Unitatis Media

13/12/2025

HOMILY FOR GAUDATE SUNDAY
3rd Sunday of Advent – Year A.

Theme: “Rejoice, the Lord Is Already at Work”

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today, we celebrate Gaudate Sunday, the Sunday of Joy in the middle of Advent. The Church pauses our waiting and says to us, “Rejoice.” Not because all our problems have disappeared, but because the Lord is near. Like the rose color we see today, joy breaks through the purple of waiting and sacrifice. It reminds us that our struggle has meaning, and our hope is not wasted.

This message speaks directly to our lives here. Many of us are farmers, businessmen and women, and government workers. We wake up early, we labor hard, yet things do not always go as planned. Crops fail, markets are slow, salaries delay, and expectations are frustrated. Sometimes, we pray and still ask ourselves, “God, are you really there?” That question is very human, and today’s Gospel shows us that even a great man of faith asked it.

In the Gospel, John the Baptist is in prison. This is the same man who preached boldly, who prepared the way for the Lord. Yet now he is suffering, forgotten, and confused. From prison, he sends a question to Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we wait for another?” John’s question flows from disappointment. He expected quick victory, but he met delay. Many of us understand this feeling. We do the right thing, yet life does not reward us immediately.

Jesus does not answer John with theory or arguments. He answers him with real-life signs: “The blind see, the lame walk, the poor hear the Good News.” In other words, Jesus says, “God is already working, even if you are in prison and can not see it.” This is the heart of Gaudate Sunday. Joy comes from trusting that God is at work beneath the surface, just like a seed growing silently under the soil.

For our farmers, this message is very close. You plant, you wait, you pray for rain. Sometimes, the harvest is small, and sometimes it disappoints. Yet, every planting is an act of faith. Gaudate Sunday tells you: God sees your labor. Even when the harvest is not what you hoped for, your patience is not wasted. God’s timing is not the same as ours, but He never abandons the one who trusts Him.

For businessmen and women, joy is not always easy. You open your shop daily, customers are few, prices are high, and profit is small. Temptation comes to cut corners or to cheat. But today, the Lord invites you to a deeper joy—the joy of honest work and a clean conscience. Profit may delay, but God’s blessing does not delay forever. He is quietly shaping your future.

For our government workers, the frustration is real. You work hard, yet promotion delays, salaries are not enough, and systems are broken. Gaudate Sunday reminds you that faithfulness still matters. Your integrity, your honesty, and your commitment are not invisible to God. Even when the system fails you, God does not fail.

Dear brothers and sisters, Christian joy is not noise or excitement. It is quiet confidence that God is present, even in difficulty. Jesus says today: “Happy is the one who does not lose faith in me.” This happiness is deeper than money, deeper than success. It is the joy of knowing that God is walking with us through the waiting.

As we move closer to Christmas, let us rejoice—not because everything is perfect, but because the Lord is near and already at work in our lives.

Take-Home Messages

● Joy does not mean the absence of problems; it means the presence of God.

● God works silently, like a seed growing underground.

● Delay is not denial; God’s timing is always purposeful.

● Honest work and faithfulness attract God’s blessing.

● Never lose faith, even when life feels like a prison.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
sometimes, we are tired of waiting, tired of hoping, and tired of struggling.
On this Gaudate Sunday, renew our joy.
Help our farmers to trust You, our traders, to remain honest, and our workers to stay faithful.
When life confuses us, remind us that You are near and already at work.
Give us patience in waiting, strength in labor, and joy in hope.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
🙏

12/12/2025

12/12/2025

21 Graduate, 19 Commissioned as St. Robert Bellarmine Institute Marks Milestone and Unveils New Gate

The St. Robert Bellarmine Institute for Catechesis and Religious Education, Jimlari, has marked a significant milestone as it graduated 21 students and commissioned 19 catechists during a solemn ceremony attended by clergy, religious, and lay faithful.

In his homily, the Chief Shepherd of the Diocese, Most Rev. Charles M. Hammawa, reflected on Christ’s call to mission, reminding the faithful that, “the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.” He stressed that the mandate to proclaim the Good News remains as urgent today as it was in the time of the Apostles. Bishop Hammawa emphasized that every baptized Christian shares in this divine mission. “Since we are baptized, we are sent. Go and preach the gospel of salvation and win souls for Christ,” he charged the graduates.

Speaking on the vital role of catechists in the life of the Church, the bishop noted that those who are called must also be well formed. He urged the newly commissioned catechists to embody the message they proclaim and cautioned them against disobedience, disunity, and disrespect.

While speaking as a board member of the Institution, Sr. Felicia Bethuel described the rapid growth of the institute as remarkable. She congratulated the graduates for their perseverance and wished them well as they prepare to serve their communities with renewed zeal and dedication.

