OUR LADY, MOTHER OF AFRICA

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:01][music] [music] >> Today we are celebrating a very unique feast.

[00:00:21]Our Lady Mother of Africa.

[00:00:24]And today's feast is not just for Catholics alone. It is for the whole world on behalf of Africa.

[00:00:33]Recently a picture went viral both on the print electronic and social media.

[00:00:46]A woman in Plateau in Jos who carried her dead child close to her breast >> [cough] >> who was killed during the attack.

[00:01:02][music] And very many Christians, they were now putting that picture side by side the picture of our Blessed Mother Mary.

[00:01:14]How Mary carried the Jesus Christ the corpse of Jesus Christ close to her breast.

[00:01:23]And this shows how deep the pain of a woman could be.

[00:01:35]And this also show that it's like the joy a woman has for having a child is almost like the pain, but the pain [music] is deeper.

[00:01:51]And that is why when Jesus was born Mary was told a sword will pierce your own soul.

[00:02:01]A sword will pierce your heart so that thoughts out of many hearts will be revealed.

[00:02:12]And of course on the cross Jesus was pierced with a lance.

[00:02:17]And blood and water came out which is for us a symbol of baptism.

[00:02:29]I'd like us to look at our mother briefly.

[00:02:32]>> [music] >> Our Mother Mary.

[00:02:35]From the very beginning she was a woman who was very independent of worldly attraction.

[00:02:48]She dedicated herself to the service of the Lord in the temple.

[00:02:54]And from there she received the message from the angel the annunciation.

[00:03:05]A very difficult message that she would be a mother.

[00:03:12]A mother without having intercourse with a man.

[00:03:18]A virgin mother.

[00:03:21]And this was very strange.

[00:03:23]And so he said, "How can this be?"

[00:03:27]And the angel told mother the spirit of the Lord will come upon you.

[00:03:36]And the power of the most [music] high will overshadow you.

[00:03:43]Having accepted that mission of being the mother, the virgin mother from the very beginning we see how Mary in collaboration with Joseph took care of Jesus.

[00:04:02]There was insecurity serious insecurity.

[00:04:07]>> [music] >> The children were killed by the king who did not want any other person to be named a king or to take the form of a king.

[00:04:24]And our mother had to look around.

[00:04:30]And of course God revealed to her and Joseph the only continent where there was peace as at that time was Africa.

[00:04:42]And so Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Africa to Egypt until when there was relative peace in Israel.

[00:05:00]And so the word of God tells us out of Egypt have I called my son.

[00:05:08]In other words, out of Africa have I called my son.

[00:05:15]Africa ontologically has what I will call the best continent that cherish humanity.

[00:05:25]Our gift of hospitality.

[00:05:28]Our gift of you know, community life.

[00:05:33]These are values that we have in Africa.

[00:05:37]And so that is why it is also very stupid of anybody to start saying that the terrorists in our African continent is you know is a product of the European world.

[00:05:52]And I used to say if somebody gives you money to kill your mother and rape your mother will you do it?

[00:06:00]And if you do it, what kind of a human being are you?

[00:06:04]If these foreigners are funding terrorism in our country why should they use our indigenes using brothers to kill brothers using brothers to kill sisters?

[00:06:16]So here is the beginning of the feast we are celebrating today.

[00:06:23]I'm sure you know recently the Pope visited Algeria, right?

[00:06:28]He went to Algiers.

[00:06:31]And the reason was very simple because of Saint Augustine.

[00:06:39]Saint Augustine is from this particular area.

[00:06:43]So the first Christian bishop of Algiers was Bishop Antoine Adolphe Dupuch.

[00:06:56]So this bishop was appointed in 1838.

[00:07:02]We are using the modern category to describe this bishop.

[00:07:07]And the fact that he need to deliver his people to God through Mary.

[00:07:15]And he was a bishop that was appreciated by both the Christians and the Muslim.

[00:07:24]So as he was trying to bring unity, [music] solidarity to the people you know, he just thought that the best thing to do was to invoke the assistance of our Mother Mary.

[00:07:42]And this [music] devotion it was you know, he went as far as taking this devotion to France in 1814.

[00:07:49][music] And added it over to the Cistercian monks of study later.

[00:07:59]Now why are we celebrating today?

[00:08:02]Because [music] he he he he made a statue.

[00:08:05]A statue that we you know, black black statue.

[00:08:10]You know, all these were they were the image of Our Lady was oyibo, white.

[00:08:17]So he now designed a black Madonna.

[00:08:20]That is that Our Lady is not just a white person. So he saw Our Lady as an African woman.

