THE CENTENARY CELEBRATION AS A TIME FOR THE NEW EVANGELIZATION

BY EZINNE CALLISTA ILOBINSO

The Centenary celebration by Osina Catholic Community in 2018 to mark one hundred years of the existence of Catholicism in the
town is indeed a landmark worthy of appraisal of her development so far and also a time to look inwards to see the challenges and
possible solutions to issues which are also common to the Catholic Church world-wide in our age and times. The Catholic Church in
Osina and elsewhere, have made tremendous advancement in spreading the gospel and winning souls for Christ, but one of her
challenges is what Saint (Pope) John Paul II (the Great), in his 8th encyclical letter described as a situation where the baptized are
drifting from the Catholic Faith and live lives which go contrary to the gospel due to distractions presented by the ‘signs of our times’
for which he widely propagated the ‘New Evangelization’ as a solution.

Osina Catholic community, however, consists of a strong, vibrant and dedicated faithful who reside both at home and abroad and
contribute to the evangelical work of the Church in various ways. Before the inauguration of the first parish, St. Mary, in Osina, the
Catholic community built one of the most outstanding junior Seminaries in Catholic Diocese of Orlu, Bonus Pastor, situated in uhuala
kindred, which has trained many people from both within and outside the diocese, out of which a good number have been called to
the priestly vocation. It is noteworthy also that after the ordination of her first indigenous priest, Rev Fr. Donatus Nnagha (Judicial
Vicar of Catholic Diocese of Orlu) in 1995, Osina Catholic Community has produced many priests who serve within and outside Nigeria.
Many indigenes of Osina have also entered the Religious order, after Rev. Sr. Mbonu, of blessed memory. The edifice known as St.
Mary’s Catholic Parish Osina, which for many years has had a primary school within its premises, celebrated her Silver jubilee and
dedication well over thirty years ago and is a product of several committed priests and lay faithful under the umbrella of OCAA located
in different towns in the country, the out-stations as well as pious groups. The fruits of evangelization have been reaped through the
birth of two new parishes in the town, St. Michael’s Parish, Ofe-eke, on the 8th of December 2017 and St. Jude’s Parish, Ikpa, a few
weeks later, with the expectation of more parishes in the near future. The creation of parishes in the town, according to the bishop of
Catholic Diocese of Orlu , His Lordship, Most Rev. Augustine Ukwuoma, during his inaugural speech at St Michael’s, is not intended to
break up the town, but is rather a means of evangelization, ‘to bring the Sacraments to the doorsteps of the lay faithful’.

As the Church continues her missionary journey in line with the salvific mission of Jesus Christ, this milestone is indeed a good time to
safeguard her missionary and spiritual gains by encouraging the New Evangelization in order to help the faithful to avoid the
distractions caused by negative aspects of modern culture and false teachings which do not value the sanctity of life and also tend to
promote lifestyles which go contrary to the gospel (e.g. abortion, artificial methods of birth control, homosexuality/same-sex
marriage, euthanasia, ruthless quest and excessive attachment to material things, negative use of modern technology etc). Other ugly
trends which are peculiar to Africa which make the New Evangelization necessary are the impacts of some negative cultural/spiritual
values, ‘prayer house syndrome’ and its accompanying false prophesies and ‘prosperity gospel’. Oftentimes the problem is that many
of the baptized fall victim to these distractions because of failure to nurture and practice their faith after initiation into Christianity.
They choose to remain lukewarm and ignorant of their Faith. Sometimes also, as a result of absence from home in the quest for
education and greener pastures, a spiritual vacuum is created which makes the adolescents and youth vulnerable to peer-group
pressure and other false teachings.

The New Evangelization can help the baptized, including those who may have drifted from the Faith to have a personal encounter with
Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life, to worship him in spirit and in truth, have an inner conversion with a vivid
transformation which reflects love of God and neighbor, holiness, uprightness and all the other virtuous qualities which abound in
Jesus Christ and have been handed down through his apostles from generation to generation. It is ‘new’ in its expression and ‘ardor’ as
it encourages finding out new and creative ways of spreading the gospel with greater zeal and freshness, while, more importantly,
preserving the essentials of the Catholic Faith as seen in the Creed and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It encourages both
positive modern and traditional culture, but excludes those aspects which go contrary to the gospel. Information Communication
technology (ICT), for instance, should be used positively to the glory of God. The New Evangelization involves digging into the Catholic
Faith to find out what it is all about, practicing it earnestly and sharing it with others in the family, church and society as a whole. The
family which is the domestic Church should not allow that light of baptism to die down and should encourage the children to move
from strength to strength in the Faith at all stages of life. A solid Christian foundation should bring to fulfillment the expectations of
the New Evangelization of active and practical participation by the laity in evangelization in all spheres of life.

It is hoped that this Centenary celebration, will re-awaken that consciousness planted in the faithful through baptism, so that the
Osina Catholic community will project with greater radiance, the beauty of the Church of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.