In his Farewell speech, the Auxiliary Catechist, Geraga Samuel, expressed profound appreciation to Bishop Hammawa for his fatherly guidance. He further thanked Fr. Sunday Patrick for his unwavering dedication to overseeing and guiding their formation over the past two years.

In his vote of thanks, the Director of the Institute, Very Rev. Fr. Sunday Muke Patrick, appreciated everyone present for gracing the occasion. He also offered prayers for journey mercies for all attendees as they returned to their various destinations.

A newly mounted gate at the institute was also blessed and launched by Bishop Hammawa, marking a fresh phase in the Institute’s growth.

Established in 1995 by the then Catholic Bishop of Jalingo Diocese, His Grace, Most Rev. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, the St. Robert Bellarmine Institute remains committed to forming grassroots catechists and lay evangelizers, equipped for effective ministry within the Church.

06/12/2025

HOMILY FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT – YEAR A
(7/12/2025)

Theme: “Prepare the Way of the Lord”

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
as we continue our journey in Advent, the Church reminds us that Christmas is not just something we prepare for outside, it is something we must prepare for inside. Many of us are already thinking of clothes, rice, chicken, travels, and celebrations. And all these are good. But if Christ enters our house and does not enter our heart, then we have missed the meaning of Christmas.

Today, John the Baptist speaks to us in a very direct and challenging way: “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near.” John is telling us the same thing he told the people in his time: “Get your life ready.” He knows that you cannot receive a mighty guest in a dirty house and expect the guest to be comfortable. In the same way, we cannot invite Jesus into our lives while refusing to change what He is not happy with.

Isaiah tells us that a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse. This is a message of hope for all of us who feel tired, discouraged, or broken. It means God is not finished with you yet. Even when your life looks dry, God can still make something beautiful out of it. Even if your past is full of mistakes, your future can still be full of grace. But you must cooperate with God. Christmas will not change us unless we allow Christ to change us.

When John says, “Prepare the way of the Lord,” he is not talking about road construction. He is talking about heart repair. Some of us need to clear the road of anger. Some need to remove bitterness. Some must fill the pothole of prayerlessness. Some must clear the bush of lying, cheating, sexual immorality, and injustice. We cannot expect Christ to be comfortable in a heart full of hatred, jealousy, or unforgiveness.

And this call to repentance is not only for “ordinary people.” It is for everyone in Nigeria, without exception. It is for corrupt politicians who steal public money while the people suffer. It is for civil servants who collect bribes to do what is already their duty. It is for security agents who abandon their responsibility or abuse the people they are meant to protect. It is for kidnappers, bandits and extremists who shed innocent blood and think God will overlook it. It is for ritualists and traffickers who destroy lives for money. It is for business people who cheat in measurements and prices. It is for husbands who mistreat their wives and fathers who abandon their children. It is for young people who waste their lives in drugs, cultism, and immorality.

It is also for church people, pastors, prophets, and preachers who turn the house of God into a market place, who preach prosperity without preaching repentance, who sell oil and water instead of teaching truth, who manipulate the poor and frighten the ignorant in the name of “prophecy.” God is not mocked. Anointing is not a cover for sin. A title does not replace holiness.

John’s message is not to frighten us but to free us. Repentance is not about punishment; it is about freedom. God is not calling you to confess your sins so He can disgrace you. He is calling you so He can heal you. Carrying sin is like carrying a heavy load on your head under the hot Nigerian sun. Confession is when you finally drop the load and rest.

And when repentance is real, it shows. A changed heart produces a changed life. It becomes harder to lie. It becomes easier to forgive. Prayer stops being a burden and becomes a need. You begin to hate what God hates, and love what God loves. Christianity is not about wearing a cross; it is about carrying your cross daily by living rightly.

John also tells us that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. When fire enters a thing, it changes it. It melts it. It reshapes it. If Christ truly enters your life, something must change. If the same anger, the same bitterness, the same cheating, the same prayerlessness remain year after year, then Christ has been around you but not inside you.

My dear people of God, Christ is coming again this Christmas. The question is not whether He will come. The question is how He will find us. Will He meet a heart that is ready or a heart that is crowded? Will He find forgiveness or fight? Will He see repentance or pride? Advent is the season to settle our matters with God.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGES

1. Christmas preparation is first spiritual, not social.

2. Repentance is a gift, not a punishment.

3. Confession is not a shame; it is a cure.

4. If Christ enters your life, something must change.

5. Advent is the best time to return fully to God.

6. Do not decorate your house and neglect your soul.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus,
we are waiting for You,
but more than that, we need You.

Enter our lives and cleanse what is dirty.
Heal what is broken.
Calm what is troubled.
Change what is sinful.

Touch our nation.
Convert our leaders.
Convict the violent.
Correct the dishonest.
Purify Your Church.
Heal the wounded.
Restore the lost.

Remove from us every hatred,
every bitterness,
every pride,
and every disobedience.

