Catholic Diocese of Zaria

Zeal for Missionary

Work According to the
Example of St. Paul
Sermon Delivered By Most Rev. Dr. George J. Dodo, the Bishop of
the Diocese of Zaria on the Occasion of Deaconate Ordination at
Christ the King Cathedral, No. 80 Yoruba Street, Sabon Gari - Zaria
on Saturday 10th January 2009

© Copyright Diocesan Secretariat, Wusasa January 2009

 Theme:
Zeal for Missionary Work According to the Example of St. Paul

“In fact preaching the gospel gives me nothing to boast of, for I am under
compulsion and I should be in trouble if I failed to do it” [1 Cor. 9: 16]

Introduction:

Today we are blessed again in the Diocese of Zaria with four new deacons. Within the
probationary period of six months, they are to serve at table, administer baptism and join
couples in holy matrimony. Let us thank God for the gift of these young men who have given
themselves willingly to the service of the church. I congratulate them and their parents for
this step in the right direction. Although it is not yet halleluiah, we commend them into the
hands of the Almighty God, the Lord of vocations to assist them live according to their
calling and to be ordained priests in the next six months.

Before I go further, let me stress the importance of praying for priests of which the deacons
are aspiring to be. Priests are specifically chosen from among men to serve the people. Priests
like other human beings face challenges and temptation. In fact I dare say they face more
since they have professed commitment to ‘the things of God’, the devil will always tempt
them to lead them astray. Therefore, I enjoin you all, our lay faithful, to please pray for your
priests and ask God to strengthen them in their mission of saving souls.

The Personality of St. Paul:

Allow me reflect with you young men, on the life of St Paul since we are within the
celebration of the Year of St. Paul as pronounced by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI.
You deacons must learn from the example of St. Paul the greatest of all missionaries, who
sacrificed his life for Jesus, his gospel, the conversion of pagan territories and the building of
the Kingdom of God that is all embracing. In Romans 1: 1-2, St. Paul describes himself as “a
servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the service of the gospel that God
promised long ago through his prophets in the holy scriptures.” In Titus 1: 1- 3, Paul
describes himself, his call and his worth. “From Paul, servant of God, an apostle of Jesus
Christ to bring those whom God has chosen to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that
leads to true religion and to gave them the hope of the eternal life that was promised so long
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ago by God. He does not lie and so, in due time, he made known his message by a
proclamation which was entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour.” This clearly
indicates that God chose St. Paul to propagate his work and assist in the salvation of souls.
This is what you are preparing to say “yes” to, and as servants chosen, loyalty, faithfulness
and commitment to the will of the Master should be your breakfast. Lunch and dinner like St.
Paul.

To fulfil this task, St. Paul undertook three major missionary journeys of which we know the
dangers he faced, but yet he was untiring in delivering the message of God to those pagan
territories. He speaks of his different identities, difficulties, hatred, rejection, suffering in the
cause of carrying these tasks etc. In 2 Cor. 11: 1 – 13: 10. Suffice it to look at 11: 21 – 29, “I
say it to your shame; perhaps we have been too weak. Whatever bold claims makes – now I
am talking as a fool – I can make them too. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites?
So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I speak in
utter folly – I am too, and more than they are: I have done more work, I have been in prison
more, I have been flogged more severely, many times exposed to death. Five times I have
been given thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I have been beaten with sticks; once I
was stoned; three times I have been shipwrecked, and once I have been in the open sea for a
night and a day; continually travelling, I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from
brigands, in danger from people masquerading as brothers; I have worked with unsparing
energy, for many nights without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty, and often altogether
without food or drink; I have been cold and lacked clothing. And besides all the external
things, there is, day in day out, the pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. If
anyone weakens, I am weakened as well; and when anyone is made to fall, I burn in agony
myself. If I have to boast, I will boast of all the ways in which I am weak.”

His zeal for God was unprecedented in the whole of the Roman Empire and he demonstrated
this by his ardent desire to preach this Word of God anywhere he found himself. The efforts
of St. Paul brought honour and pain to him. Several times he was stoned and beaten by
people who could not understand his sudden change of direction. He remained relentless in
propagating the gospel of Jesus. The world and people to which this task of preaching the
gospel and spreading the faith is perhaps more hostile than before. We need to pray always
and even more harder for the conversion of hearts that are hostile to the will and wishes of the
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God of truth. Are you prepared for this out of love for God and humanity and not for any
other reason be they material, personal or for comfort?

