SYNOD ON YOUNG PEOPLE FROM AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

The Synod on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment was officially declared open on October 3rd 2018 and will be brought to an end on October 28th 2018 at Rome, Italy. Some preparatory questions were addressed to the different continents across the world.  The aim of these questions is to assist the ecclesial bodies to express their understanding of the world of young people and assess their experience of vocational accompaniment, in order to gather information for drafting the work- document known as Instrumentum laboris. The following questions were addressed to Africans:

Question 1. What plans and structures in pastoral vocational care for young people best respond to the needs of your continent?

Answer: Pastoral Care are those practices that supports the spiritual, moral and social well‐being, welfare and development of children and young people. Pastoral Vocational Care are those practices that has to do with the discernment, promotion and formation of young people. Vocation itself is a calling!

The current pastoral vocational care for young people is not yielding the expected fruit because the method of formation is not just strange to the African youths it is also directly against the African Value of Communal and Religious Life. A strict clerical and hierarchical structure of formation has little or nothing to do with the pastoral care of the people.

The Holy Father, Pope Francis, told his pastors, “...be shepherds with the smell of sheep,” so that people can sense the priest is not just concerned with his own congregation, but is also a fisher of men." A priest that is completely isolated from the people cannot smell like the people. A priest that is self-centered and clerically minded can never smell like his sheep. A priest that is hand-picked by the power that be is not the priest of the people. What we need in Africa is a people-oriented priests, a priest of the people, by the people and for the people.

Question 2. What does “spiritual fatherhood” mean in places where a person grows without a father figure? What formation is offered?

Answer: This is the most realistic and practical question as long as Africa is concern. This question considers countries like Nigeria where so many children have lost their fathers through insurgencies such as Boko Harran and herdsmen killings. If these orphans grow up without any father figure their lives the idea of spiritual father makes little or no sense. Worst still, they will find it difficult to relate with God as their Heavenly Father.

The way forward is for the Church to establish an orphanage home in all the dioceses in Africa where such orphans will have access to practical pastoral care. A father figure can be provided for such homes. St, James declares, Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress..." (James 1:27).

c. How do you communicate to young people that they are needed to build the future of the Church?

Answer: The African youths don't need anybody to tell them that they are needed in the Church. There is vocation boom in places like Nigeria. Unemployment must have contributed to this increase in vocation. So many young people who wants to serve in the Church are rejected. Instead of frustrating these young vocations the Church in Nigeria and other parts of Africa should harness these vocations and send them to areas like Western world and even Northern parts of Nigeria where Pastors are needed.  This was exactly what the Irish Church did when they had their own vocation boom.   A day is coming when the economy of Africa will improve, the Church will look for vocation and they will not find it!  

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF RURAL WOMEN

October 15th is International Day of Rural Women. It is a day set aside to recognize the indispensable role and the contributions of rural women, especially in the area of food security, poverty eradication, agricultural development and in fact, rural development in general.

Women at the rural areas are facing a lot of challenges. As we celebrate this year's International Day of Rural Women I want to use this medium to highlight some of the challenges facing women at the rural areas. With hope that those concerned will take note and act accordingly to address some of these challenges.

Discrimination against Women is quite obvious in the rural areas. Here in most African communities, women are not allowed to participate in the council of elders which is the highest governing body where major decisions are taken. Rural Women can only take orders from their husband, even when those orders are not in their favour.

Oppressive cultural practices: here are so many oppressive cultural and traditional practices in rural areas. Unfortunately, a good number of them are not favorable to women. For instance, the Female Genital Mutilation, widow inheritance and oppression, couple with domestic violence.

Poor farming equipments: Most of the food that are consumed in the society are produced by rural women. Unfortunately, these women have no access to mechanized farming equipments. They depend only on poor manual tools, which are energy consuming, with poor result.

 

Bad roads: Most of the roads leading to farmland and even in most parts of the rural areas are in bad shape. The major challenge facing women at the rural areas is the means to transport farm products from farmland to the nearest market places. As a result most farm produce are abandoned in the farmland where they get rotten.

