The Catholic Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Most Reverend Felix Ajakaye, has urged Nigerians to continually pray for the country at this most critical period of the nation’s history.
Making references to the scourges of killings and kidnapping ailing the country’s foundation, Bishop Ajakaye said only prayers of the people of God can rescue the nation from the current debilitating position.
The Cleric said this on Wednesday, during a burial mass held in honour of the late reverend Father Raphael Olabode Aborisade at Saint Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State capital.
Father Aborisade, who was consecrated in 1987 as a priest, died on August 18, 2022, at the age of 63.
In his admonition and prayers session for the Church, deceased’s family and the nation, the Human Rights Cleric said, “We have no other nation than Nigeria, we must continually pray for the peace of this land.
“Nigeria needs prayers at this most critical and dangerous time and we must do that relentlessly”.
In his sermon at the well attended burial procession, the Diocese’s Vicar General, Reverend Father Felix Odesanmi, urged Nigerians to stop being materialistic, describing this as the best way to pilot the country to the right path.
Father Odesanmi regretted that material acquisition has become so endemic in Nigeria to the extent that it has started destroying the economy, politics and even the house of God.
“On a daily basis, we think of this world more than heaven. Some of us are getting academic degrees, getting chieftaincy titles, stashing money in banks, buying vehicles and houses, but refuse to think about death.
“We are consoled by the fact that Father Aborisade served God well. The man started the race, finished the race and ended well”.
Father Odesanmi praised the departed priest for his unwavering commitment to the ideals of catholicism, saying his 35 years of service in Catholic vineyard would remain indelible forever.
Father Odesanmi added that father Aborisades’s generosity and dedication to the service of God endeared him to many Catholic adherents and friends, which he said made his death more painful.
“He was a man with a passion for human development . He was till the end of his life a man with an unflinching disposition to build people’s faiths in God.
“This death showed the temporality of human existence and we must learn from it. There is no certain age to die. God will take you when he is ready to take you.
“Let me say this unequivocally, it is only when you live a holy life that you can say you are old. So, his life was rewarding, fulfilling and full of accomplishments”, he stated.