St. Paul’s Early Education:

He acquired his knowledge from the feet of Gamaliel, a worthy scholar within the Jewish
society. “It was under Gamaliel that I studied and was taught the exact observance of the Law
of Our ancestors.” [Acts 22: 3; cf. 5: 34ff]. He became a successful student by hard work and
commitment to the Jewish religion. He transferred this zeal into his new faith and became
like a fanatic for Jesus. Although people around him could not understand this burning desire
of St. Paul, he knew that he was an actor on the divine stage of evangelization. Therefore he
could not afford to waste precious time on incendiary issues at the expense of salvation for
the people. He saw himself as the least of the apostle of God. “For I am least of the apostles
and am not really fit to be called an apostle, because I had been persecuting the Church of
God, but what I am now, I am through the grace of God, and the grace which was given to
me has not been wasted. Indeed, I have worked harder than all the others – not I, but the
grace of God which is with me.”[1 Cor. 15; 9 – 15].

What message for the deacons and us the ordained in our age of comfort and materialism?

Transformation of St. Paul by Divine Grace:

A careful study of St. Paul’s early life indicates that he was a strong Jew under the tutelage of
Gamaliel as already mentioned. He confirms himself also that he was a persecutor of the way.
“You have surely heard how I lived in the past, within Judaism, and how there was simply no
limit to the way I persecuted the Church of God in an attempt to destroy it; and how in
Judaism, I outstripped most of my Jewish contemporaries in my limitless enthusiasm for the
traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had set me apart from the time when I was in
my mother’s womb, called me through his grace and chose to reveal his Son in me, so that I
should preach him to the gentiles, I was in no hurry to confer with any human being.” [Gal. 1:
13-16]. He had no regard for personality and gender in his bid to defend the Jewish institution
hence he sent women and children to death and to imprisonment just to protect Judaism. He
confesses “I even persecuted this way to death and sent women as well men to prison in
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chains.” [Acts 22: 6]. He did all these as a faithful custodian of the faith and religious
traditions of his Jewish people until God transformed him unto the Christian faith.

What this means to you, dear young men about to become deacons and we who are already in
the office or ministry, is that we should consider always the seriousness of being custodians
of the values of the gospel, the deposits of the faith and our cherished scriptures and
traditions and loose nothing of it.

On the way to Damascus to arrest Christians and bring them to Jerusalem, he encountered
Jesus. The voice of Jesus spoke to him and asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting
me?” Being a fanatic of the Jewish religion, he sought to know whose voice it was. “Who are
you Lord?” he asked. And the Lord answered, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”
Jesus then made a solemn promise to St. Paul which defended him against all the attacks he
would face in his future missionary work. “I shall rescue you from the people and from the
nations to whom I send you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light,
from the dominion of Satan to God, and receive, through faith in me, forgiveness of their sins
and a share in the inheritance of the sanctified.” [cf. Acts 26: 12 – 15].This is the work you
are asking for, the job you have applied for with no strings attached except to do the will of
God in Jesus Christ and of his Church. You still have time to pull out if you think otherwise
before it is too late. The challenges are many and can be scary especially in the force of a
hostile and an unfriendly world. It takes love of god poured into our hearts to succeed, to
conquer. Pray for the conversion of hearts bent on evil to good and to God.

After his conversion, Saul became a changed person, an ardent defender of the Christian
faith. He made a confession by saying, “I used to be a blasphemer and a persecutor and was
contemptuous. Mercy however, was shown me, because while I lacked faith I acted in
ignorance; but the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with love that is in Christ Jesus”
[1 Tim. 1: 13 - 15]. I renew the call to pray for conversion of the likes of St. Paul before his
conversion in our present age, present generation. If religious fanaticism and the crave for
power and control do not bring about the honour and glory of God, respect for the dignity and
sanctity of human life, which must be protected, nourished and sustained at all cost, then it is
evil and must be condemned. This is becoming a major threat to peaceful co-existence not
only in our society in Nigeria but in many major ports of the world. I wish to on your behalf
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thank the present administration for the serious commitment and attention being paid to this
dangerous trend. May God make their efforts succeed for the cause of the common good.
Pray for the safety of our security outfit. May God protect them through Jesus Christ Our
Lord, Amen!

St. Paul’s Missionary Character:

By the same grace of God, St. Paul was called by Jesus to the grace of the faith and to the
apostolate of preaching the Word of God. You must take this ministration seriously and
engage in the ministry of the altar. This grace was wondrous both in itself and in St. Paul
because of the fact that he was called when his thoughts were all on persecution, when he was
breathing threats of massacre against the Christians. Unconsciously a divine light shone
round about him and he was changed from a wolf into a lamb, from Saul to Paul and later St.
Paul, from a persecutor into a persecuted preacher [cf. Acts 9:6]. Looking at the dramatic
change of scene between the stoning of St. Stephen approved by Saul in Acts 7: 37 – 8:1 and
Paul’s conversion in Acts 9 itself, St. John Chrysostom tells us that, “When the voice of
Stephen was silenced, the trumpeting voice of Paul sounded forth.” No condition is
permanent, says the common expression. History does not remain the same forever. Pray for
conversion of persecutors. This was his anticipatory call to the apostolate and, so to speak,
the first step. The subsequent call, the second step, took place at Antioch, at the special
request of the Holy Spirit to set apart Paul and Barnabas for the mission to evangelize the
Gentiles.

