Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna

23/05/2026

PENTECOST SUNDAY (A)

By Very Revd. Fr. Peter Yakubu Ali

Today, we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, which is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Feast of Pentecost was not invented by the Church. The Jews have celebrated Pentecost for over 3000 years now. It was one of their three most important Feasts. It was originally a harvest feast called “Shavuot”, on which the first fruits were offered in gratitude to God. It later came to be celebrated as the anniversary of the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.

The word “Pentecost” simply means “fifty” or the “fiftieth day” after the Jewish Passover. The Jews were celebrating that Feast when the Spirit came on Jesus’ followers. And so, while the Jews continue to mark this Jewish Feast, we who are Christians celebrate it as the day on which God sent his Holy Spirit upon the Church.

On this day, all Jewish men were expected to come to Jerusalem, to the temple for the Feast. Hundreds of Jews from outside Palestine also came and the city was usually full to overflowing. It was very fitting therefore, that this feast day was chosen for the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.

Christianity was to be a universal religion and the gift of tongues showed its universality. The Law given by Jesus Christ and confirmed by the power of the Holy Spirit was for all people. The vast gathering of people from all nations, was a very suitable occasion on which to proclaim publicly, the message of Christ given through the mouth of Peter.

Pentecost is called the birthday of the Church. In the First Reading of today, we read how the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and directed them to speak God’s message in a way that everybody could understand. We read that even people speaking foreign languages could hear the word of God that was preached that day.

Do you think that the Holy Spirit has stopped working in the hearts of people? Hear again what St. Paul was saying to the Corinthians in the Second Reading, “for in the one Spirit we were all baptised, into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons. And one Spirit was given to us all to drink”. You and I have received the Holy Spirit at baptism which was strengthened at our confirmation.

There is one thing that must be very clear in our minds; the Holy Spirit who came to us is not different from the one we heard about in today’s readings. He is the very same one. And he comes to us with the same power. He brings us the same gifts of wisdom and understanding, strength and peace. He wants to lead us and give us light. But he can only do these when we allow him.

Pentecost is not just the celebration of a past event. It is important for us today, because the Holy Spirit continues to work within us, especially when we are in God’s grace.
The Spirit is like the light that goes on in our mind when we have an idea. Jesus tells us in the Gospel that the Spirit will guide us to all truth. Jesus could not explain everything to the Apostles that he wanted them to know, but the Spirit turned on the light in their minds to be able to understand all that he had been teaching them.

John told the first Christians that if they wanted their friendship with God to become deeper and stronger, they must learn to discern the Spirit. He said, “My dear friends, not every Spirit is to be trusted, but test the Spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 Jn. 4:1). To test the Spirit means that we look closely at what it makes us do or not do.
For example, what spirit makes me help other people? Is it a spirit of pride or generosity? What spirit leads me to keep quiet when someone is wrongly accused and I know that he or she is wrongly accused? Is it a spirit of patience, waiting for the right time or the spirit of fear? What spirit tells me to refuse a bribe? Is it a spirit of justice or only the desire not to be punished?

This is what it means to test the spirit. It is to look deep into my heart and ask the reasons for doing certain things or for not doing them.

Let us pray today then, for a greater openness to the Spirit, for Jesus tells us in Luke 11:13 that “if you who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

23/05/2026

17/05/2026

Pictures from the Closing Ceremony of the 2026 World Communications Week in Kaduna

We thank God for a successful 60th World Communications Week with the theme "Preserving Human Voices and Faces".
The Closing Mass was held at Queen of Apostles Catholic Church, Kakuri, Kaduna. In the Mass, the Communications Commission of the Archdiocese launched an Educational Manual titled "Protecting Children from AI Chatbots". The Manual is endorsed for use by the Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, Most Revd. Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso.
The Commission members had a Thanksgiving to thank God for the success of the Communications Week. We appreciate Very Revd. Fr. Christian Okewu and the good people of Queen of Apostles for having us. Mun gode.

17/05/2026

Mass of Closing Ceremony of the 60th World Communications Week (ComWeeK) 2026 of Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna

16/05/2026

Some Pictures from the Lectures and Award Presentation, celebrating the 60th World Communications Week in Kaduna.
We thank our Paper presenters; Professor Theophilus Enem and Rev. Fr. Kyrian Gonap.
Our Awardees added spice and colour to this Year's celebration.
Students from Kasu, Kadpoly and Secondary schools came out looking sharp and bright. We thank God for a successful event.

16/05/2026

THE SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (A)

By Revd. Fr. Emmanuel Hope Ayodele

Theme: There is Glory in Suffering

INTRODUCTION

Today we experience the glorification of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Mount of Olives; this is the second glory-scene that occurred in the New Testament, the first is the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Mark 9:2-13. In this case, Jesus was not transfigured, he ascended into heaven. From antecedence, Jesus had to demonstrate his faithfulness to the Father by doing the work which he was sent to do, namely to teach, preach, and sacrifice himself for the salvation of humanity, by enduring humiliation, suffering, passion and death. Consequently, his glorification came after he did what he had to do. The Jesus event (passion, death and imminent resurrection) is a mirror that reflects our Christian way of life.

