Lent: Abstain From Sin, Keep God’s Commandments, Enugu Catholic Bishop Declares

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – As Catholics world wide begins their Lenten season that would culminate into the  Easter celebration, the Bishop of Enugu diocese of the church, Most Rev Callistus Onaga has urged officials of the Nigerian government, politicians, individuals especially christian faithfuls to abstain from sin.

He harped on the need for total repentance during this lenten period, saying the Lenten   period is a time  of mourning for our sins.

The Bishop who stated this Monday during a press conference held at the Bishop’s Court Enugu, equally called on Christian faithfuls to observe the Lenten period with abstinence, prayers, forgiveness and repentance with a view to seeking eternal life.

According to him, 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 foreheads of the faithful.

.“Ashes are signs of mourning, act of repentance. Therefore, ash Wednesday is a period christians are in a mood of mourning, after rubbing the ashes, christians are showing that they are sorry for their sins. 

“Ash Wednesday reminds us of our source, that God created man out of dust and said “thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return”. Our own death is a passage unto eternity.

“What we are doing is that we are sacrificing the very purpose of incarnation and the purpose is to free man from supremes and shame, then be introduced into immortality, the next life of man, and that life has no end, it is eternal” he said.

The cleric also  noted that as human beings we have our shortcomings and we are bound to make mistakes, but the only thing we can do is to go for atonement of sins.

Bishop Onaga further stated that personalities in the Nigerian government, starting from the president to the governors, need repentance because they are not managing the resources of this country very well.

He frowned  that some of the Nigerian leaders have unduly involved themselves in amassing wealth and resources of this country, while the citizens are suffering. 

He pointed out that Individuals in the country are also committing one sin or the other through Cheating, corruption and bad job businesses.

Bishop Onaga therefore admonished Nigerian citizens that “This is a period of introspection, the period we need to go into ourselves, ask questions, how we can make our own personal life and others better. A period to make amend, a period to mend our fences as a child of God.

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