Tuesday 1st October
2019. Read Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72, Ephesians 2:13-22 and Matthew
2:13-15.19-23.
_“Rise, take the child and his
mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about
to search for the child, to destroy him.” *(Matthew 2:13)*_
In Nigeria, October First is the day we
as a country marked our “freedom” from British Colonial Rule, thereby
transcending into self-rule. It is almost six decades now but it is quite clear
that things are far from being at their best given the great potentials we see
every now and then. While individual Nigerians are doing great exploits in almost
all fields of life all over the world, Nigeria as a country suffers from a very
bad reputation internationally.
One thing is clear; not many
Nigerians today are proud of being Nigerians and if given the chance, over half
of our population would prefer to become citizens of other countries. This includes
those agitating for self-rule (such as Biafra) which is not surprising for a
country that was created by the British primarily to serve British colonial interests.
A day like this provides another opportunity to pray and hope for a better tomorrow.
It is in the light of this hope that
our first reading today is taken from a portion of Isaiah that speaks of a time
when things would be well. Re-reading this passage in Nigerian terms, it would
appear like this: “On that day, there shall come forth, a leader and the Spirit
of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord… He
shall not steal our money… he shall not be an ethnic bigot… he shall decide
with equity for the meek… he shall not tell us lies… righteousness shall be the
belt of his waist…”
In fact, when this God-appointed
leader comes, the Psalmist sings: “In his days, shall justice flourish and
great peace forever.” He shall save the needy when they cry, the poor, and
those who are helpless, he will not send EFCC after his political enemies while
the real thieves walk freely, he will not go on months of medical tourism while
our hospitals have become dignified mortuaries, he will not send his children
to school abroad while our universities lie in shambles, he will allow free and
fair elections, he would use monies meant for Nigeria for the good of all Nigerians.
We know that this shoot from the
stump of Jesse as prophesied by Isaiah is Jesus Christ who came in the fullness
of time to make all things right. Just as Mary was instrumental to the coming
of Jesus, Nigeria as a country is dedicated to our Mother Mary in the hope that
she would plead with God on our behalf to give us such a leader who will bring
peace. A leader like Jesus Christ who as our second reading says, destroyed the
hostility among men through the Cross. We need a leader who will not encourage
division by making certain persons feel like they have no share in the
commonwealth of Nigeria.
We are so assured that things will be
well for this country as we ask Mary’s intercession. Apart from the fact that
she quickly intervened at the wedding feast at Cana, Mary is a woman who
understands the meaning of hardship. Our Gospel passage today tells us how
Joseph had to wake Mary up in the middle of the night (a few days after she
delivered the baby Jesus) to run to Egypt. Mind you, Mary was already stressed
up from the journey they embarked upon to take a census. They had nowhere to
stay other than a manger where animals were kept and Mary, just like a majority
of Nigerian women (not minding its two thousand years after) gave birth without
professional medical care.
Our Gospel passage today ends by
telling us how Jesus became identified as a Nazarene simply because upon their return
from Egypt, Joseph and Mary settled in a city called Nazareth. Unfortunately,
this is not the case in Nigeria. A person is not considered a native of a place
even if he was born and brought up there. Ethnicity is one big problem that has
prevented Nigeria from moving forward. If for instance, my parents are from the
south and I was born and brought up in a place like Kano, (up north), I am
never identified as a native of Kano and no matter how good I am, I cannot
become the governor of Kano. What parable can I use to describe Nigeria? We are
like people living in the stone age but want to enjoy by all means the
facilities of the twenty-first century.
Time has come for us to drop our ethnic
baggage behind. Time has come for us to stop putting people in boxes just because
of where they come from or the language they speak. Let us love our fellow
Nigerians. Let us begin to think of what we can do for Nigeria and not be
solely concerned about how to eat from the National cake.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, your mother
understands hardship, as we honour her today as Queen of Nigeria, may she
intercede for us. Amen.
Happy Independence Day. Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Feast of Our
Lady Queen of Nigeria. October 1st. Bible Study: Isaiah
11:1-10, Psalm 72:1-17, Ephesians 2:13-22 and Matthew 2:13-15.19-23).
No comments:
Post a Comment