UNO MOMENTO………..WHO SAYS A PROPHET CANNOT SPEAK TWICE ON THE SAME ISSUE? “Uno momento” is just one of these few Italian phrases I picked up around, which conveys this meaning, “wait a moment”! The crux of the matter here however, is the ‘controversial message’ of the famous Catholic Cleric, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka on New Year’s Eve concerning the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan. The message is summed up in the theme, “From Goodluck to Badluck…” Although so many lay Catholic brothers and sisters have benefited spiritually from their encounters with the cleric, especially at his adoration ground in Enugu, I must confess to the disappointment of so many that I am particularly not a ‘fan’ per se of Rev. Fr. Mbaka. Where for instance, people cannot value the same “Blessed Sacrament” exposed by their validly ordained priests in their parishes, but only the one exposed by Fr. Mbaka, is a problem. Priests have different gifts, no doubt, but the “Blessed Sacrament” consecrated and exposed by any validly ordained priest anywhere has the same effects whatsoever, the difference just being, what and in whom people choose to believe in. This reminds me of a homily story where somebody told his pastor, that his one ambition in life is to climb Mount Sinai; to follow the footsteps of Moses and to experience and touch that place where the Ten Commandments of God where given. And the pastor told him, you can remain here and do something more important; “keep the Ten Commandments”. Secondly, I have seen it as a problem too that people do not tend to donate generously and willingly to the progress of the Church, unless when such ‘fiery and charismatic priests’ are involved. When we limit the so many graces that God has given to the Church through numerous ministers to just ‘healing and miracle’ centres, we will be grossly mistaken. Back to our subject matter! The message of Fr. Mbaka has gone viral on the social network and in the newspapers; eliciting so many reactions from different quarters including the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Nigeria. It was very expedient that the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria, chaired by Most Rev. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, responded timely by saying that Fr. Mbaka does not speak authoritatively for the Catholic Church in Nigeria, as some ignorant people could think the Catholic Church is ‘anti-Jonathan’. For the benefit of doubt, anybody who is conversant with the Catholic Church, will know that she can only be ‘anti-wrongs’ of Jonathan and never ‘anti-Jonathan’. But the Archbishop also noted that the reactions that followed the earlier statement by Fr. Mbaka when the wife of the President earlier visited his adoration ground, which was in Jonathan’s favour as regards his second term bid, did not elicit so many reactions as the second one which was not in Jonathan’s favour. This brings me to the title of my little write-up; “uno momento…who says a prophet cannot speak twice on the same issue?” One of the logical observations of some commentators over Fr. Mbaka’s latest message is this, “how can he contradict himself on the same issue within just a few weeks?” To put it clearly, “How can the same Fr. Mbaka say today that Jonathan will and tomorrow ‘change his mouth’ as we say in this part of the globe?” Is he really a true prophet? Some will query! I was without a second thought too, a disciple of this school of thought, until one biblical incident came to my mind. In 2 Samuel 7:1-5;12-13, the Bible says, “And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest roundabout from all his enemies; that the King said to Nathan the prophet, see now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwells in curtains{tents}. And Nathan said to the king, go, do all that is in your heart for the Lord is with you. And it came to pass that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, go and tell my servant David. Thus said the Lord, shall you build a house for me to dwell in…? And when your days be fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, which shall proceed from your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” In summary, Nathan who had expressly approved of David’s plan to build God a house had to change his approval owing to a superior divine force or mandate. And the summary of the reason why David was not to build a house for God was that he had fought many wars and shed so much blood {cf 1 Chronicles 28:2-3}. Does that make Nathan a false prophet? Joseph who had planned to secretly divorce the Blessed Virgin Mary because she was found to be with child, had to take her as a wife owing to a superior divine force through the message of the angel {Mt 1:19-24}; does this make Joseph a counterfeit? So how sure we are that Fr. Mbaka is not changing owing to a superior force? Why can we not wait and see before giving a blanket condemnation? I do not particularly like clerics predicting who will or will not win elections but I don’t like politicians and the lay faithful who think that priests cannot or should not speak on the political life of our country. They are first citizens before they are priests and what affects the nations affects them directly and indirectly too! Anyway it is a common factor among Nigeria politicians; when you say something that favours their political ambitions, ‘oh this is a good father’ but when you scold them or tell them truths they don’t want to hear, ‘father leave politics’. Yes we will leave active politics but we will not stop speaking about what concerns the wellbeing of this nation, welcome or unwelcomed! I rest my case for now.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 05:36:54 +0000
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