By Olivia Obijiaku
A priest of the Catholic Diocese of Zaria, Rev Fr Patrick Andrew Atama has blamed insecurity in Nigeria on betrayals from associates pointing to Judas Iscariot as a reference point. Making this known in Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish on Tuesday, 26th March 2024, the clergyman leaned on the Gospel reading of the day on Judas’ betrayal of Jesus in cautioning against actions.
“Dear brothers and sisters, a house will never suffer without an insider.” He told them. “This is exactly what we see today. Somebody must know something about you before you are betrayed. That is the situation also we have in our country Nigeria today.
We see betrayals everyday especially this kidnapping that is going on all over the country. Sometimes, someone close to you, who knows your whereabouts, who knows your movement betrays you.
The enemy from outside does not actually know the nature of the house unless somebody within guides them.So, today, Judas prefers the money that the elders will offer him over his Master. Remember Jesus Christ has been teaching in the open and the elders have been setting traps for Him for a very long time, looking for an opportunity to catch Him but they could not understand how to do it because some of the people were at the side of Jesus while some were at the side of the elders.
So, in other not to create crisis, they wanted to do it secretly and today, Judas is the one – the insider betraying his Master. The elders were just on their own looking way to capture Jesus and lo and behold, one of His disciples walked up to them and said, ‘How much will you give me if I hand over my Master to you?’ Are you planning to betray somebody close to you? Do you have good intention or evil intention towards people around you?”Fr Atama told them that they are not different from Judas if they betray others.
He told them to reexamine themselves and have a change of heart if they have been guilty of the sin of Judas.