Give us new hearts,
new minds,
and new beginnings.

This Christmas, do not pass us by.
Come and stay with us.

Amen.

© Fr Cyriacus Kamai

02/12/2025

100 CONFIRMED, 10 OTHERS BLESSED THEIR MARRIAGES

No fewer than 100 candidates received the Sacrament of Confirmation and 10 others blessed their marriages at St Andrew Catholic Pastoral Area Gampobong as Bishop Hammawa pays first Pastoral visit to the Pastoral Area.

Exhorting the lay faithful of the Pastoral Area, Bishop Hammawa charged them to develop the Pastoral Area and to give it a befitting modern look structurally.

Bishop Hammawa urged the Confirmed and Wedded candidates to work tirelessly towards making heaven which is their goal. He tasked them to guard against false teachings which according to him will mislead them.

St Andrew Pastoral Area was carved out of St Thomas Villanova Parish Zing in Zing Local Government Area of Taraba State. Very Rev Fr Julius Nyasi is the first Priest in-charge.

May God be praised in His Church and His people. Amen.

02/12/2025

HOLY FAMILY ASSOCIATION HOLD MAIDEN CONVENTION

The Association of Holy Family, Jalingo Diocese has just concluded their maiden convention at St Charles Borromeo Pastoral Centre Shavou Mile Six Jalingo.

The 3-day convention which has as its theme: "Family Catechesis: An Imperative In The Light of Gaudium et Spes," ended with a Holy Mass, which was presided by the Vicar Administration, Very Rev. Fr Dr Williams Awoshiri together with the Jalingo Diocesan Chaplain of the Association and Chairman Catechetical and Family Life Commission, Rev. Fr Emmanuel Colman.

Exhorting the participants at Mass, Fr Awoshiri tasked them to work towards uplifting the Association to an acceptable standard.

In his closing remarks after the Mass, the Chairman Catechetical and Family Life Committee Prof. Anthony Barau and the Commission's Chaplain Rev Fr Emmanuel Colman unanimously thanked the organizers and all for reactivating the Association at the Diocesan level even as they thanked all for their support and for participating in the event.

Presenting a paper earlier on the theme of the convention, Rev. Fr Victor Tyogema charged parents to creat time for their families, adding that families should, as a matter of urgency, accommodate prayers as a household activity.

Very Rev Fr Sunday Patrick Muke presented a paper on: "Sensitization On The Importance Of The Holy Family Association". The Cleric affirmed that a family can only be strengthened through promotion of unity, deepening their faith in God and sustaining active Holy Family Associations in parishes.

May the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph be the guide and inspiration of every Christian home. Amen.

29/11/2025

Sanctus...an usher into the advent season

29/11/2025

HOMILY FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (YEAR A, 30/11/2025).

Theme: “Advent: From Waiting to Watchful Living”

Readings: Isaiah 2:1–5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11–14; Matthew 24:37–44

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church opens a new liturgical year, and with it God offers us a fresh spiritual beginning. The First Sunday of Advent is not just the start of a new season on the calendar of the Church; it is a call to begin again in our personal walk with God. Advent invites us to pause, reflect, and realign our lives with the purpose of God. It reminds us that Christian waiting is not passive or careless; it is intentional and filled with hope. This season invites us to move from simply waiting for Christmas to living in watchful readiness for Christ.

The word Advent comes from the Latin Adventus, meaning “coming” or “arrival,” a word originally used for the arrival of a king or dignified person. In the Church, the word carries a deeper meaning. During Advent, we prepare not only for the celebration of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem, but also for His daily coming into our hearts through grace, and for His final coming in glory at the end of time. Advent therefore reminds us that Christ is not only part of our history, He is also part of our present, and He is our future. The question is not whether He will come, but whether we are ready to receive Him.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns His listeners by comparing our time to the days of Noah. People were eating, drinking and marrying; they were busy with daily life, yet they were spiritually asleep. The disaster did not come because they were living normal lives, but because they were living without God. Their hearts were far from the things of eternity. In the same way, many people in our world today are:
~Busy but not prayerful, ~Connected online but disconnected from God, ~Religious in appearance but distant in relationship.

Advent calls us away from careless living to conscious living, from routine religion to a living and personal faith. It urges us to stay awake not in fear, but in faithful readiness.

As the Church enters a new liturgical year, we must also ask ourselves if we are willing to enter a new spiritual season. A new Church year should not begin while our hearts remain old and unchanged. This first Sunday of Advent is God’s invitation to start again: to renew our prayer life, to seek forgiveness, to repair broken relationships, and to rebuild our commitment to holiness. St. Paul speaks clearly in today’s reading when he tells us that it is time to wake up from sleep. He reminds us that salvation is nearer now than when we first began to believe. Advent is therefore not a reminder of how much time we have, but how little time we should waste.