There are two categories of suffering: human suffering and Christian suffering.

Human suffering is borne out of human limitations. This may be seen in the lack of basic needs, a source of livelihood, sickness, etc. These kinds of sufferings come not because God’s creation is not good, nor does it portray God as an imperfect God, it gives us a vision of our imperfection that can only be solved in the perfection of heaven.

Christian suffering is a garment of Christianity. This is simply because of the fact that all Christians are witnesses, hence potential martyrs. Little wonder Jesus told his disciples that if anyone wants to be his follower, such a person must pick up his cross and follow him (Matt. 16:24); he equally gave an assurance that if he our Lord was persecuted, we too will be persecuted.

In our today’s Nigerian society, Christians face both direct and indirect forms of suffering which could be viewed in these forms; marginalization (giving a sense that the country belongs to a particular religion), denial of basic amenities, constant attack of Christian dominated arears, attack of churches, kidnapping of ministers and members as well, denial of space for building churches, etc. amidst all these realities of Christian suffering, Christ encourages us to be strong for he has conquered the world (Jn. 16:33).

WHY DO CHRISTIANS SUFFER?

As Christians, we must understand that our suffering does not come from a point of hate or lack of love from God, rather it comes from the fact that light and darkness cannot cohabit (Jn. 8:12), and that we wrestle not against just flesh and blood but against principalities and powers (Eph. 6:12) that may be in different forms. We must bear in mind the following;
We are a sign of contradiction in the world: Jesus had to suffer not because he committed any crime, but for simply choosing the truth against the falsehood that has been paraded in the world. The world fears the truth, not because it is bad, but because the world benefits from falsehood.

Christianity stands for truth; hence the world may hate Christians.
Christianity is the voice of conscience in the world: when light appears, darkness is dispelled, evil is exposed. It gives the world a better look through the daily practice of love. Jesus held the scribes and pharisees accountable for the many atrocities they committed, like perversion of justice, desecration of the temple, hypocrisy and many others, and so they hated him because he exposed them. If as a Christian your life does not challenge an unbeliever or a wrongdoer, then you are no different from the person.

WHAT MUST WE DO TO INHERIT GOD’S GLORY?

Embrace Christian suffering: God cannot give us a cross that is beyond our capacity, he gives us what we can carry, what we can endure and what we can conquer. When we are faced with suffering, we should picture ourselves in the position of Christ at the garden of Gethsemane who cried if the cup could pass him by but still accepted the cup until the very end (Matt. 26:39). Remember, the sufferings of today cannot be compared to the glories that are yet to be revealed (Rom. 8:18).

Live uprightly: in the second reading of today, St. Peter warns that if we must suffer as Christians, it should not be for crimes committed. He said one should not suffer as a thief or a murderer or for any evil committed; it goes a long way to tell us that there are those whose sufferings will not be for Christ but for crime, so we should suffer as Christians and stand a chance to inherit the glory.

We must be united: disunity, betrayal, and constant attacks on each other have become the order of the day in Christendom; this could be as a result of some trying to prove their dominating capacity or that they are more influential than others, or even in seeking relevance from the world. Unity comes with two characters; love and tolerance. Love because Christ had commanded that we love one another as he had loved us, tolerance because as humans we are not perfect and we have differences hence we must embrace each other regardless of our differences. If one stands alone, they could easily be broken, but as a community, it becomes difficult to break. The Apostles all went to the upper room and stayed together in love for one another, hence when the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost, they became unbreakable. We too can do the same.

Pray and have faith: in Matthew 18:20. Jesus said that where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there in their midst. Prayer solves every Christian problem, whether immediately or on a later date. This is why Isaiah 60:22 says that, when the time is right, I the Lord will make it happen right; telling us that our answered prayers depend on God’s time.

When we can bear all these in mind and in action with total endurance and believe in the power of God, our endurance will win us the crown of unfading glory, for like Jesus, we suffered, were broken, were humiliated, we died in body but at the time of our glorification, we shall rise never to die again.

16/05/2026

The Jubilee Year of St. Francis

What you should know

St. Augustine's Secondary School Gumel Kaduna, is doing us proud.

16/05/2026

2nd Lecture titled: Artificial Intelligence (Al): The Pearl of the Technological Age & its Risks of Replacing Human Ingenuity & Relationships
marking the 60th World Communications Week (ComWeek) Celebration 2026 of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna with the Theme: Preserving Human Faces and Voices.

16/05/2026

Lecture titled: Artificial Intelligence (Al): The Pearl of the Technological Age & its Risks of Replacing Human Ingenuity & Relationships.
marking the 60th World Communications Week (ComWeek) Celebration 2026 of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna with this year's Theme: Preserving Human Faces and Voices.

16/05/2026

St. Augustine's Secondary School Gumel Kaduna, educating us on the World Communications Week, 2026.

The future is indeed bright.

14/05/2026

Fr. Odafe on the Jubilee Year of St. Francis.