Blog & Pastor Letters

Two Fish, Five Loaves and Food Politics

07-25-2021Weekly ReflectionRev. Victor C. Yakubu

I took a course a few years ago on multiculturalism. Apart from passing the subject as a requirement toward my master’s degree, I also studied it with a passion for the sake of my priestly ministry. The professor emphasized that the first step to integrating different cultures is by inviting friends to share a meal. When friends come together to share a meal, they can taste different dishes not familiar to them. And when people come together to eat, they begin talking about themselves. Thus, the people become more familiar, and they begin to laugh.

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My Memories of Pope John Paul II

07-18-2021Weekly ReflectionRev. Victor C. Yakubu

As I read the readings and reflected on them for this Sunday, the images of Pope John Paul II began to flash in my mind. For no reason, I began to replay the visits he made to Nigeria in 1982 and 1998. Even as I type this message, there is so much to say about him. Yet I am happy that I got to see him not in the bureaucratic enclosures of the Vatican but in my town of Kaduna and in Abuja. He gave me inspiration as a young man from Africa to strive to be like him. And the one thing I wanted to be was become a priest and shepherd the people of God. And indeed I made it by the power of God.

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Transformation on the Highest Point

07-11-2021Weekly ReflectionRev. Victor C. Yakubu

Flying fascinates me. Long distance flights are my best. I relax, read a bestseller, a news magazine, listen to good music and then smile at the beautiful air hostesses. I do so with respect but with a purpose: to get extra attention when I need it. Normally after eating I ask for extra red wine, continue reading and then fall sleep by dreaming my life away. See why I love flying? But that is not all. What fascinates me most about air travel is that every time I am at 36,000ft. Above Sea Level, I see visions of my life clearly like in a crystal glass and hear voices as audibly as my music. Mostly I hear topics related to what I do or what I should be doing with my life. I am serious about this.

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The Message and the Messenger: Some Lessons

07-04-2021Weekly Reflection

The work of a messenger is to communicate the message of a superior power. The ability to deliver the message can either win you friends or enemies. This is the reason why we need to differentiate between the message and the messenger. The messenger is only doing his work, while the message is meant to save or improve our conditions. Ezekiel was a messenger chosen to deliver messages to the people of Israel. The Lord said to him, “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day. Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you.” He was condemned rather than praised for his work. Such is the sad tale that has followed the prophets of God down through the ages.

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Have Faith

06-27-2021Weekly ReflectionRev. Victor C. Yakubu

Christianity has to do with building up your faith in Jesus. There are many things you can learn from the Catechism class, from your parents and from your peers. But it all depends on your personal disposition to translate this information into your spiritual life. It is said that “you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him to drink it,” this applies to our lives as human beings in the sense that we have all the tools necessary for our spiritual growth, yet we take many things for granted.

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The Catholic Christian and the Body of Christ

06-06-2021Weekly ReflectionRev. Victor C. Yakubu

I have visited several Catholics in private homes, hospices, and hospitals in need of the anointing of the sick and communion in my priestly practice. In discussing the Catholic faith with them, they always tell me, ‘Jesus is important to me.’ The sacraments of the anointing of the sick and Holy Communion bring Jesus to those in need of God’s presence especially when sick and cannot attend Mass. While anointing brings healing to their souls, the Eucharist strengthens them to bear the pains of suffering.

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Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

05-30-2021Weekly ReflectionRev. Victor C. Yakubu

The teaching of the Church on the Most Holy Trinity is clear. The Trinity is a tripod of three persons in one God. They are not three gods but three persons in one God, undivided in unity and equal in majesty. The history of this teaching goes back to the promulgation of the Council of Nicaea in 325 A. D. when Emperor Constantine called an assembly of bishops and leaders of the Church.

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The Church and Constant Renewal by the Holy Spirit

05-23-2021Weekly ReflectionRev. Victor C. Yakubu

I remember attending Mass in my community as a young man, with Latin as the main language. You can imagine my confusion singing in Latin while having a limited vocabulary of English as my fourth language. With three native languages in my head, I could hardly follow Latin, but the rhythm and rhymes amused me so much that I could easily mumble everything with the congregation. With some Latin, I felt I belonged to the Church just like the missionaries who promoted it. One Sunday, the Irish priest surprised everyone. He announced at Mass that the choir could sing in their native language and beat the drums. He began to preach to the people in their native language. The reforms he was bringing impressed me. The congregation was more impressed so much so that subsequent Sundays witnessed large crowds in the pews. The Catholics invited others because the renewal considered by the Irish priest recognized their language as part of the language of the Universal Church.

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Conclusion— Apostolic Exhortation / Veneremur Cernui - Down in Adoration Falling

05-16-2021Weekly ReflectionBishop Thomas J. Olmsted

104. If God were to offer to do an amazing work to foster faith in the Church and in the world today, what would we ask? We may like to ask for signs and wonders, lightnings and fire, like the pillars of cloud and fire as in the Exodus with Moses. Or we may ask for Eucharistic miracles like bleeding or levitating hosts to deepen our faith in the Eucharist. Perhaps we would simply ask for cultural circumstances to be more favorable to religion.

105. None of this would do any good with respect to faith. Saint John Henry Newman in a sermon entitled “Miracles No Remedy for Unbelief” recalls the Lord’s words that the Israelites “refused to believe in me, despite all the signs I have performed among them” (Numbers 14:11); and that chief priests and pharisees called a council to put Christ to death because he “is performing many signs” (Jn 11:47). Newman’s sobering conclusion is that “nothing is gained by miracles, nothing comes of miracles, as regards our religious views, principles, and habits”. He knows that too often we find our ourselves having gone “year after year with the vain dream of turning to God some future day”. What should we ask from God, then, to strengthen faith?

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Christianity and the Jesus Open-Door Policy

05-09-2021Weekly ReflectionRev. Victor C. Yakubu

Hiking up to the zenith of Mont Sinai is a daunting task. I began the climb from St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of the mountain with other pilgrims from different parts of the world. It was cold and chilly. The monks told us there has not been snow for a long time. Anyway, the snow began to melt, and we were told it was safe to start the climb. Meanwhile, they gave us hot tea to warm us up and we were dressed up in all kinds of protective gear. I wore mine carefully and covered my head allowing only my eyes the honor of directing my sight.

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Christians and the Image of Jesus as the True Vine

05-02-2021Weekly ReflectionRev. Victor C. Yakubu

C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity is a must read for all Christians. Lewis was an Oxford University professor who became an atheist and later converted again to Christianity. After his reconversion he decided to write the little treatise on Christianity based on his radio interviews on the common beliefs that Christians share without going into the complications of theology, dogma, or doctrine. Lewis intended with his book, to present the Christian faith in simple forms without offending theologians and leaders of the Christian faith. He wanted those who professed atheism as a way of life, to reconsider conversion just as he did.

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