Counselling

Vocations: Religious

Young Men

SOCIETY OF AFRICAN MISSIONARY
SMA is the Society of African Missionaries, founded by Bishop Melchior de Bresillac on December 8, 1856 at the shrine of Our Lady of Fourviere in Lyon, France.
The Society is an international community of missionaries dedicated to proclaiming the Gospel especially to Africans.
S.M.A. missionaries came to Nigeria in 1863 (first missionaries in modern times).
Enquiries are welcome from young men, under 26 years, with good health and strong faith.
For applications click here Vocations

Young Women:

MISSIONARY SISTERS OF OUR LADY OF APOSTLES
Motto: With Mary the Mother of Jesus
This Congregation was founded in 1876 for missions especially in Africa.
You can continue this mission by joining us in a life of deep prayer and service in education, social and medical pastoral apostolates. click here O.L.A. for more information.

Wisdom for All Careers

"The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
that men may know wisdom and instruction,
understand words of insight,
receive instruction in wise dealing, righteousness,
justice, and equity;
that prudence may be given to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth -
the wise man also may hear and increase in learning,
and the man of understanding acquire skill,
to understand a proverb and a figure,
the words of the wise and their riddles."

"Wise men lay up knowledge, but the babbling of a fool brings ruin near"
10:14

Ask Father Ali

Femi's question:

"Father Ali, I am 16 years. I am in SS2. My friend asked me "Why do you Catholics worship Mary?". I told him it not true but he did not believe me. I explained everything to him but still refused. This upsets me because we are friends. What should I say to him to convince him?"

Femi, Ibadan.

Fr Ali's answer:

Femi, I'm glad to hear from you. Your problem is a common one among some students. There are a few things here.

First, as you know, we Catholics never worship Mary. We worship ONLY God and NOBODY else. Some people don't know the exact meaning of the word 'worship'. Worship is the adoration given to God alone. They confuse 'worship' with 'honour'. Honour is about respect. So we worship God and we respect Mary. 'Worship' is about the First Commandment, "I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before Me" (Deuteronomy 5:6). 'Honour' is about the fourth Commandment, "Honour your father and your mother" (v 16). We Catholics want to be like Jesus. Jesus was perfect; He obeyed all the Commandments perfectly. Therefore He honoured His mother, Mary. So we must honour her also.

The second thing here is more difficult to handle, namely, your friend's refusal to believe you. Maybe he doesn't accept your answer because he doesn't want to. Some people have closed their minds. Their minds are so full of lies about the Catholic Church, that there is no room in them for the simple truth. "There is none so blind as he who does not want to see." Also if he listens to you and you convince him, he must follow you into the true Church. I suspect that he is not yet ready for that challenge to his life style. Femi, you know that to be a real Catholic is not always easy. So I think he needs your prayers more than your arguments.

Thirdly, it seems to me that most of these attacks are against only one Church, namely, the Catholic Church. Why do you think that is the case?

I pray that you will be successful in all your studies, that you will get all your 'papers'. Amen.

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Bola's Question:
Why do Catholics genuflect when they enter the church? Other Christian do not? Is this worshipping images which is forbiden in the Bible?

Fr Ali's answer:
Bola , thanks for writing to me.
Catholics genuflect, that is, touching one knee to the ground, when entering and leaving a Catholic church. This is a sign of respect in many places. We do it as a sign of respect for God. Genuflecting is really saying God, 'You are great and I am low; Your are God and I am a sinner.' Thus a genuflection is a form of prayer; otherwise it is meaningless. it gets its value from your mind. not from your knee.
A Catholic church is a 'house of God' and respect to it is really respect for God - if you respect me you will surely respect my property. Abi?
Also in many of our Catholic churches we keep the Holy Communion in the Tabernacle. Other Churches do not do this. Jesus told us during the Last Supper that Holy Communion is His Body i.e. Himself and therefore worthy of our adoration.
Unfortunately some of our members enter and leave a Catholic church without genuflecting or even bowing towards the tabernacle/altar. Why do they behave like that?

br>Bola, may almighty God bless you and all of us when we greet Him with due respect. Amen.

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The Power of Prayer

Each day during Holy Mass we will pray for those young people who ask us. Email your requests and let us join hands with you in your prayers.