The Catholic Bishop of Oyo diocese, Emmanuel Badejo, has called on the youth and other digital natives to be deliberate and more committed in promoting the gospel and Christian values online.
“What may not have been too obvious in the Church on Mission Sunday is the all-important effort of the digital missionaries among us who vigorously promote the spirit and the message of the gospel in the digital space.
Many of us engaged in physical activities to promote the mission but surely, many more of our faithful would have done even more on social media and other digital platforms. Such efforts which must be considered indispensable for the future of mission deserve commendation and encouragement,” he stated.
According to him, the period after Mission Sunday is the time to appreciate the good effort of Catholic parishes and communities in responding positively and contributing to the universal celebration. “Thanks to priests, consecrated persons, catechists and other pastoral agents who catechised and mobilised the faithful about their indispensable role as missionaries by virtue of their baptism.”
Badejo stated further that the fervent prayers of the faithful on Mission Sunday that more people come to know Jesus Christ and the Good News will receive God’s favour. According to him, the creativity and efforts of the youth population in inviting people to listen to Jesus’ message of peace and love through their drama, songs, skits and decorations and house-to-house evangelism must be acknowledged.
According to him, everyone who owns a cell phone can become a digital missionary, offering the beauty of Christianity to the world. He stated further that time is now overdue for every Christian to deliberately overwhelm the vices and evil in the world with messages of God’s goodness and Christian values.
“The clear positive message of the ongoing synodality period is that we must overwhelm war with peace and always seek communion over division and discrimination. This, in fact, is the agenda which our digital missionaries must pursue.
“With the almost limitless reach of the digital tools available to our youth for example, they can become the salt and leaven of our world to counter the satanic, fake and misleading messages that rupture the peace, solidarity and communion all around us and rather spread good news in this world that is so starved of it,” Badejo stated.
Speaking to the upcoming Jubilee for Missionaries and Catholic Digital Influencers, which is slated for July 28-29, 2025, Badejo stated that digital missionaries and influencers have been encouraged to ‘Go and invite everyone to the banquet,’ according to the theme of Mission Sunday.
According to him, they were urged to abandon their own comfort zones, to bear witness to Christian joy. “They were invited to ensure that they never seek to create cliques but rather to engage with the dust of the road and the mud of history.”
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