Fr Ogundipe Sdv

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The crime-rate had turned upward again. Our schools were total failures and would not, could not get any better. There is a drug and alcohol epidemic in high schools. Divorce rates were increasing. Abortions were at an all time high. A wave of bad news was sweeping the earth and there is nothing anyone could do about it. In Nigeria, everyone is angry, each time I drive on the streets I see nothing but pure anger, humans and non-human are angry looking for who to pour the anger on. Driver, conductor, and passenger even the bus itself is all angry and all hot, too many potholes. Woe betides you when you meet an angry conductor on your way out “and says enter with your change ooo and yet you entered with 1000 naira note. Husband is angry; the wife is getting too fat. Wife is angry; the husband is demanding extra meat with a small amount he drops. In the midst of all this trouble as a Nigerian imagine yourself not making heaven. That is what Fela Anikulapo Kuti called “double wahala for ...

*Theology,  Liturgy  and  Spirituality  of  LENT* - Rev.  Fr.  Paul  K.  OREDIPE  *Introduction*             Jonathan and Johnson were good friends.  Few years ago, on Ash Wednesday, Johnson went to the Church but Jonathan forgot the announcement on the previous Sunday.  When they met in the evening, Johnson was still having the ashes on his forehead.  Jonathan saw this and decided to help his friend, Johnson, to clean the stain on his forehead.  As he cleaned off the ashes, Johnson became so furious and started shouting: ‘you have spoiled my lent, you have destroyed my lent, oh what is this now?  You have broken my lent’.  This led to a long quarrel that was not even settled until the following Christmas feast of that year.             Yes the ashes.  We began this season of Lent on Ash Wednesday with the blessing and distribution of...

EVOLUTION AND THE LOGOS: why Christians should Accept Evolution is real Fr Linus Akali, sdv  *What really is Evolution?* Evolution is simply put as the theory that traces all life to the same ancestry. Over the years, scientists have made the leap into the discovery of the fossil that defines the origin and length of the existence of life. The fossil traces all life to have started some 6 million years ago. It is believe that all life originates somewhat from the same ancestry. The Scripture teaches that God created all things (Gen 1). If God created all things yet all things evolved from one ancestry is there any descripancy? Should Christians accept the evolutionary theory. If so, what happens to the biblical account of Creation?  *Evolution and Religion* Can Christians Believe in Evolutionary Theory? I am pleased with the exposure of this argument. Yes, Christians (especially Catholics) don't have problems with Scientific theory of Evolution. Actually Science ha...

Dearly beloved, today our Saviour is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness.   No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no man free from sin, came to free us all. Let the saint rejoice as he sees the palm of victory at hand. Let the sinner be glad as he receives the offer of forgiveness. Let the pagan take courage as he is summoned to life.   In the fullness of time, chosen in the unfathomable depths of God’s wisdom, the Son of God took for himself our common humanity in order to reconcile it with its creator. He came to overthrow the devil, the origin of death, in that very nature by which he had overthrown mankind.   And so at the birth of our Lord the angels sing in joy: Glory to God in the highest, and they proclaim peace to men of good will as they se...

By Ogundipe Lawrence The Chief speaker at the pilgrimage, Rev. Fr. Paul Ologun Sdv has charged all Christians in Nigeria to deepen their Spiritual journey with God. Speaking recently in Abeokuta at the19th edition of the annual diocesan pilgrimage held on the 7th and 8th of December at the Catholic Bishop's Court in Abeokuta, the cleric noted, “the only sure hope that we have as Nigerians in 2019, is to journey with the Lord."  According to him, “Jesus invites each one of us to make our journey with him especially as we draw to the close of this year 2018 and look forward to the year 2019. If we acknowledge Him and make our journey with him, he has promised to be by our side till the end of time, to face life’s challenges with us. With him at our side, we have nothing to fear, nothing to be afraid of” Fr Ologun pointed out that the theme for the pilgrimage “COURAGE! IT IS I, DO NOT BE Afraid” pre-supposes fear while delivering his pungent and exhortative sermon.  He ...

My Reflection for 33rd Sunday B The crime-rate had turned upward again. Our schools were total failures and would not, could not get any better. There is a drug and alcohol epidemic in high schools. Divorce rates were increasing. Abortions were at an all time high. A wave of bad news was sweeping the earth and there is nothing anyone could do about it. In Nigeria, everyone is angry, each time I drive on the streets I see nothing but pure anger, humans and non-human are angry looking for who to pour the anger on. Driver, conductor, and passenger even the bus itself is all angry and all hot, too many potholes. Woe betides you when you meet an angry conductor on your way out “and says enter with your change ooo and yet you entered with 1000 naira note. Husband is angry; the wife is getting too fat. Wife is angry; the husband is demanding extra meat with a small amount he drops. In the midst of all this trouble as a Nigerian imagine yourself not making heaven. That is what Fela Anikul...

CAN I BE A SAINT? Yes!!!! Saints are drawn from all walks of life, kings, princesses, politicians, clergy men, thieves, harlots, the poor, the rich, children, adult, etc. there is no profession or vocation that is not represented among the galaxy of saints of the Holy Mother church. To be honest saints are part of our family they are our brothers and sisters. You can be a saint if you co-operate with the grace of God that is already sufficient for you. Do you know that saints were not created rather they were made. We all have equal chance to be saints. God, because of his infinite love for humanity gave us free will to choose what is good but often times we chose evil. We are responsible for our choices, yes, our sainthood. All the saints, from St. John the Baptist onwards, agree with one voice that holiness is attained only when we do well what we have to do. It is impossible for one to become a saint if he does not force himself to do what he is expected to do. A most important p...

What is “synodality?” The term is often used to describe the process of fraternal collaboration and discernment that bodies like the synod were created to express. But some critics have suggested that the term is vaguely defined, and could be used in a move toward a more democratic or parliamentary way of governing the Church and teaching doctrine. Dr. Jessica Murdoch, associate professor of fundamental and dogmatic theology at Villanova University, told CNA that while the modern Synod of Bishops was established by Pope St. Paul VI in 1965, the practical reality of synodality is “nothing new.” “What the synod is, practically speaking, is an advisory panel. It is a body which gives the pope a way of discussing the issues of the day, and receiving feedback and advice from the episcopacy. St. Paul VI may have given it its current shape, but the reality is that popes have always done this, consulting with their bishops on different matters, in one form or another.” Murdoch said that ...

This is the story of the Virgin Mary’s miraculous birth   Philip Kosloski | Sep 08, 2018 According to tradition, Mary's parents were barren until God answered their prayers. Little is known authoritatively about the Virgin Mary’s early childhood and family. However, an ancient text from the year 145, called The Protoevangelium of James, provides a narrative that many saints have turned to when wanting to learn more about the Virgin Mary. According to the unknown author, a man named Joachim was saddened at not being able to conceive a child with his wife, Anne. It’s recorded, “Joachim was exceedingly grieved, and did not come into the presence of his wife; but he retired to the desert, and there pitched his tent, and fasted forty days and forty nights, saying in himself: I will not go down either for food or for drink until the Lord my God shall look upon me, and prayer shall be my food and drink.” Similarly, Anne “mourned in two mournings, and lamented in two lamentations, ...