When Ibadan Catholic Archdiocese celebrated grand couples

The couples in a group photograph with Archbishop
Felix Alaba Job and the Vicar General of the
Archdiocese, Reverend Father Fintan Daly SMA.Sam Nwaoko captures the Mass and mini lecture to celebrate couples in Ibadan Catholic Archdiocese who have been married for over 40 years that formed part of activities to mark the golden jubilee of the Archdiocese.

Imagine sitting at an event with men and women who had been married for a combined total of 3,400 years? The Catholic Archdiocese of Ibadan made this possible last Sunday when it celebrated 85 couples who had been living together as husband and wife for at least 40 years. It was a unique celebration of love and an occasion which elicited both nostalgia and inspiration.

The legendary Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Oke Padre, Ibadan, hosted the elderly lovebirds at a colourful ceremony that formed part of the ongoing golden jubilee anniversary celebration of the Catholic Archdiocese of Ibadan. They were gathered from various parishes in the Archdiocese

Considering the rate at which marriages collapse this modern time, the Archdiocese came up with the idea of celebrating these icons of love partly because they have weathered the storm of marriage and, therefore, are credible examples to the younger generation. Of course, that they have also kept the faith over the sometimes troublous decades and broadened it in their own little ways, are icing on the cake of the epoch.

The Archbishop of Ibadan and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), His Grace, Most Reverend Felix Alaba Job, who was the chief celebrant at the Mass to mark the joyous occasion, revelled at the opportunity God had given the papas and mamas. He advised them to always pray for their children, as, according to him, no family would claim not to have a black sheep. He congratulated the couples and charged them to be happy.

However, he noted that the living together of man and woman in holy matrimony is not a bed of roses. “There are moments of joy, sorrow and what have you but the most sustaining ingredients of marriage are prayer, tolerance, respect and spirit of forgiving one another.” These vital ingredients needed to be clearly spelt to the young ones and Most Reverend Job advised the elderly couples and parents in general to always speak straight to their children and correct them when thy go wrong.

The Ibadan Catholic chief shepherd noted that the celebration fell on the original day the Church celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi (Eucharistic procession to honour Christ in the Blessed Sacrament) and charged the couples to receive the Holy Communion worthily as often as possible and also encourage their children too to receive the Holy Communion worthily as often as possible. He said he has been receiving the Holy Communion since 1948 with reverence and strong commitment and charged the congregation to do the same and “never allow familiarity to breed contempt or abuse.” Archbishop Job also charged communicants to always “approach Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist with prayers faith and deep reflections because of His efficacy in healing and solving human problems.”

Before the Mass ended, coordinator of the Catholic Archdiocese of Ibadan Family Welfare Apostolate, Sister Mary Assumpta Taiwo SSMA, addressed the congregation on the importance the church attached to the family. Her address to the festive couples further reinforced the importance of the family in the reckoning of the Church. “The family is the bedrock of the society because it is the first human community on which every state and nation depends on for growth and development,” she explained. According to her, the family is a vital cell of the Church which makes it “a veritable centre of evangelisation, a place of love and the cradle of education.”

Sister Taiwo observed that many families wade through economic, social, political, spiritual, educational and sundry problems which have made them to fall into chaos rather than true homes where true love radiates. She charged young people to marry who they can accept and not who they can tolerate, pointing out that the Archdiocesan Family Apostolate is always there for the faithful to come and drink from the fountain of Christian living in the family and related issues.

Some of the couples pondered beyond the revelry and reiterated the fact that marriage is not a bed of roses. For 82-year-old Lawrence Olatunde Obi and his wife, who wedded at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Oke Ado, Ibadan, in January 1951, “marriage is not smooth-sailing at all.” He advised that “the younger generation should depend on God through thick and thin. It is not smooth-sailing at all but God has been on our side. When you offend yourselves, apologise and say sorry especially when you are wrong.”

He said “I give God the glory for being among those to be celebrated. It is a pleasure for Him to have helped us so far.”

Also at the ceremony, Sir Ayo Fapohunda and his wife who have been married for over 40 years said the source of sustenance of their marriage had been love and the grace of God.

Chief and Mrs. J.B. Ajayi had received similar award in Abuja from the Holy Family Society in 2006, but said they were pleased to be among the couples still honoured in Ibadan. They were also grateful to God and charged young couples to always let love prevail.

A common feature among the elderly couples is that they belong to the same prayer groups and church societies where they employ their times for God.

The jubilee has witnessed many joyous moments just as the spiritual benefits have equally been enormous. However, the jubilee still continues.