Revered Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Ignatius Kaigama on Sunday stirred a drama at St. Anthony’s Parish, Yangoji where he took on pastors whose conduct are not the ways of God.
He said many self-made pastors have ruined many families by introducing division and sometimes caused the women to transfer their trust to them.
Kaigama also said there is increasingly prophesying-pastors, vision-seeing, or tongue-speaking men of God, who are more obstacles, a stumbling block to eternal salvation because many of them are beneficiaries of lucrative pecuniary advantages.
According to him, God, symbolized by Jesus Christ is angry with them because they have deviated from the norms of good for evil.
The cleric in his Homily titled, “Cleansing The Temple Of Our Hearts”, said the occasion was his first official pastoral visit to the parishioners, since the arrival of Rev. Fr. Nicholas Ekemann, successor to the former parish priest who was kidnapped and released after many days of being in captivity.
He said, “In a society without laws, chaos reigns supreme. For instance, imagine if killing of a fellow human was legal, life will have no value anymore. Even though there are laws guiding and protecting human life and dignity in Nigeria, some perpetrators of evil still find it as a thing of joy to kill others without the slightest compunction, people created in the image and likeness God who says, ‘do not kill.’
“In the Gospel reading, Jesus, filled with righteous anger, drives out the money changers and merchants who were profaning the house of God, defiling God’s sanctuary. This act of Jesus reveals that there were people who went to the temple but had no true devotion to God.
“Just as Jesus cleansed the temple, the physical edifice, we too must strive to cleanse our hearts and minds of anything that hinders our relationship with God and make room for God’s presence in our lives, because we are the temples of the Holy Spirit
“Jesus righteous anger teaches us that God may be merciful, but His stance for the right thing to be done never changes. We are not expected to be silent or indifferent while things go wrong in our homes, offices, and wherever else.
“We Christians respect the Church as a house of God and not a business centre, not a commercial company, not a family inheritance or where deceit or empty promises take place. There are several things that Jesus frowns at today both in the Church and in the wider society.
“Like Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers, so does He frown at the needless inflation table of Nigeria and the attendant hunger and deprivation. Jesus also frowns at some houses of prayer in Nigeria which have become business centres where the emphasis by their founders is material acquisition rather than eternal salvation.
“Jesus also frowns at the corrupt economic practices in our country: the mismanagement of funds, embezzlement of public wealth and the widening gap between the rich and the poor, coupled with the worsening economic situation which continues to make life unbearable for ordinary Nigerians.
“Jesus frowns at indecent dressing by some Christians who come to Church as if they are coming to a theatre show. They wear very skimpy dresses, shoes that make them walk awkwardly, transparent dresses that reveal what they are wearing under, some leave half of their upper chest half uncovered; men also wear dresses that they would not wear if President Tinubu called them to go and visit him.
“Many, while in Church get lost in the use of their mobile phones. Even if as some claim the sermon is not exciting why not just be still and just experience the holy presence of God. Some church goers want drama in the church, sermons that concentrate on prosperity and miracles. Some pastors who are more of motivational speakers than ‘men/women of God’, capitalize on this to push people to do unimaginable things, such as a pastor telling a woman not to listen to her husband; to do strange things such as standing naked at midnight to pray or visiting a grave at night claiming it is what the Lord has said.
“Many self-made pastors have separated families by introducing division such as when they speak emphatically that one wants to kill the other or the children and sometimes causes the woman to transfer her trust to the person of the pastor. Many are beneficiaries of lucrative pecuniary advantages which explain why we are witnessing increasingly prophesying-pastors, vision-seeing, or tongue-speaking men of God, who are more obstacles, a stumbling block to eternal salvation.
“Jesus also frowns at those who attack innocent citizens for sentimental tribal or religious zeal as witnessed in different parts of Nigeria. When somebody is alleged to have publicly called for the killing of a Nigerian because of her faith and nothing is done by those who should take action, one wonders what kind of a country we are. Lord, have mercy! May this season of Lent transform our lives as Christians, transform Nigeria as a nation, and those evil planners or doers among us in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Friday Olokor, Abuja
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