Opinion
By Valentine Obienyem
TODAY is Father’s Sunday. In our younger years, only Mothering Sunday was widely observed. The later emergence of Father’s Sunday may well be understood as a cultural balancing – an attempt to mirror, within human celebration, the dignity and responsibility of fatherhood.
In keeping with the liturgical demands of the day, I attended the 5:30 a.m. Mass at St. Joseph the Worker, as I had to depart early with Professors Chinyere Stella Okunna and Patrick Obi for Isiokpo in Ideato Local Government Area of Imo State. to represent Mr. Peter Obi.
The young priest began somewhat confident ob the fathers. When he intoned the familiar call, “Ndi Nna Papa,” there was no response. He repeated it, still without success, and then invited anyone who knew the response to supply it. It was at that moment that Dr. Franklin Umeh answered: “Christ bụ onye ndu anyị.”
“What was happening?” This was the dominant question. The fathers were largely absent from that Mass, having been directed to other designated masses. In my chaplaincy, it was 8:30 am mass.
Fr. Hilary Okwunalu, however, recovered the moment admirably. His homily was both doctrinal and pastoral. Drawing from the readings, he reminded us that we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9), called not merely to belief but to abiding communion with God. His central exhortation was clear: we must hold fast to God above all else. Human beings, by their nature, are finite and fallible; God alone is constant, the unchanging ground of being. To cling to Him is to anchor oneself in truth itself.
The first reading, recounting the choosing of Stephen and the seven, is rich in ecclesiological significance. The laying on of hands is not a mere ritual gesture; it is the visible transmission of authority and grace within the Church. Here, we see the early structure of ministry taking form, rooted in apostolic authority. This act establishes continuity—what theology later articulates as apostolic succession—the unbroken handing on of mission and ministry from the Apostles to their successors.
The Gospel reading draws us even deeper into the mystery of divine life. Thomas, representing the searching intellect, asks for the way; Philip, representing the longing of the human heart, asks to see the Father. Both questions converge in the person of Christ. His response is definitive: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). This is is a revelation.
Here lies one of the clearest scriptural foundations for the doctrine of the Trinity. The Son is not merely a messenger pointing to God; He is consubstantial with the Father—of the same divine essence. The unity He speaks of is not moral or symbolic, but ontological. The Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father. The Spirit, though not explicitly named in that exchange, is implied as the bond of this divine communion—the love proceeding between Father and Son.
Thus, the Christian understanding of God is a relational unity: one God in three Persons. To see Christ, then, is to encounter God fully—not partially.
In the end, the day’s liturgy calls us back to essentials: to recognize God as the true Father, Christ as the definitive revelation of the Father, and the Church as the living continuity of that revelation in history.
A.I
May 5, 2026
Tags: Franklin Umeh Mr. Peter Obi. Professors Chinyere Stella Okunna Valentine Obienyem