Openly and completely, Paul after his transformation obeyed the call of Jesus: “Now get up
and go into the city and you will be told what you must do” [Acts 9:6]. And after he was
baptised, “…he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God”
[Acts 9:20]. “But when [God], who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me
through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the
Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood” [Gal 1:15-16].Thus, he immediately
risked his life for Christ, and by preaching the word of God, even set himself in opposition to
those of his former faith, who gnashed their teeth in anger against him, as though he were an
apostate. Paul was a man of great talent, ardent disposition, and flaming nature, as we gather
from the Acts of the Apostles [Acts 9:1].
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When grace came to inform his nature, he became the chosen instrument of God,
extraordinarily efficacious, so much so, that St. Bernard said of him: “Converted, Paul
became an instrument of conversions for the whole world, and not even now has he ceased to
convert men: that is to say, by his example, by his prayers, and by his teachings.” In every
instance, Paul marvelled at God’s grace within him, and with praiseworthy humility, he
extolled it and preached it with gratitude and joy. Almost always, he began his letters thus:
“Paul, an apostle not from human beings nor through a human being but through Jesus
Christ” [Gal 1:1]. And: “To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, to
preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ, and to bring to light [for all] what is
the plan of the mystery hidden form ages past in God who created all things” [Eph 3:8-9].
May your desire and that of everyone of us be to grow to develop this missionary character
for the salvation of the people of our age and time.

Fidelity to Gospel Values as Preached By St. Paul:

Today the Church continues to draw inspiration in the life of St. Paul. 2,000 years after his
birth and great missionary work, there are still pagan territories and pagan hearts today in
need of and or seeking to hear the word of God. An occasion like this, the ordination of
deacons, is a sure reminder that we still need missionaries like Paul for evangelization. The
work of spreading the Word of God keeps on expanding everyday yearning for ministers to
assist in the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins as St. John the Baptist did and
St. Paul preached. Remember that the work is not the work of man, but the work of God so,
look up to God always and at all times and in all situations to provide the knowledge,
wisdom, language to present the Word with clarity and the grace of perseverance and
endurance until humanity is converted.

Commitment is the most important ingredient in the call. Commitment goes alongside with
the tenacity and zeal for God. St. Paul demonstrated this by his stubbornness to preserve
Jewish customs and traditions as a diehard Jew. But the moment he was converted by Jesus,
he exhibited the same tenacity in his new found darling faith and even became a nuisance to
his former colleagues. His life was in grave danger, as has been mentioned, but he maintained
faith in God and at last won souls to Him. There can be no historical timeline in Christianity
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without a page on St. Paul for this complete zeal especially in the face of difficulties,
hardship or enemies due to love for Christ. “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Rom. 8: 35 – 39]. This is certainly the principle that guided St. Paul
all through his missionary journeys and kept him faithful to the calling. As can be seen, his
preaching was his existence and he never separated his life from his calling and commitment
to do the will of God. Indeed he can rightly be termed an exemplary apostle to the whole
world because his letters continue to remind us of this total self-giving to God and master of
the harvest. This is a challenge to us who are called to be servants of God and his people,
who by our response become the property of God and his Church and who are tempted to tow
the line of the world to draw the line between personal property and church property, between
interests/priorities and the Church.

The Role and Functions of Deacons in the Church:

The origin of the deaconate began at the early part of the church when the apostles noticed a
deviation from preaching the Word of God. “So the Twelve called a full meeting of the
disciples and addressed them, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the word of God so as to
give out food, you brothers must select from among yourselves seven men of good reputation
filled with the holy spirit and with wisdom, to whom we can hand over this duty. We
ourselves will continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.’” [Acts
6.2 – 4]. From this originated the office of the deaconate which the Catholic Church has
maintained all through the centuries.

The functions of the deacons are as follows;

[1] To serve at the Table of the Lord through commitment to the distribution of the Bread
and reverenced respect for the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

[2] To explain the word of God by preaching and teaching, in understandable language to
his listeners with a view to drawing them closer to Christ the Fountain of Life.

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[3] To administer sacraments of Baptism and Matrimony. In baptism the deacon
welcomes new entrants into the fold of Christ in the fountain of the waters of Baptism
and by so doing increases the members of the mystical body of Christ. Also by joining
couples in matrimony, he brings the love of God to bear on Christian families.

