Stories

By Fr. Augustine Dada

Even in April, the year is already bearing extraordinary fruit in the mission world. Across the United States, in New York, and especially throughout Africa, the story so far is one of remarkable renewal.  Matthew 28:19 was lived in a beautiful symphony on April 7. 

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. People entering the Church in striking numbers is a witness to the hope of the Resurrection in very concrete ways.

The most notable sign of this grace is the remarkable number of baptisms. This is a reminder that Christian faith continues to speak with power in a weary world. In place after place, the waters of baptism are marking not simply individual decisions, but the quiet advance of the Gospel among families, parishes, and entire communities.

In Africa, this growth carries special weight. The continent remains one of the most dynamic centers of Catholic life, and Nigeria in particular stands as both a place of vitality and vulnerability. Msgr. Landry, the National Director of the Missions in his Good Friday homily said: “More Christians died last year in Nigeria than in the rest of the world combined, with some numbers as high as 8,000. Two dozen were slaughtered last weekend in Jos. Despite the cross of persecution our Nigerian brothers and sisters have to endure, they have the highest percentage of Mass attendance in the world: 94 percent.”

In other words, Christian communities continue to face grave dangers, including killings, displacement, and attacks on worship. In such a climate, the celebration of Christian liturgy is not routine; it is an act of courage, and even as dire as it is we are looking at over 15,000 new baptisms at the Easter Vigil. Alleluia. 

The new baptisms are not an end in themselves. They are a beginning. The newly baptized have just begun a journey with the Lord supported by his people.  Even though they are grown or are young adults, in the mystical body of Christ in which Christ is the head, the bridegroom, and the Church is the Bride, they are the babies, the new fruits of faith so to say.  And we don’t say the mother’s job is done once the baby is out at least not for homo sapiens and definitely fidelis catholicus. The new person in Christ requires mystagogy — that is, a period of deepening and unfolding the mystery of faith after baptism, when converts are helped to understand more fully what they have received and how to live it. The Church has long known that grace must be accompanied by formation. The seed must be watered. The spiritual baby must be nurtured. (Cf. St. Ambrose of Milan strongly supports this view in his post-baptismal catecheses, De Mysteriis and De Sacramentis, c. 387 AD.)

Pastors of souls—priests ordained and rigorously formed for this sacred charge—embody the Church's accompaniment of the newly baptized. As Scripture and Tradition affirm, every task demands its proper instrument (opus recto instrumento recte perficitur); thus, the Church entrusts to these men the threefold munera of preaching the Word with clarity, governing souls with prudent authority, sanctifying through the sacraments, and walking closely beside neophytes as they advance from sacramental initiation to the full stature of mature discipleship.

This ordered ministry echoes the apostolic wisdom seen from the earliest days. When practical needs threatened widows' care (Acts 6:1-6), the Apostles wisely instituted deacons, ensuring that evangelization and service advanced in harmony. From that moment, the Church grasped indelibly that spiritual growth flourishes not in chaos, but through structured roles, shared burdens, and hierarchical service. Today, amid missionary renewal, this perennial insight calls us anew: bold expansion thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit demands equally bold support, lest the harvest wither for want of laborers (Mt 9:38).

Here, the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle plays a decisive role—a task far from abstract. It sustains priestly formation in mission territories where vocations abound yet resources falter. This aid proves strategic, for evangelization's future hinges not merely on baptizing multitudes, but on forging shepherds to guide them wisely. If the harvest endures, laborers demand training. Otherwise, we risk the folly of sending reapers without sickles.

This is why support for priestly formation remains the Church's most vital investment in the mission of baptizing all nations. New converts must not languish alone at faith's threshold but be welcomed, instructed, and sustained by pastors ontologically configured to Christ—whom they rightly call "Father"—and equipped to lead them deeper into the mystery embraced, all within the nurturing embrace of Mother Church's family. For in the end, we all yearn for these spiritual newborns to thrive in the warmth of faith's true family.

The work of the mission is not only to begin, but to continue; not only to baptize, but to build and support.