Our world today is filled with anxiety and uncertainty. There are wars, economic hardships, diseases and social breakdown. People fear tomorrow, yet many forget God. The world is rich in technology but poor in virtue, advanced in knowledge but lacking in wisdom, loud in entertainment but empty of purpose. Many prepare for careers, investments and celebrations, but few prepare for eternity. Advent challenges this imbalance and reminds us that while the world plans for comfort, Christians must prepare for Christ.

Here in Nigeria, the pain of our people is obvious. Insecurity, corruption, unemployment, hunger, and moral decay surround us daily. Many families are struggling, many young people are confused, and many hearts are wounded. But beyond politics and policies, the deepest problem of our nation is spiritual. Nigeria does not suffer only from poor leadership; we suffer from weak consciences. We have many churches, but too few converted hearts. We have many prayers, but too little obedience. Advent calls Nigerian Christians to return to truth, simplicity, justice, and prayer. It reminds us that our nation will not change until our hearts change. When Christians truly live the Gospel, the light of Christ will shine into our villages, our cities, our offices, and our homes.

As we walk through this season of Advent, God expects us to move beyond decorations to dedication, beyond celebration to conversion, beyond noise to reflection. He desires not only that we prepare our houses for guests, but that we prepare our hearts for Christ. Advent is a season to return to the sacraments, to examine our consciences, to reconcile with one another, and to rebuild our interior lives. It is a season to take God seriously again.

Dear brothers and sisters, Advent is not entertainment; it is a spiritual journey. Christ is coming — not to negotiate with sin, not to excuse our failures, but to bring salvation and to judge the world with justice and mercy. The only real question of Advent is this: when Christ comes, will He recognize your heart as His home?

May this Advent be different from all others. May it not be just another December. May it be the season where your heart finds God again, where your prayer becomes deeper, where your conscience becomes cleaner, and where your hope becomes stronger.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGES

■♧Advent is not just a season on the Church calendar but a call to personal conversion.

■♧A new liturgical year must begin with a renewed heart.

■♧Waiting for Christ must become watchful living for Christ.

■♧Busyness without prayer leads to spiritual blindness.

■♧Prepare your soul more than your house this Advent.

■♧Confession is one of the best Advent gifts you can give yourself.

■♧The world changes when Christians choose holiness.

■♧Nigeria will rise when God returns to our homes and consciences.

■♧Living faith is the greatest preparation for Christ’s coming.

■♧Christ is coming — the only question is: are you ready?

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, as we begin this holy season of Advent, awaken our hearts from spiritual sleep. Remove from us the spirit of carelessness and restore in us the hunger for holiness. Heal our wounded nation, strengthen our families, renew your Church, and make us faithful witnesses of your coming. Prepare our hearts to receive you with joy and when you come in glory, may you find us ready. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

🙏

26/11/2025

JUDD SAUL'S FOUNDATION SUPPORTS TARABA IDPs

Equipping The Persecuted, an American non-governmental organization founded by Mr. Judd Saul, has extended vital aid to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) taking refuge in Taraba State, Nigeria.

The organization, in partnership with its correspondent from "Truth Nigeria," Mr. Mike Odeh James, distributed essential foodstuffs to IDPs across camps within the Jalingo Metropolis, the state capital.

The distribution exercise took place on November 25, 2025. Mr. James was joined by Rev. Fr. Collins Dossa, Coordinator of the Jalingo Diocesan Migrants and Refugees Unit, and Mr. Vincent Jellason, a member of the Unit. Together, they visited the camps and delivered the relief materials directly to the displaced persons.

In a press chat, the State IDP Coordinator, Mr. Paul Achagwa, described the continuous violent attacks allegedly perpetrated by the Fulani ethnic militia against Christian communities as "heart-wrenching" and urged a comprehensive investigation. He made an earnest call on both the State and Federal Governments to make concerted efforts to swiftly address and resolve the ongoing crisis.

Mr. Achagwa expressed profound gratitude to Mr. Judd Saul and his foundation for their timely and philanthropic gesture during this turbulent period. He also appealed to International Organizations and their respective governments to come to the rescue of Taraba State, noting that the state is facing severe challenges due to the alleged actions of the Fulani herders.

Furthermore, Mr. Achagwa specifically requested that the Judd Saul Foundation and other international partners provide additional essential non-food items, including:
* Sleeping mattresses
* Bedsheets
* Mosquito nets
* Other sleeping equipment
These items, he stated, are critical to ensuring the basic comfort and well-being of the displaced individuals while they remain in the camps.

While the people of God remain grateful for these humanitarian efforts, we pray for a swift end to the societal mishaps that lead to the displacement of people and properties. Amen.

25/11/2025

CHRIST THE KING PROCESSION IN PHOTOS

25/11/2025

Kona Cultural troupe at Fr Williams Awoshiri's thanksgiving