No wander, St. Paul admonishes the deacons to be respectable, not double-tongued, moderate
in consumption of wine and not greedy with money. Deacons must hold the mysteries of the
faith they profess with clear conscience. [cf. 1 Tim. 3: 8 – 10]. They are to assist in
preserving the sacred traditions of the church as handed down through the centuries by the
apostles. In conjunction with the priests and bishops, they are to work diligently towards the
salvation of souls through good lives and practical examples of faith especially charity to the
widows, orphans and downtrodden in the society. In fact, deacons are called to be alter
christus in all that they do.

Above all, my dear young men, remember to always go back to the source of your calling
through prayer and adoration of Jesus in The Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. You are
by no means exempted from the temptations that every minister in his ministry faces and so
to conquer all things, you must invoke the power of Him who called you first as deacons. I
have seen the tremendous importance of adoration in my life as bishop, and therefore
recommend this to every priests, deacons, religious and members of the laity to spend a
moment with Jesus every day. Those priests, religious and laity who do this can testify to the
relevance and necessity of this spiritual exercise.

Contemporary Issues for Meditation:

[1] Our Nigerian society must be seen to act in fairness to its hardworking public officers.
The sacking of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the former Chairman of EFCC should be
reviewed according to the indices of rule of law, and with a view to what this action
does to the image of Nigeria, the Police Force and the war against corruption. Why
punish him instead of those corrupt officers who consciously and wrongly promoted
him, have given Nigeria bad image abroad?

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 Secondly, the Jos crisis should be handled with utmost care to avoid its escalation to
other areas. Our national identity as a people should be preserved through relentless
efforts to see ourselves as brothers and sisters from ONE God.

[2] The Israeli-Palestinian war and the suffering of many innocent people in Gaza can
easily be condemned by every person. But we must equally be caution because Israel
has a right to self-determination and the right to exist as a nation. Both sides must
however halt the onslaught and accept the resolutions of the United Nations. Let us
pray for peace in the Middle East as a whole because we love to live in peace with our
neighbours in Nigeria also.

[3] I must commend the Ghanaian Presidential Elections and the smooth handover for the
second time running. Ghana has taught Nigeria a lesson in democratic settings which
Nigeria must learn by avoiding the use of thugs, stuffing of ballots boxes and killing
of political opponents. We must exercise the spirit of maturity and avoid negative
tendencies in our political life.

[4] In the next few days, we shall witness the swearing-in of President-elect Barack
Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. For the first time in the
history of America, an African-American is taking the exalted position. We are proud
of Mr. Obama and wish him the very best in office. Nigeria must learn a lesson from
this, that no matter where you come from it does not matter who you are but what you
can deliver to the growth of the Nigerian society. If we adopt this mentality, then we
can never call some Nigerians indigenes and others foreigners in a land that belongs
to all of us. Why can’t we allow ourselves the opportunity of development in Nigeria
by harnessing the different talents we have and since we deny ourselves this
opportunity, we find our youth indulging in negative activities like fraud and human
trafficking.

[5] Every year in Nigeria, 15th January is Armed Forces Remembrance Day. Let us pray
for our veterans who fought for the survival of Nigeria. Above all, we appeal to the
Federal Government to settle the entitlements of retired officers who are suffering and

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 living in squalid conditions. We appeal to government to end their plight and pay
them their pensions before they die of hunger.

Conclusion:

While we appreciate and thank God for giving us the gift of these young men as deacons, we
still stress the importance of vocations in the life of our diocese. We need committed young
men and women to respond to god’s call to become priests and professed men and women
religious. It is the grace of God that makes it possible, yet we call on all young people to
come forward and answer the call of Christ. This is our human role/ contribution.

I thank you the parents of these deacons. I urge you to continue to support your children in
their desire to be priests, if it is God’s will, not just to be priests but good priests after his
heart. They have started the journey now as deacons. Let us pray for them to accomplish it in
the months ahead knowing how difficult the call is.

We are grateful to all their teachers from primary school to secondary school and to the major
houses of formation in the Seminaries. May God bless you all for forming these young minds
to be what they are today. And to all of us, may God bless our contributions of whatever kind
towards their formation. May God reward you in numerous ways and make his light shine on
you.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church, intercede for us and bless the lives
of our deacons. May she guide us towards her Son Jesus, the author of our varied Christian
vocations and may she through her intercessions raise up for the Church worthy priests to do
the work of her Son, Jesus.

God bless you. . .

Most Rev. Dr. George J. Dodo

Bishop of the Diocese of Zaria

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 Given on this day, 4th January 2009, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord, at Catholic
Secretariat Wusasa – Zaria Kaduna State, NIGERIA

(c) Copyright Rights Reserved, Diocesan Secretariat Wusasa –January 2009

Readings: [for the ceremony]

1st – Jer. 1; 4-9;

Resp. Ps.-15: 2, 5, 7-8, 11;
2nd – 2 Tim. 3: 10-12, 14-15;
Gospel Mt. 5: 1-11

###

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