[00:08:30]And an African woman who knew how to protect her child by bringing her child to Africa.

[00:08:38]So that is why today is dedicated to this celebration Our Lady of Africa.

[00:08:46]But there's something very unique about today.

[00:08:48]The bishop invited the Muslim.

[00:08:53]And the Muslim too were also venerating Our Lady in Algiers.

[00:08:59]You saw what happened when the Pope entered the mosque.

[00:09:03]And the kind of aura.

[00:09:06]And why could Muslims do this along with the Christians in Algiers? Because of the root of Our Mother Mary in the Holy Quran. [music] Like chapter 19 this Surat Maryam. That is the only book in the Quran that was dedicated to a woman completely.

[00:09:26]And you will remember when Fatima the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam died >> [music] >> in the tears of the Prophet Muhammad she said, "Oh daughter you are the greatest woman after the Blessed Virgin Mary."

[00:09:46]And that is in their Islamic tradition.

[00:09:49]And so in Islam Mary is seen as chosen and purified.

[00:09:55]That [snorts] is why in Quran chapter 3 verse 42 they said, "Oh Mary, indeed Allah has chosen you >> [music] >> and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds."

[00:10:08]Then in Quran chapter 5 verse 75 Mary was called Sidika, the woman of truth.

[00:10:19]The woman of truth.

[00:10:21]So, then in Quran chapter 66 verse 12, Mary is called the guardian of chastity.

[00:10:30]She's praised as one who guided her chastity and a devotedly obedient.

[00:10:37]You could see that even the Quran they call Jesus Kalamatullah, that is the word of God that came through a pure virgin.

[00:10:46]Then in Quran chapter 21 verse 91 the you know, Mary is called a sign, Aya.

[00:10:55]That is the Quran declares Mary and her son Jesus as a sign for the world. In other words, as an example for all of us to follow.

[00:11:05]And of course, she was called a virtuous mother.

[00:11:09]So now, look at the gospel we read today.

[00:11:15]The first miracle of our Lord Jesus Christ was performed in the context of marriage.

[00:11:24]It is through marriage life come into being.

[00:11:30]And of course look at what Jesus told them when they said, "There is no wine."

[00:11:39]You know, they went to Mary. They didn't go to Jesus. They said, "There is no wine."

[00:11:45]And Mary went to Jesus as his son, "They have no wine."

[00:11:52]And in Greek translation ti emoi kai soi guna i What is this to me and to you?

[00:11:58]Yet Jesus knew what he was going to do. And of course, Mary told the waiter, "Do whatever he tells you."

[00:12:08]And of course, there was beautiful wine.

[00:12:10]Water to wine.

[00:12:12]And today, the mother Mary keep telling us, "Do whatever Jesus tells you."

[00:12:19]So this is why it becomes very absurd and very unfortunate for some Christians to think that Mary is an envelope.

[00:12:29]So let us continue to proclaim that Mary is our mother. And today we are celebrating Mary as a mother of Africa.

[00:12:39]So we can invoke Mary in almost all the African countries. Look at what is happening in West Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso.

[00:12:50]You know, everywhere. Nigeria of course.

[00:12:53]Nigeria is like we have been turned to a jungle.

[00:12:58]When you see what these terrorists are doing to human beings, burning you know, some people started use roasting people for asuya and barbecue.

[00:13:09]So we need to invoke our mother to intervene.

[00:13:12]Just that the like the pain she felt when she carried the adult Jesus at death, that it should also give us the grace to bear all these pains.

[00:13:25]So as we celebrate our mother today, let us come together like in the first reading of today, you could see that the apostles were able to come together to celebrate. And not just the apostles, the women were there.

[00:13:41]And it was very specific that mother of Jesus was there.

[00:13:48]So she is always here with us.

[00:13:51]I have experienced our mother Mary personally.

[00:13:55]And I know many of you have. So let us in the way we talk and the things we do proclaim to the world that Mary is our mother.

[00:14:07]And you know, Father Father Oyemola, we used to call him God is our father.

[00:14:13]He said, "If Mary is not your mother then the devil is your father."

[00:14:20]He used to [clears throat] say that. So Mary is our mother, so I want to also appreciate the Reverend Father Mary we have in this church who has given all of us Mary to attach to our name. So all of us here we have and it is very interesting. It is really very interesting. If you have a counter mother Mary, you will never see her as an envelope. She's not an envelope and she will never be an envelope. She is the mother of Africa. Is the mother of our homes. Is the mother of our heart.

[00:14:52]Is Mary Immaculate.

[00:14:54]The only human being that never committed sin. Through Mary we succeed.

[00:15:02]>> [music] [music]