I never found a solution to do it live (nothing worked that I found) so it looks like a relogin is required.
Check your maximum file limit
cat /proc/sys/fs/file-max
824460
This is different than your actual's user limit which you'll see below
ulimit -n
1024
Try and set it higher but it won't work
ulimit -n 65000........
It's not as simple as "yum install" as you can see below and it doesn't stop there.
yum install php53
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* rpmforge: mirror.us.leaseweb.net
* extras: centos.mirror.rafal.ca
* updates: centos.mirror.nexicom.net
* base: centos.mirror.nexicom.net
* addons: centos.mirror.nexicom.net
Setting up Install Process........
This may sound silly but there will be conflicts/issues with the default Centos repository so you have to use a third party like remi (I prefer not to do this but it's the only option unless you migrate your sites/data to another server or can stand some downtime-not an option IMHOon a production server).
You may need to upgrade to PHP5.3 to run Joomla or many other reasons.
Your host needs to use PHP 5.2.4 or higher to run this version of Jo........