Poor Storage system: Most of the food and even fruits that are produced by rural women are seasonal. Unfortunately, the system of storage is so poor that these poor women have no means of preserving their produce. They watch helplessly and hopelessly as their produce get spoiled due to poor storage system.

Poor power supply: Power supply remains a mirage in rural areas. Most of the rural dwellers have no access to stable power supply. That is one of the major reasons why the youth are trooping out of the rural areas, thereby leaving their poor parents in darkness and suffering.

These challenges notwithstanding, most of the food that are consumed in the areas and even in the cities are produced by women. Rural women are the most hardworking group in the society. Most of the farm land are maintained by women. Few days before market day these women will go to farm, harvest their products, process them. If it is cassava, for instance, they will be the ones that will pill them, grind them, and after processing them, the next day, they will still be the ones that will take them to the market for sell.

After selling their goods this same women will still do the shopping. meanwhile on that same market day the men will gather together in the name of elders meeting where they will relax with gallons of palm wine. As soon as the poor woman comes back from the market she will drag herself into the kitchen and start cooking. Most of the rural women usually cook with firewood and you can imagine the heat that emanates from firewood. After cooking she will still be the one to serve and service her husband. A woman that does all these deserves the respect of all. She must be celebrated! 

The book of Proverbs celebrate such women in the following poetic words: " Who can find a capable wife? She is far more precious than jewels.  The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will not lack anything good.  She rewards him with good, not evil, all the days of her life. She selects wool and flax and works with willing hands.  She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from far away.  She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and portions for her female servants.

 She evaluates a field and buys it; she plants a vineyard with her earnings.  She draws on her strength and reveals that her arms are strong. She sees that her profits are good, and her lamp never goes out at night. She extends her hands to the spinning staff, and her hands hold the spindle. Her hands reach out to the poor, and she extends her hands to the needy. She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all in her household are doubly clothed. She makes her own bed coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known at the city gates, where he sits among the elders of the land. She makes and sells linen garments; she delivers belts to the merchants. Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come.  She opens her mouth with wisdom and loving instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the activities of her household and is never idle. Her sons rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her:  “Many women are capable, but you surpass them all!” Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. Give her the reward of her labor, and let her works praise her at the city gates." (Proverbs 31:10-31)

The rural women and the capable woman of the book of Proverbs shares something in common - and that hard work. rural women are the most hardworking people in the society. They are the ones that get things done both in the family and in the communities. As Margaret Thatcher rightly declares, "If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman." As long as rural women is concerned, action speak louder than words. They are homebuilders. The home is incomplete without women.

These vital roles notwithstanding the Holy Father, Pope Francis observed, "Unfortunately today we see how the figure of woman as an educator in universal fraternity is blurred and often unrecognized due to many evils that afflict this world and which, in particular, affect women in their dignity and in their role... However, women have a key role to play in a serene and effective way." 

The united Nations also affirms what the Holy Father said concerning women, especially those in the rural areas, according to them, "women and girls in rural areas suffer disproportionately from multi-dimensional poverty. While extreme poverty has declined globally, the world’s 1 billion people who continue to live in unacceptable conditions of poverty are heavily concentrated in rural areas. Poverty rates in rural areas across most regions are higher than those in urban areas. Yet smallholder agriculture produces nearly 80 per cent of food in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and supports the livelihoods of some 2.5 billion people. Women farmers may be as productive and enterprising as their male counterparts, but are less able to access land, credit, agricultural inputs, markets and high-value agrifood chains and obtain lower prices for their crops." In most African Communities women don't even inherit landed property. That makes it very difficult for them to engage in Agricultural development. Whatever they do is at the mercy of the man who owns the land.

However, the United Nations describes women as key actors in building community, "Women are powerful change agents to address climate change at scale. They are key actors in building community resilience and responding to climate-related disasters. Women tend to make decisions about resource use and investments in the interest and welfare of their children, families, and communities.8 Women as economic and political actors can influence policies and institutions towards greater provision of public goods, such as energy, water and sanitation, and social infrastructure, which tend to matter more to women and support climate resilience and disaster preparedness."

