Badagry Deanery has won the 17th Lagos Archdiocesan Council of Board of Lectors Quiz held in St Anthony Catholic church Gbaja, Surulere, at the weekend.

Badagry Deanery emerged first position, while Agege and Lekki emerged second and 3rd position respectively.

Meanwhile, Yaba Deanery emerged the first prize for the sword drill and spelling Bee category.

According to REV.MSGR Bernard  Okodua, Parish Priest of St. Anthony Catholic Church, Surulere, Lagos  the quiz competition that we’ve just had is organized by the Archdiocesan Council of the Board of Lectors, those who read the Word of God during the church celebrations. And the idea of it is to keep them constantly informed about the liturgy of the Catholic Church.

The liturgy basically has to do with reading the Word of God, praying and singing God’s praises, and, of course, exaltation by the minister. To read the Word of God is not the same as reading a newspaper or reading some news on television or so. The Word of God is sacred.

It is God speaking to us in His Word, which is written down by the sacred writers. So whoever is proclaiming the Word of God has to prepare for it, for that assignment, to proclaim the Word of God such a way that those whom he’s proclaiming, though we hear God speak to them through that lector and therefore get the message that is being proclaimed and put into practice, to action. Therefore, a lector is carrying out his sacred duty when he or she is there reading the scriptures, the Word of God from the Holy Book, the Bible, or in the Catholic Church, we read from a book called the lectionary.

So the purpose of having this quiz competition is to get them to prepare themselves to know more about their faith. It’s not just a question of reading the Word of God. It’s also a question of living the faith.

Similarly, Reverend Fr. Jude Thierry Onyemaechi Ugbome, Associate Priest of St. Anthony gbaja, Surulere, “the importance of this quiz is that we learn about faith. We also learn about the doctrines. They will come to love God and love the Catholic Church even more. So, it’s a kind of safe discovery, of the things we ought to know as Catholics, most especially as Christians.

It will definitely bring about growth, growth in spirituality, and growth in all around, knowing the faith, most importantly.”

Speaking on the importance of the competition, the President, Lagos Archdiocesan Council of board o f lectors, DR. Richard Edi said: “the importance of today is to see how prepared we are as lectors in understanding the Word of God and how familiar we are with the Word of God that we proclaim every Sunday. In fact, every day of our lives as lectors, we proclaim in the church. We want to see how well these people know what they proclaim. That is the significance for us.” 

Events like this will make our people pay more attention to the word of God that they read. Pay more attention to details in the happenings in the Catholic Church and what happens around the seasons and the sacred scriptures of the Church, that in-depth knowledge of what we do in the Catholic Church.”