Solemnity of Our Lady Queen & Patroness of Nigeria (Oct. 1: Independence Day): Homily by Fr Isaac Chima
Theme: “for He shall save the needy, the poor and those who are helpless when they cry.” (Ps. 72:12)
Readings: Is. 11:1–10; Eph. 2:13–22; Mt. 2:13–15,19–23
On this 64th anniversary of the Nigeria’s independence, the mother Church calls on her faithful in Nigeria never to relent in lifting the nation up to God, especially through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, for real independence, liberation and restoration from the menace of corruption and other factors that have fractured a country so richly blessed by God.
In the first reading of today (Is. 11:1–10), the prophet Isaiah made a prophesy of how the world would be when it has been restored by the Son of Man from the harm done to it by sin and corruption. It would be a restoration of the world to its order at creation. At creation, animals lived as one big family with man; the earth in the Garden of Eden was a place of mutual love and relationship. But then, the entrance of sin into the world through the serpent turned the beautiful world into a place of chaos, animals became enemies of man and of themselves, men became enemy to themselves and to animals, and the entire world was gripped by sin.
To restore creation to its former beauty, God sent priests and prophets to his people. The works performed by prophets and priests were not sufficient to loosen the grip of sin and evil upon the world; evil and sin continued to ravage the world. It was in the midst of the many hardships that humanity faced during the time of prophet Isaiah, which were compounded by the wickedness and ineptitude of rulers and kings, that God revealed to the prophet a vision of a new world — a vision of the original order of the world, which will be ushered in by the shoot that will come forth from the stump of Jesse, Jesus Christ, who will be born of a Virgin Mother. It was indeed a vision and a sign of hope to suffering humanity. The reign of this great King from the family of Jesse will restore love, peace, just judgment, righteousness and faithfulness because the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, and he shall possess wisdom, understanding, spirit of counsel, might, spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Is. 11:2–5). At the appointed time, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was born to the world from the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary whom God specially prepared for the great occasion. (Gal. 4:4–5).
Like the world at the time of the prophesy of Isaiah, Nigeria is in dare need of hope and restoration after many years of destruction of God’s plan for her by the people who have been elected to serve. Nigerians have witnessed a succession of bad governments, with each new regime worse than the former. The present government ascended unto power with the slogan of ‘renewed hope’, but what Nigerians have seen so far is a government of renewed hopelessness and reinforced poverty — the level of poverty and hardship we have never seen before in Nigeria. Our Land has been bedeviled by political gladiators that have proved to be more wicked than the kings of the time of Isaiah. They deny the people their rights, privileges and peace, and care less about the protection of the lives of the people from forces of death. In the second reading of today, St Paul informed us that Jesus has destroyed the walls of division separating Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 2:14). But in Nigeria, the political gladiators have built back and reinforced the walls of division and hatred across the nation. Then, outside the political sphere, the Nigerian society has become a bed of social unrest; it seems a greater number of the people have resigned to mutual destruction.
Today, more than ever, Nigeria needs liberation and restoration. Physical might and strength alone cannot win the battle. The grace and help of God make difficult things easy and achievable. The Church in Nigeria is, therefore, calling on everyone to implore the aid of the Virgin Mother Mary — the Queen of grace, whom God used as an instrument to inaugurate the era of restoration of the world, on behalf of our nation that is in serious need of restoration. There is no doubt what God can do for humanity through her intercession, for the scriptures already testified to her greatness and the history of humanity bears the mark of what her intercession has done.
The book of Revelation 12 narrated, albeit in apocalyptic form, how this Virgin Mother conquered the ancient dragon and gave the world its Savior. The gospel reading of today (Mt. 2:13–15,19–23) recounted how this Virgin Mother, with her husband, protected the Saviour at his infancy from the forces that wanted to destroy him. The prophet Isaiah 7:14 already prophesied that she will give birth to the hope of the world. The Gospel of John 2 demonstrated how this woman was instrumental to the restoration of the hope and pride of the couple of the marriage feast of Cana in Galilea. The victory of the battle of Lepanto of 1571 bears the mark of what Mary’s intervention and intercession can do. The defeat of communism also showed what the prayer of the beads of the rosary can achieve. In Mary we have a mother who is full of grace and attracts the presence and help of God wherever she is.
The month of October is specially dedicated to the Rosary Prayer to call on the aid and intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church in Nigeria wants her faithful to dedicate some minutes every day to say this prayer, calling down the intervention of God on the course of things in Nigeria through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, “for He shall save the needy, the poor and those who are helpless when they cry.” (Ps. 72:12) So, take up your Rosary, your weapon of spiritual warfare, and pray.
Peace be with you.
Happy Independence, Nigeria
Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima