The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Dr. Adewale Martins, and the Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, Anambra State, Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor, have called on Nigerians to maintain a pious lifestyle make charity a way of life.
In his Easter message released yesterday, Archbishop Martins called on Nigerians to show more empathy for their fellow citizens and make sacrifice for the common good.
He urged them to show concern for the welfare of fellow citizens in emulation of Jesus Christ who made the invaluable sacrifice of His life out of love for humanity.
“In this Easter season, we are once again reminded of the love that made our Lord Jesus Christ to take upon himself the sins of all mankind and was crucified so that we might have eternal life.
“Like Jesus, we too must be willing to make sacrifices for the common good and the growth of our nation.
“We must show more tolerance towards others and accommodate those with points of view that are different from ours so that we can all live together in peace and unity,” he said.
Love, according to him, is the virtue we all need to practice as Nigerians so that we can together fight against the numerous ills plaguing the land and move towards the path of lasting peace and prosperity.
Bishop Ezeokafor, on his part, described as hypocrites Christians who assume holy state during Easter period only to return to their sinful ways once the celebration is over.
He also berated religious leaders that profess prosperity and view suffering in the Christiandom as a taboo.
Such teachings, he said, are misleading.
He stressed that as followers of Christ, Christians should see suffering and difficulties as part of the journey to eternity.
He urged Nigerians to shun corruption and live righteous life worthy of emulation in the spirit of Easter celebration when Christians the world over reflect on Christ’s sufferings and eventual death and resurrection.
The Catholic prelate described corruption and immorality as acts detested by God and was capable of leading God’s people to hell fire despite the supreme price Christ paid for mankind on the cross.
According to him, Easter presented an opportunity for the faithful to thank God for the opportunity of being part of the celebration as well as a time for telling themselves some home truths.
He noted that Christ suffered and won victory for mankind and that in the same way, people faced difficulties in life, with the hope of coming out triumphantly and happy at the end.
He said, “My message is that there is still hope because we know that, according to St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians: 18:14, the fact that Christ is alive should give us hope, otherwise our lives would have been in vain.
“Despite the stressful times, people should trust in God by emulating Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane who, despite his travails, did not give up.
“There are difficulties, but it is only the living that would come up to tell the story. So, let us stop living as if we are hopeless.
“There is hope and Christ showed that hope in the father; went through suffering and you can see that at the end of the day, his resurrection brought us life.
“Christ took up that challenge, so, I challenge all of us to take up whatever challenges that life brings.
“Suffering is already part and parcel of our lives and nobody can be immune from it.”
