Dutse Maria Pilgrimage 2019: His Grace, Ignatius Kaigama charges Christians to strive to make a difference in the society
– Steve Ovirih.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja has celebrated with aplomb the Dutse Maria Pilgrimage 2019 edition. The programme which signifies ‘ The Solemnity of The Immaculate conception’ had as its theme ” You are highly favoured because the Lord is with you” taken from the Book of Luke chapter 1 verse 38.
The event which held on the 6th of December at Dutse Maria Hill, along Bwari Road, Dutse Sangbagi had in attendance a heavy population of Catholic faithfuls across churches in the Federal capital city of Abuja and its suburb.
Notable among the clergy at the celebration were His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan (CON) Archbishop Emeritus, His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Ignatius Ayan Kaigama, the newly installed Catholic Archbishop of Abuja , His Lordship Most. Rev.Dr. Anselm Umoren (MSP) Auxiliary Bishop of Abuja.
In his homily on the hill of Dutse Maria, the Catholic ArchBishop of Abuja, His Grace , Dr. Ignatius Ayan Kaigama, while quoting from The Book of Mathew chapter 5 verse 1, noted that Jesus himself climbed the mountain while the crowd followed suit. He said the narrative of the beatitude on the mountain are blessings which Jesus gave to the different set of people who had strived to climb the mountain , noting that to come up to the mountain is a real sign of faith and belief in a spiritual and not a worldly cause.
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Inour spiritual life, we are at different level; the struggle to the mountain top is for everybody and it is symbolic of our desire to overcome sin and commune with God on the mountain top. Therefore, we should learn to forgive so that the face of God can shine on us,” Most Rev. Kaigama said.
He charged christians to strive to make a difference in the society by putting into practice all that we constantly learn from the word of God, stressing that the role of the Christian faithful is to live the exemplary Christ life in a world that is replete with ills and vices so that by their action they can lead sinners back to Christ and turn them away from their path of perdition.
There was solemn and lyrical praise worship songs as members of the congregation danced in appreciation to God who has made them see the spiritually significant celebration. Equally, there was penitential service and confession .
Major highlight of the Pilgrimage featured Holy Mass of the solemnity of the Immaculate conception , the Dutse Maria prayer , Liturgy of the word, profession of faith, offertory , consecration of the Eucharist and the Holy communion .
There was also Rosary procession with candlelight , praises and consecration of the sacred heart of Jesus and very powerful musical presentation by the choir .
While speaking with thepolity.net on the fringe of the event on Dutse Maria Hill, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Abuja, whose retirement from service was marked with fanfare the previous day, His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan (CON) expressed his delight over the success of the Pilgrimage. He said the annual programme has been celebrated for sixteen years and it gets better every year. He thanked the church for their cooperation towards ensuring the success of the event and congratulated the planning committee for the new innovation on the Dutse Maria Hill. Speaking on the significance of the Pilgrimage, the Archbishop Emeritus said, ” the event has become one of the major Marian events In our Archdiocese to which many of our faithful patiently await to mark the end of the year. Our gathering on the mountain offers us an appropriate opportunity to appreciate God for his benevolence.
“Our mother Mary remains a shining model of Christian virtue for people of all ages because of the important role she played and continues to play in the history of salvation . This is because she was highly favoured and the Lord was with her.
” Thus , every opportunity we have to climb to the top of this mountain should also make us reflect on God’s favors and our human roles in the church towards our salvation,” Onaiyekan stressed.
His Grace, Most. Rev. Dr. Ignatius Kaigama in his chat with thepolity.net noted that the Pilgrimage to Dutse Maria Hill was his first and he is delighted to be at the event. He said the church has a great role to play in helping to shape and influence the society, hence the need for prayers for the country by all well meaning Nigerian christians, noting that the Lord hears and answers the earnest supplication of his people.
Also speaking with thepolity.net was 2019 Chairman Dutse Maria Planning Committee , Asiwaju David Ola Adetuyi who noted that every one opportune to have climbed the Dutse Maria Hill was highly favored. He noted with enthusiasm that the Marian hill climb this year was significant in many ways: “we are especially lucky on this Marian hill this year to have three of their Lordships participating in the Pilgrimage with us live and direct.” Asiwaju Ola Adetuyi thanked the Dutse Maria Pilgrimage coordinating priest , Rev Fr. John Sixtus Okonkwo and all the members of the committee for their tireless contribution to the success of the Pilgrimage.
The solemnity of the Immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary underscores the essence of the Dutse Maria Pilgrimage as it offers the Catholic faithfuls the opportunity to offer prayers of penitence and thanksgiving to God through the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
