PURIFIED
FOR GREATER WITNESS
LENTEN PASTORAL
By
Most Rev. Dr. V. A. Chikwe
(Catholic Bishop of Ahiara Diocese)
ASH
WEDNESDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2001
INTRODUCTION
1. The celebration of the Great Jubilee, my dear people
of Ahiara diocese, inspires us to launch into the deep,
for a greater catch for Christ (Lk.5:4). Certainly, we have
been strengthened in faith by the merits of this celebration.
We have been purified by it for greater witness to Our Lord
Jesus Christ in the new millennium.
2.
We prepared for the Great Jubilee with Christian hope. We
celebrated it with faith and charity. Its fruits have energized
us. We are, therefore, encouraged to proclaim, from the
“housetops”(Mt.10:26-28), that Jesus Christ
is Lord, Savior and King of the whole world. We must bear
better fruit, in the third millennium, by more intensely
propagating without fear, the 2000-years-old faith we inherited.
3.
From the experience of our preparation and celebration of
the Great Jubilee, I am encouraging you, my beloved Mbaise
people, through this Pastoral Letter, to continue along
the path of the Christian faith, hope and charity we have
been traveling in this diocese since its erection. We “rejoice
in the Lord always” for this. (Phil.4:4) Because God
is giving life to the seeds of faith sown here by the missionaries
and being watered by us. (1Cor.3:6-7) Our practice has been,
and will remain, unity in the mission of Our Redeemer.
4.
“This is because”, to use the words of St Paul
to the Philippians, from the beginning, “you have
taken part with me in spreading the good news… God
is the One who began this good work in you and I am certain
that he won’t stop before it is complete on the day
that Christ Jesus comes.” (Phil. 1: 5-6).
(I)
LESSONS OF THE GREAT JUBILEE
5. We prepared with Christian hope! The Catechism of the
Catholic Church says best what I want to communicate to
you, when I say here that we prepared for the Great Jubilee
with Hope. “Hope”, it says, “is the theological
virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal
life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s
promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the
help of the grace of the Holy Spirit…. The virtue
of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God
has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes
that inspire man’s activities and purifies them so
as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man
from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment;
it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude.
Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and
led to the happiness that flows from charity.”(CCC
1817 –1818)
6.
The programs for the preparation and celebration of the
Great Jubilee were designed to prepare and present to Christ,
as His 2000th birth day gift, a world filled with more Christian
faith, hope and charity.
7.
We celebrated Christian faith and charity!
I thank God, day and night, for the faith He has given us
in this diocese. This faith, a treasure we bear in clay,
derives it power and effectiveness, not from us, but from
God. (2Cor.4:7). This faith was very actively demonstrated
in your response and dedication in following the programs
of the Church as directed by the Holy Father for the preparation
and celebration of the Great Jubilee.
8.
Our expressions of strong faith and charity, especially
during the celebrations of the jubilee of specific groups,
in our diocese, were very evident. I thank you all. But
I must mention, especially, the members of the Pastoral
Council who came up with the idea that we begin the building
of our new cathedral to concretize our preparation for the
Great Jubilee, and leave a Christian legacy of the past
millennium, for the new. Officially the foundation stone
was laid on 6 January 1998, during the 10th anniversary
of our diocese.
9.
It gives all of us special joy at the rate the cathedral
building is going on. Our people are constantly donating
generously. Both Catholics and the “Other Christians”,
and even people outside our diocese, have shown their strong
Christian faith in Christ and love for Mbaise, through their
support for the building of our new cathedral - this unique
symbol of our faith. We see the hand of God in this. Names,
on the list of donors, are constantly increasing. It is
the Lord Himself Who is building the new Cathedral. We know
and believe that “If Yahweh does not build the house
in vain masons toil…”(Ps 127:1)
10.
You supported those who celebrated in Rome. It was a great
expression of charity how our Christians responded in contributing
to support our brothers and sisters who went to represent
us during the celebrations in Rome. Priests, the Religious,
Laity all were represented. But more important is that all
who went to Rome came home with invigorated faith. They
brought home strong memories of the Catholic faith, especially
the Youth from our diocese who, with the World Youths, kept
vigil and prayed with the Pope during the mass at Tor Vergata,
the place of the Pope’s celebration of the Youth Jubilee.
11.
The girl from our diocese was one of those chosen to present
gifts to the Pope, brought home prayerful memories, not
of triumph, but of the hope that the faith, in the new millennium,
lives in the young.
12.
In keeping with the demands of the Jubilee, the diocese
forgave the debts of those peculiar parishes that could
not pay their cathedral and other diocesan levies. The way
this pardon was received by all, especially by the diocesan
pastoral council, was an encouraging show of charity and
of the spirit of sharing one another’s burdens in
good faith.