For women to achieve all these we must give them the necessary encouragement. I will also use this medium to appeal to our law makers to  revisit the traditional right of land inheritance. If women at the rural areas are allowed to inherit landed properties they will not just solve the problem of food scarcity they will even contribute greatly in the eradication of poverty. 

I wish all our hardworking women, especially rural women, Happy 

International day of rural women!

TODAY, OCTOBER 10TH IS WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY

YOUNG PEOPLE AND MENTAL HEALTH IN A CHANGING WORLD

Do you know that mental sickness is the most violent, the most destructive and most embarrassing sickness in the world? Do you know that mental illness is quite common among the young people? Do you know that the number of young people that are mentally sick are more than those that are mentally healthy? Do you even know that with our changing world and our lack of care for people with mental ailment the number of mentally challenged young people are likely to increase? What are the possible solution to this perennial problem?

A healthy person is not just one without disease or infirmity. A healthy person must be physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually balanced. Mental health is  a healthy state of mind. It is a state of well-being in which one copes with the normal stresses of life. It is the ability to work effectively and productively. Above all, it is a state where every individual realizes his or her own potential and is able to make positive contribution to the society.

October 10th is World Mental health Day. Incidentally, the theme of 2018 World Mental Health Day is  “Young people and mental health in a changing world." With this theme it is obvious that mental ill-health is associated with young people. According to World Health Organization, "Adolescence and the early years of adulthood are a time of life when many changes occur, for example changing schools, leaving home, and starting university or a new job. For many, these are exciting times. They can also be times of stress and apprehension however. In some cases, if not recognized and managed, these feelings can lead to mental illness."

Unlike other physical illness, mental illness are not easily dictated. They are meanly sickness of the mind.  Unfortunately, in most African societies there are few medical centre where people's mental ill-health can be managed. People in this part of the world hardly go for mental and emotional check-up. 

So many factors are contributing to mental ill-health among the young people. Most of the changes in our modern world are major factors that are responsible for the mental ill-health of our young people.   Most of our young people are living on hard drugs, alcohol and other dangerous substances, which causes damages to the brain. A good number of young people are spending most of their day on pornography, violent and horror films, which often affect their mental, psychological and emotional dispositions. The cyber crimes and bullying is among the factors that contribute to the young people's ill-health. Most of the young people who get involve into cyber crimes (popularly known as yahoo-yahoo) usually enter into occultic covenant; a good number of them even visit native doctors for charm. These charms usually affect them spiritually and even mentally.

Considering the importance of mental health and it's growing impart in the lives of the young people, we have established a mental rehabilitation centre under the title "International Youth Rehabilitation Centre." In addition to those with mental disorder, this centre also caters for drug addicts, ex-cultist, ex-convicts, and even ex-prostitutes. The centre is situated at Maryland Egoro Amede, Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.

God has used this centre to restore the mental health of so many young men and women. A good number of them have fully regained their senses and have been discharged. Apart from medications, counseling and spiritual exercises such as Daily Masses, Rosary, Divine Mercy Prayer and above all deliverance prayers are among the things that usually help people with mental disorder to regain their senses. With centres like this across the nation we are sure to render the most required assistance to our young people. 

WELCOME TO OCTOBER

Welcome to the 10th month of the year. Welcome to October Devotion. Welcome to the month of Divine Independence. The number 10 is a special number, especially in the bible. There were ten commandments, 10 plagues which reflects the completeness of God’s judgment. The 10% of one's tithe is holy unto God. Our Lord Jesus Christ used ten in most of his Teachings and parables. For instance, in his parables of 10 virgins (Matt 25:1-13). 10 lepers (Luke 17:11-19).  10 minas (Luke 19:12-27) and of course, 10 talents (Matt 25:14-30). In this month of October, the Lord will give you the grace to participate in this year's October devotion. He will surely bless you with ten talents. You will not be among the foolish virgins and like the grateful leper you will have enough money to pay your tithe in appreciation to God's goodness in your life. It shall be well with you in Jesus name - Amen!

SEPTEMBER COMES TO AN END!

The month of September has finally come to end but we are still alive. Thank God for all the blessings and favours we have received in this month of September. As the month of September comes to an end every spirit of hardship and setback is coming to an end. The spirit of flooding is coming to an end. From now henceforth God's name will be glorified and it shall be well with you in Jesus name - Amen!

TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CHARITY

Charity is a transformational force, a liberating word and indeed the most powerful and most influential word. Through charity we are liberated from the bondage of selfish, tribalism and self-centered stagnation. Charity is the only channel through which we demonstrate our power of giving. It is the only force that can bring about the long expected transformations in our society. Through charity we are not just influencing the lives of others we are also becoming influential in the midst of others. Our strength lies in giving whereas our weakness lies in greed and grabbing. 

St. James describes charity as the essence of pure religion. According to him, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress..." (James 1:27). Charity is therefore the only way to ascertain whether one's religion is authentic or not. Pope Francis describes charity as the soul of the Church mission: “Charity is at the heart of the Church, it is the reason for its action, the soul of its mission.” Just as human beings cannot exist without a soul, the church cannot exist without charity.

The Qur'an recommends charity for those who are facing hardship: "And if someone is in hardship, then let there be postponement until a time of ease. But if you give from your right as charity, then it is better for you, if you only knew" (Surah 2:280). Surah 3:92 went as far as stating that good reward is for those who are willing to spend in the way of Allah, which is the way of charity: "Never will you attain the good reward until you spend in the way of Allah from that which you love. And whatever you spend - indeed, Allah is knowing of it."   Every act of charity must be rewarded - especially by Allah.

Considering the importance and indispensable role of charity and also in commemoration of the death anniversary of Mother Teresa of  Calcutta, the woman who spent her life caring for the poorest of the poor, the UN General Assembly has declared   September 5th, the commemoration of the death anniversary of Mother Teresa, as International Day of Charity. With this declaration the UN encourages charity donations in order to highlight the importance of charity.

While commenting on the gospel of Matthew 25:31-40 Mother Teresa, the woman whose name is identical with Charity, declares, "At the end of our lives we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by: I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in. Hungry, not only for bread— but hungry for love. Naked, not only for clothing— but naked of human dignity and respect. Homeless, not only for want of a home of bricks— but homeless because of rejection. Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them." For Mother Teresa, therefore, Charity according to our Lord Jesus Christ is the basis of our final judgment.

In a nutshell, Charity is the channel through which we encounter God through our fellow human beings. It is the key that locks the gate of poverty and opens the gate of prosperity. It is the chain that closes the gap between the poor and the rich. Above all, It is the force that closes the gate of hellfire and opens the gate of heaven. With charity your salvation is guaranteed and it shall be well with you in Jesus name - Amen!

DO YOU KNOW THAT SEPTEMBER 2ND IS CALENDAR ADJUSTMENT DAY?

Calendar Adjustment Day is observed every 2nd day of September. It has been observed annually since 1752.

some Catholic countries such as Spain, Portugal, Poland, and Italy adopted the Gregorian calendar (named for Pope Gregory XIII) in 1582, some Protestant countries such as England continued using the Julian calendar. The Julian calendar was rather inaccurate, not properly calculating the time it takes the Earth to orbit once around the Sun. It had a leap year every four years, which is too often, which caused the calendar to be out of sync with the equinoxes and solstices. The biggest change of the Gregorian calendar was a new, more accurate formula for calculating leap years.

In 1851, Great Britain passed the British Calendar Act, which stipulated the adoption of the Gregorian calendar. It also began the new year on January 1 instead of March 25. In 1852, eleven days needed to be dropped in Britain in order for the calendar to sync properly with the other countries in Europe using the calendar. In Britain and the American Colonies, September 2 was followed by September 14. Thus, September 2 is today referred to as Calendar Adjustment Day. 

The best adjustment anyone can make in this life is in the area of repentance. 

We need to adjust our lives from sinfulness to righteousness - from wickedness to benevolence. 

We need to adjust our titles from nobody to somebody

We need to adjust our academics from failure to success

Our marital lives must be adjusted from barrenness to fruitfulness

We also need to adjust our final destiny from eternal damnation to eternal salvation

With these and other essential adjustments your life will never be the same and it shall be well with you in Jesus name - Amen!