantes (That we venerate the Unity of God in the Trinity and the Trinity in the Unity, without confusing the persons and without separating the substance) cf Justin Rusollilo Sdv. Heavens Heavens part II p. 18 Paragraph II. The confession of God as Trinity is a great mystery of the Christian Faith. It is the most essential distinguishing factor between Christianity and other world religions. Hence, to be a Christian is to believe in a Trinitarian way. But what actually does it mean to say that God is Trinity? How did Christians in the first instance come to express belief in a triune God and how and why was this belief developed into a dogma? Moreover, why should we as Christians today still believe what we do about the Trinity? The above questions are...

Perhaps you have seen the film: “The gods must be crazy!” The story line began with a family of natives that stumbled at an empty coke bottle. The fascination about, and the quest to unravel the “mystery” behind this strange material plunged the hero and his children into a search. Along the line the event turned out to be a scattered family that was searching for its member, the result was adventurous encounters and a happy end! The story of Mary is also fascinating, even more than an empty bottle of coke among primitive natives. And so, there is the natural human quest and search to unravel the mystery behind the Mother of God. WHO IS MARY First of all who is Mary? According to the teaching of the Church, Mary of Nazareth was an obscure Jewish maiden chosen from all eternity and formed to the Divine plan from the first moment of her existence, she was exempted from any stain of the original sin. She cooperates with the will of God for the salvation of Man. By this most signific...

Today the Holy mother church celebrates ST JOSEPH THE WORKER. The Gospel of Matthew began with the genealogy of Jesus for a particular reason. That is, to insist on the humanity of Christ, that does not interfere with his divinity. However it is pivotal to know that Jesus is both man and God. In today’s Gospel the people asks, is this not the carpenter’s son? Matthew Henry in his commentary said “They upbraid him with his father. Is not this the carpenter's son? Yes, it is true he was reputed so: and what harm in that? No disparagement to him to be the son of an honest tradesman. They remember not (though they might have known it) that this carpenter was of the house of David (Luke 1:27), a son of David (Luke 1: 32); though a carpenter, yet a person of honor.” What then is the soteriological implication of this? St Anslem in his book Cur Deus Homo teaches that to sin is to steal God’s honor. Man sinned, thereby he stole God’s honor which is infinite. If God over looked man’s sin...

PRIESTLY HAPPINESS: A key to personal and communal happiness. My Lord Bishop, Vicars (General and Religious), Deans, Monsignori, very Rev Frs. Frs, permit me to begin this reflection with the words of Chinua Achebe in classical novel “Things Fall Apart” that “A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their own homes. When we gather together at the moonlight in village square, it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so.” My brothers, every time we gather for monthly recollection, it is not because we don’t have chapels in our parishes, but we gather to promote our brotherhood and togetherness in prayers and meditations. This morning, I want to share with you, priestly happiness as a key to personal and communal happiness, meaning that there are many more keys to happiness. But this few tips am about to share with you are basic to our pries...

Here are the Plenary Indulgences Available During Holy Week We all have the opportunity for receiving a plenary indulgence each day of Holy Week. Then Easter Octave. Here’s how to gain them for ourselves and loved ones in purgatory. Joseph Pronechen The plenary indulgences that we can receive on every day of Holy Week actually are of two kinds. Certain ones are specific to Holy Week itself. Certain ones we can actually gain anytime. They’re listed in the Norms and Grants in the official Manual of Indulgences, fourth edition (1999), the latest and most up-to-date edition of the Manual, or Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, the one that replaces all others. First, let’s look at the plenary indulgences specific to Holy Week. Next, we’ll look at those also available during Holy Week plus any time of the year. Then we’ll review the basic mandatory conditions that must be fulfilled for any plenary indulgence. Then we’ll check on “extras.” Holy Week Plenary Indulgences These are the specific ...

- From a sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus, bishop. There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.   Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.   When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny...