“Prayers can climb Mount Kilimanjaro, cross oceans, penetrate walls, shoot into the skies, and descend into the earth. There is power in prayer,” he said in his homily during the Pan African Catholic Charismatic Renewal Congress organized under the theme, “Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”
Reflecting on the theme of the August 14-20 Congress that is being held in the West African nation for the first time, Archbishop Kaigama said that every follower of Jesus Christ is called to “rise and shine” through preaching the good news in words and in deeds, aspects that can involve trials.
“Our Christian faith in Africa has been tried and tested; the martyrs of Uganda are an example, and the killing of priests, the kidnappings and bombings experienced by many Christians in Nigeria seem to confirm what Jesus foresaw when He said a time will come ‘when everyone who puts you to death will consider that he is offering an excellent service to God,’” he said, citing John 16:2.
The Catholic Archbishop who has been at the helm of Abuja Archdiocese since November 2019 went on to underscore the value of Africa having provided refuge for Jesus, and challenged members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Africa to recognize the role of Africa in the history of salvation and contribute to the fight against vices on the continent.
“There were Africans from Egypt and Libya among those who experienced the first Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:10). So, it is our duty in Africa to wage a war to dislodge sin, corruption, bad governance, social vices, and religious bigotry in the world,” he said, adding that the war against the vices can be won if Christians allow gospel values to be their guide.
Making reference to Ephesians 4:6, the Nigerian Archbishop further said, “We are called to overcome artificial divisions imposed on us by colonial powers, living as our brothers and sisters’ keepers because we have ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all.’”
The 65-year-old Archbishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in April 1995 as Bishop of Nigeria’s Jalingo Diocese acknowledged with appreciation the religious nature of Africans, and emphasized the need to put to good use “spiritual gifts to foster discipline and order in our society, not to cause disunity or confusion.”
“Many today use spiritual gifts of prophecy, healing, and speaking in tongues to attract attention to themselves rather than to Jesus, a kind of personality cult,” Archbishop Kaigama lamented in his homily on the second day of the weeklong 5th Pan African Catholic Charismatic Renewal Congress set to conclude on August 20.
He added, “As soon as some people discover that they have a spiritual gift, they drift away from the Church, believing they need no ecclesial authority; some commercialize the gospel emphasizing only healing and prosperity.”
“We ask our Blessed Mother to help us to be shining lights in Africa and indeed in the world where strife, selfishness, materialism, bloodshed, and violence prevail,” Archbishop Kaigama said in his August 15 homily, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
