Archbishop
Martins made the call on the occasion of the maiden edition of St. Thomas More
Award by the Lagos Archdiocese at the Holy Cross Cathedral on Saturday,
September 23, 2023.
Admonishing
the recipients and encouraging them to live life that pleases God the way
Thomas More did he said, “Thomas More was just a professional just like many of
you here; he was just a professional whose faith and loyalty to the teachings
of the church could not be bought either by his office or by money or anything
else. Like many of you, he was a married man, he was an English lawyer, judge,
social philosopher, author, statesman, and a noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord High
Chancellor of England; that was the highest ranking traditional ministerial position
in England, directly appointed by the King himself.
“Thomas More
was also a man with high reputation for honesty and integrity. In spite of his position,
he insisted that God must be honoured, that God must be obeyed even if it is
inconvenient, even if it is not politically expedient, he knew that God must be
obeyed. His concern was to purify and renew Christianity, and to return
Christianity to the simplicity of the gospel and for that reason, trump up
charges were brought against him and he was put to death. Thomas More was a
faithful servant to the king, but God’s servant first, and that was the reason
the award was instituted in his name. Politicians, Professionals and, indeed people
of all walks of life should emulate the life of St Thomas Mores,” the Archbishop
stated.
Congratulating
the honorees, he said “You have the honour of being the first set of recipients
of Lagos Archdiocesan St Thomas More Awards. You have given generously, your time
your treasure and your talents in the service of God and his Church for the
purpose of evangelization and expansion of the kingdom of God in this world.”
He also
admonished the congregants to strive to take part in the development of the
church using their time, talent and treasure no matter how little it is. “Everybody
is required to take active part in the church, according to their talent,
according to your different means. God has given us talents, he has given us
gifts that are inherent in us; each of us has a duty to find a space to use
their talent and ability to work for God.”
He stated
that time has gone when the church is described as the Reverend Father’s
Church, “We all know that the church right from the beginning, God expects all
His children to be active according to their states in life, a priest cannot be
a lay person and a lay person cannot be either a priest or religious, each one
is expected to contribute according to their state in life by virtue of that
which God has given them.
“The scripture
tells us that if we give, we give for the lord, if you die, you die for the
lord. What do we have that is not given
to us by God? Dear friends giving to the lord means using all that we have; all
that shall ever be, all the things that we do, that you use them in the service
of God, that is what giving to the lord means,” he added.
He said all
of them were chosen from across the archdiocese for working assiduously for the
growth of the church, adding that everybody could not be honoured at the same time
and assured that God will definitely reward all those who for him. He said the
award is not done to create a class that is greater than others bit I is meant
to encourage them. “As we honour you today, it is not a way to create a class
of people who are higher than others, we are given this award rather in order to
say well done, thank you. We expect you not to rest on your oars, but to
continue to do what you do and finding more ways of rending services to God and
His church.
“As we
present this award to the recipients, it is also a way to encourage all others
to continue to strive to find ways of offering their services selflessly, but
not in order to receive award but in order simply to serve God and his Church,”
Archbishop Martins.
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