Religion
MOST Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor, Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, has called on Christians to continue with the piety and life of repentance they adopted during the Lent, after Easter and beyond.
Ezeokafor made the admonition in his Easter message at St Patrick’s Cathedral Awka on Saturday.
He said it amounted to hypocrisy for people to assume a holy state during preparations for Easter and immediately return to their sinful ways after the celebration.
According to the bishop, Easter is the greatest feast of the Church because without the resurrection of Christ, there would be no hope for Christians.
“That is why in the lives of saints, they are judged on the day they die, not the day they were born, the resurrection of Christ is our hope, and without it we have nothing.
“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.
“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 be in vain.
“There are difficulties, but it is only the living that will tell the story. So, let us stop living as if we are hopeless people,” he said.
He added that corruption and immorality were abominable acts before God and if not shunned, were capable of leading people to hell in spite of the supreme sacrifice paid by Christ’s crucifixion.
The bishop warned religious leaders against prosperity gospel which depicted suffering and hardship as taboo for Christians, noting that such teachings were misleading and negated the virtues Christ taught his followers. (NAN)
– Apr. 20, 2019 @ 14:55 GMT |
Tags: Easter: Bishop of Awka Diocese tasks Christians on true repentance
