God is not a divine ATM machine, Archbishop tells 10 000 youth in Nigeria

Nigerian Catholic youth have been advised not to be obsessed with seeking instant gratification in their prayers. This admonition was given by the Catholic Archbishop of Benin Archdiocese, Augustine Akubeze in his homily at the closing Mass for the fourth National Youth Day celebration which took place in Benin City, Edo state, recently. The youth day event, was organised with the view to prepare Nigerian youth for the forthcoming World Youth Day 2016 (WYD 2016) in Kraków, Poland. It was attended by over ten thousand youth from all dioceses of Nigeria.

Archbishop Akubeze told the youth to be wary of preachers who exclusively dwell on the gospel of prosperity. God is not just a “money giver who acts on the basis of what he receives from human beings,” he challenged the youth.

Archbishop Akubeze said that he was concerned about the current trend of preaching by some Church leaders, “God is now perceived as a divine ATM machine who responds to us once we sow a seed. God is almost reduced to a marketer doing business with us,” the Archbishop said. “Today, some preachers of the Gospel seem not too comfortable to preach about the cross that we have to carry as Christ did. We hear of preaching focused on material acquisition at all costs. We hear of constant calls (by pastors) to ‘sow a seed and all your problems and diseases will disappear,’” The Archbishop told the thousands of youth.  

He observed that things may not always be easy, but by embracing Christ and living out their baptismal promises, the youth would realise their heart’s desires because with God, nothing is impossible.

“To be a Christian is to embrace a life and a vocation of showing kindness not only towards one’s friends but even towards one’s enemies,” the Archbishop said. At the same event, he also reiterated the fact that mercy is always at the heart of the Christian message,

World Youth Day is an international Catholic faith event focused on youth from all over the world. It is held every three years in a different part of the world. The last World Youth Day 2013 was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and was attended by Pope Francis.

(Catholic News Service of Nigeria) 

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