Liturgical Celebration Not “a show time”, Nigerian Archbishop Cautions, Urges Restraint

Taking part in the Eucharistic celebration requires preparation, the Nigerian Archbishop said, adding, “Sacramental confession is a necessary preparation for the reception of the Eucharist.”

Reflecting on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi during which the real presence of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is celebrated, Archbishop Kaigama said that for the Catholic faithful, the Eucharist is “the effective balm and medicine even during very violent storms, persecution, controversy, scandalous behaviors arising from human weakness.”

While taking part in the Eucharistic celebration, Christians have “no room for individualism,” he said, adding in reference to the Eucharist, “It is a meal of love and unity that excludes no one, no matter how socially disadvantaged.”

The 62-year-old Nigerian Archbishop who was also celebrating his fortieth Priestly anniversary went on to say, “Since my ordination, the Eucharist has been my sustaining force, my soothing balm, and my source of both spiritual and physical energy and my motivation to forge ahead in my priesthood despite the challenges from within and without.”

“The Eucharist is the noblest of all gifts to me. In the last forty years it has been the oxygen of my priesthood,” Archbishop Kaigama said June 6.

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He decried the high levels of insecurity in the West African nation saying, “As we need spiritual food, so we also need daily physical bread. However, in a situation today when farmers are unable to go to farm due to fear of attacks and killings by bandits, kidnappers and terrorists, our food supply will be grossly limited.”

“A hungry man is not only angry but is today uncontrollably violent,” Archbishop Kaigama said and called on the leadership of Africa’s most populous country to “be proactive with palliatives for the inevitable hunger that will result from this.”

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.