HOMILY FOR SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER AND 59TH WORLD DAY OF COMMUNICATION AT HOLY CROSS CATHEDRAL, MISSION ROAD BENIN CITY ON SUNDAY JUNE 1, 2025
+Augustine O. Akubeze
Archbishop of Benin City
THEME: SHARE WITH GENTLENESS THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOUR HEART
Protocol
The Chairman of the Jubilee of Hope – Rev. Fr. Charles Omogiate,
The Cathedral Administrator – Rev. Fr. James Ogbeiwi,
The Chaplain – Catholic Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria;
Rev Fr. Romanus Mbakwe
The Director of Communications, Archdiocese of Benin City
– Rev. Fr. Jude Orah
Other Priests and Consecrated persons here present,
The Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ)
Catholic Media Practitioners, as well as other members of the Press here present,
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Glory be to Jesus!
INTRODUCTION: Praise be to God who has blessed us with the gift of communication. Praise be to God who communicated his love to us by sending his only begotten Son to die for our sake. Today, we join the Universal Church in celebrating the 59th World Day of Social Communications, and as an Archdiocese, we celebrate it also, as the Jubilee of Social Communications and Media Practitioners. Each year, the Holy Father offers us a message that is both a challenge and an invitation. This year, Pope Francis draws us into the heart of Christian communication with the words of St. Peter: “Share with gentleness the hope that is in your hearts.”
Indeed, I am most delighted to be in your midst today and to celebrate this year’s World Communications Sunday with you all. In a special way, I welcome all who have come from across the length and breadth of our Archdiocese to join in this celebration. I wish to extend my heartfelt appreciation and admiration to all those who serve in the ministry of communication—especially: The Archdiocesan Media Team, who work quietly and tirelessly behind the scenes, ensuring that the light of the Gospel reaches homes, hearts, and those on the margins. I want you to know that your cameras, soundboards, live-streams, and posts are tools of bringing hope to many in our Archdiocese.
In addition, I extend my gratitude to all media houses who defend the truth, promote the dignity of the human person, and uphold the voices of the poor and voiceless. I thank you for all your efforts and diligence in ensuring that truth and not false stories are properly disseminated to all persons near and far. Indeed, I acknowledge the risk and hazards involved in the exercise of your duties especially in the face of enticing offers that presents itself in order to distort the truth. Thus, I wish to encourage you to always stand for what is right and live true to the tenets of proper journalism.
Hence, we offer this Mass in a special way for you; that God will bless, protect and reward you as you go about your daily work in this special mission he has entrusted to you, through Christ our Lord. Amen. To all journalists, editors, broadcasters, podcasters, and to everyone who spread the Good news through various social media platforms; WhatsApp messages, parish bulletins, and simple conversations, I wish to let you know that you are all apostles of the Good news in your own little way.
To all of us who have gathered for this Eucharistic celebration, I bring you the peace and the love of Christ, which is beyond all telling and it is my prayer that you will always experience this peace in your lives, in your families, in your businesses and in all your endeavours, through Christ our Lord.
SHARE WITH GENTLENESS THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOUR HEART
The theme for this year’s World Day of Communication is: “Share with gentleness the hope that is in your heart”. This message was released by Pope Francis on the 24th of January, 2025, on the Memorial of St. Francis de Sales. In his message, the Pope begins by identifying three dangers of communication; the first; is the danger of Dis-information, the second; is aggressiveness in speech and the last; is the loss of human dignity in public discourse.
As we celebrate the Jubilee of Hope, the Holy Father invites us to become “communicators of hope.” Too often today, what we hear when we put on out TV sets, radios or phones, are news of fear, despair, prejudice and hatred. Many people are more concerned with forwarding messages of fear, bad news and false information even without first reading them. In addition, what often makes the headlines in our newspapers and internets are news that triggers agitation and worries. We are gradually forgetting how to tell stories of hope and love. Today, the Holy Father calls us to “disharm” communication and to purify it of aggressiveness and agitation.
In addition, he calls us to communicate with kind words and not aggressively. We live in a world where communication can often feel like a combat; where people argue just to win, rather than to learn from others. There is gradually a loss of the ability to listen to others; rather, we seek to impose our communication with aggression and force; so many of us have forgotten how to hear the voice of another, especially if they differ from us. But the Holy Father reminds us that this is not the way of Christ. Christ did not shout over others. He did not manipulate emotions. He did not label or mock. He walked with people. He asked questions. He listened. He shared truth in gentleness and compassion.
Hence, we are called to spread hope even when it is difficult. For Christians, hope is not an option but a necessary condition. Let our communication bring healing and not injury. Let our words be gentle and kind. Let us be witnesses and promoters of a non-aggressive communication. Let us be heralds of hope not despair, ambassadors of Good news not bad stories, voices of peace not disunity through Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE READINGS: (Acts 7:55-60; Rev. 22:12-14, 16-17.20, John 17:20-26)
In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we witness the martyrdom of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. As his executioners were stoning him, he prayed just as Christ did, for their forgiveness – “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
Dear friends in Christ, forgiveness is the fruit of someone who has encountered Christ so deeply that even in pain and injustice, he chooses to love. For us as Christians, forgiveness is not an optional virtue. It is the very heartbeat of our faith. To forgive is not to forget, nor to excuse injustice — but to break the cycle of hatred, to open space for healing, and to refuse to let evil have the final word. Stephen shows us that forgiveness is not weakness; it is the highest form of spiritual strength.
I speak today to those among us who have been wounded deeply — by betrayal, by abandonment, by violence, and even by their very close friends. I want you to know that Forgiveness is not pretending everything is fine but trusting God to be the final judge, and refusing to let bitterness define your future. I encourage you to offer your wounds to the Lord; asking for his healing and for the grace to forgive those who have wronged you.
In our Gospel reading of today, Christ prayed three times for unity – “that they may be one, even as we are one” This prayer of Christ reflects the unity between the Father and the Son, a unity of communion, of love, of mutual indwelling.
Dear friends in Christ, Christian unity is only possible when we are united with God; without being united to Christ, we cannot be united with one another. Jesus did not pray only for the Church. He prayed also for the world — that through the unity of His followers, the world might come to believe in Him. This is why division in the Church is not just a scandal but a wound to the Body of Christ.
In an age where the world is increasingly fractured — by war, by prejudice, by economic injustice — the Church must shine as a sign of hope. Not by retreating from the world, but by living differently within it: forgiving where others hate, embracing where others exclude, uniting where others divide. We must be a Church that models unity — among races, among cultures, among generations, among the baptized and even among Christians separated by history. Our every effort to be people of unity is a response to Christ’s final prayer.
APPRECIATION/ CONCLUSION
Finally, I thank the chaplain of the Media, the Director of Social Communications and all media personnel in our Archdiocese for the good work they are doing (give them a round of applause). I am aware that during this Mass we shall be giving awards to some of you, yet, I want you to know that the ultimate reward comes from God. It is therefore our prayer that God will reward you with eternal life and grant you his peace, through Christ our Lord..
To all of us here present, I wish to remind you of your duty to communicate God’s love to others and to encourage you to participate actively throughout the course of the on-going novena to the Holy Spirit as we prepare for the Solemnity of Pentecost. I wish you all a happy new month and a happy world communications day. And may the grace of God the Father, the Love of God the Son and the communion of God the Holy Spirit be with you all. God Bless you!!
