BY JUDE OSSAI / ENUGU
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Bishop of Enugu Catholic Diocese, Most Rev. (Dr.) Callistus Onaga has called on Christians to observe the Lenten period with faith, love, abstinence, prayers, as well as alms giving to the needy.
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Bishop Onaga also urged christians to observe the period with forgiveness and repentance with a view to seeking eternal life.
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The Lenten period starts on Wednesday, March 5, with the marking of Ash Wednesday.
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Making the call at a press conference held on Monday at Bishop Court, Enugu, Most Rev. Onaga explained that the main essence of the lenten season is atonement for sin, adding that lenten season comes at the end of winter.
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According to him, the Greek word lent, which means the number, Forty ( 40 days the lenten season takes place in the Catholic Church) It is a period for passion and resurrection of Christ. A period Christ prepared for his public ministry.
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He noted that Christ prayed and farted for forty days before his crucifixion and as Christians , in celebrating the passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ , stringent prayer session was needed to do that , prayer with fasting, abstinence and almsgiving.
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Explaining further, Bishop Onaga said people should fast from what they like .
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” Fasting will mean not taking anything. Abstinence is close to fasting. It will mean to be your brother ‘s keeper . You abstain from everything that gives you joy , cut it down. If you are fond of taking alcohol, if you are fond of smoking, if you are fond of wearing expensive clothes, cut them down and use what you had saved from thr cutting down to give alms to the needy. There is always reason for what the church does. We are all sinners and because we are sinners we fast for forty days .
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On the essence of Ash Wednesday, the Cleric said, “You abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday . We are going to celebrate the grace, and purpose of redemption inorder to capture the full meaning of passion pf Christ., during the leten period “, Bishop Onaga said.
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The Cleric added that on Ash Wednesday., palms collected from the Palm Sunday of the past year will be burnt and prepared for the ashes that will be applied on the fore heads of the faithful.
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“Ashes are signs of mourning, ,act of repentance. After rubbing the ashes , we are showing that we are sorry for our sins . That’s the essence of Ash Wednesday. That very ceremony reminds us of our sins. It reminds us that we are dust . Thou art dust, unto dust, thou shall return, ‘ he said.
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Bishop Onaga explained that not only human beings return to dust, All creatures return to dust but human beings’ return to dust, is a passage.
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Onaga, who spoke on the passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, also spoke on repentance and good works.. ” The next life of man is eternal. We return to God. Once you are a human being you have your shortcomings and once you have your shortcomings , you are a sinner.. He noted that observing the lenten season helps Christians to turn away from their sins.
He called for repentance of all. He noted that the government and those in power require repentance. “We talk about the government, they themselves require repentance including the president and the governors. The government as a system needs repentance. Saving money when people are suffering is a sin.
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Condemning the manner some people treat nature, the Bishop said, ” all of us in Nigeria should be repentant in how we treat nature. Some people force fruits to ripe . We have bastardized the nature. So, we owe nature some kind of confession. Then, within ourselves, we need to mend our fences. What is good is good, what is bad is bad”, he said.
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On resurrection, the Bishop said that Jesus Christ died to save us from the dead. “He died and on the third day he resurrected . As he died, he stayed with the dead and rose from the dead on the third day , giving life to the dead.. It is full eternity. If Christ had not risen it would have made nonsense of our belief,” he said.
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On eternity, Bishop Onaga said, “after this life , there is another life and that life is eternal . It is not limited to any condition. It is in the resurrection that the work of salvation takes place . Don’t forget those things we did during lent after the lenten period. The resurrection and the life of the resurrection should be continued. That should represent the real life of eternity.”
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