Jacob BABALOLA (Staff Writer)

A Josephite priest, Rev. Fr. Arnaud Aniou, CSJ has admonished Christians to emulate the early Christians and carry out their responsibilities without being ashamed. Fr. Aniou gave the admonition during his homily themed: “In humility and service, we trust in God” at St Anne Catholic Church, Ogbere, Ibadan on Sunday 3rd May, 2026. The Chief Celebrant of the Mass was Rev. Fr. Vitalis Ikechukwu, CSJ.

The priest, who recalled the celebration of the Good Shepherd Sunday, the previous week, in which all learnt how to be a good leader, since all have received one vocation or the other, even though Christians’ first vocation is to preach the Gospel.

Linking this to the readings of the fifth Sunday of Easter, the homilist asked why Jesus, being God still came out of the tomb with scars of the nails and wounds, even when He could have come out stainless. In answering the question, the priest said it was so, in order to confirm His identity as the same Christ that came, suffered and died, without being ashamed of Himself and so, Christians too should not be ashamed of themselves.

Making reference to the first reading where people of God were fighting over food because of the growth in the Church, Fr. Aniou said it was for Christians of today to learn something from. He explained that the kind of fighting between the Hebrew and Hellenists is still common in our society today but was quick to bring out some lessons from the account of that fighting: how it was handled properly, the courage of the Hellenists in bringing their grievances to the notice of the Church leaders and the generosity of the apostles in bringing the idea of choosing among the people those to handle sharing of food; which eventually consisted of Hebrew and Hellenists, while they, the apostles concentrated on the Gospel preaching.

The homilist therefore enjoined people of God to always approach the leaders of the Church whenever an issue arises, rather than just sitting on the fence, complaining.

Fr. Aniou urged the faithful to trust in the same Holy Spirit that inspired the apostles to solve the problem among the early Christians and also to take consolation in Christ’s statement in the day’s Gospel “Let your hearts not be troubled.” He called the faithful to examine their consciences whether they are joyful when they are with Christ or when they are away from Christ in sin. “Preaching the Gospel makes us to believe and uphold our faith. We should be proud of our responsibilities as Catholics. We are called to give life, to serve, to be corner stones that build the Church.” He said.

The situation was same at St. Michael Catholic Church, Gbedu (an outstation) where Rev. Fr. Esau Enger, CSJ educated the faithful of the need to share responsibilities in the House of God and in the society at large. The priest condemned the situation in the country where those elected to represent communities often monopolize such power, rather than delegate some of their duties to other members of the community.