(II)
GREAT JUBILEE DIVIDENDS
13.
The prayer of Entrustment of the Church and the whole world
to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church, was
a special Jubilee dividend, particularly for us, in Ahiara
diocese. Our diocese was entrusted to the Virgin Mary from
the beginning.
14.
I thank God that I participated in this particular event
that took place during the Jubilee celebration for Bishops
at St. Peter’s Square on October 8, 2000. The concluding
sentence of n.1 of the prayer of this entrustment made a
special impression on me. [The original text was in Italian.]
We prayed: “The Church today, through the voice of
the Successor of Peter, in union with so many Pastors assembled
here from every corner of the world, seeks refuge in your
motherly protection and trustingly begs your intercession
as she faces the challenges which lie hidden in the future.”
15.
I spent the evening following this event in my room, in
Rome, pondering over the challenges of the future ahead
of us. I, as your pastor, entrusted you and the challenges
hidden in the future for us in this diocese, to the Blessed
Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church, patroness of our
diocese. But I was able to identify and pray for some of
the challenges known clearly to us. You already know them.
I invite you to continue to pray for them.
16.
Seek first the kingdom of God! Our first and foremost dividend
is the challenge to continue to seek the kingdom of God
(Mt.6:33), by propagating and maintaining the faith with
good works, then other things will be added to us (Mt.6:33).
The completion of our new cathedral Church, as a strong
symbol of our great faith, is another challenge. Work and
pray for it.
17.
Raise your prophetic voices! Our other dividend is the challenge,
in Ahiara diocese and in Nigeria, to make sure that our
prophetic voices become stronger and louder to empower our
Christians to be more alert to the Social Teachings of the
Church. The gift of prophecy is the gift of the Holy Spirit
to the whole Church through individual members of the Church.
It is a gift through which the Holy Spirit empowers us to
bear witness to Christ, without ceasing; to preach in season
and out of season, so that the word of God will realize
its aim. We must use our “full authority to encourage
and correct people.” At the same time we must be careful
to “earn everyone’s respect”(Tit.2:15).
18.
Eschew contradictions in life! Ours is a country full of
contradictions. Nigeria is a very rich country yet most
Nigerians are suffering in the midst of plenty. Nigeria
owes the world a very huge debt, yet we hear some Nigerians
are scandalously rich. The All Powerful and Merciful God
endowed Nigeria with abundant natural, human and spiritual
resources. Yet Nigerian sons and daughters are suffering.
This is because, directly or indirectly, access to these
resources is denied to most Nigerians. These resources are
organized, at times with hatred, that there is a clear sign
of their inequitable and unjust distribution.
19.
Prayer for the weakest! In union with the Pope and with
the world bishops, gathered at St Peter’s Square,
I remembered all Nigerians, and prayed for the gift of prophecy,
especially when we pronounced these words: “We entrust
to you all people, beginning with the weakest: the babies
yet unborn, and those born into poverty and suffering, the
young in search of meaning, the unemployed, and those suffering
hunger and disease.”
(III)
URGENT NIGERIAN CHALLENGES
20.
Promote Human Rights with Love! The importance of this part
of the prayer of ENTRUSTMENT is, among other reasons, to
make people conscious of these contradictions so that, through
prayer and good works, we all work to remove them. I, therefore,
urge all Christians to be more alert to the Social Teachings
of the Church and to promote the work of Human Rights in
Nigeria, but do this with charity and love. Recall what
the Holy Father, pope Paul VI, told the world: if you want
peace, work for justice. Love and charity are the parents
of justice, and peace is their grand child! Very soon we
shall sing, as what the Church has been singing for centuries:
Ubi caritas et amor Deus ibi est - Where charity and love
abound, God is there. God is here with us. We Nigerians
are alienating ourselves from Him through our lack of love
and charity.
21.
Practice Love and End Violence! Part of the violence we
have witnessed and are still witnessing in Nigeria, stems
from the stark injustice in our political, economic and
social lifestyle. A part of the prayer of entrustment, applies
to us in Nigeria in a particular way with urgency. With
the Holy Father, we alerted the whole world thus:“Humanity
now has instruments of unprecedented power: we can turn
this world into a garden, or reduce it to a pile of rubble.”
Let us practice love and justice and end violence in Nigeria.
22.
Don’t Politicize Social Problems! To avoid this, let
our political leaders politicize our social problems no
more!! We have seen them do this for so long, and for so
long we have not spoken strongly enough against it. Once
they take over power with force, as in the military regime
in the past, or, once elected, as in the civilian regime,
politicians who promised their people heaven and earth make
social issues purely political issues. They “play
politics” with our social problems, gain and strengthen
their positions and leave most of them often unsolved. Nigerians,
we all, must clearly speak out against this practice.
23.
We have not all forgotten, that in the 1980’s politicians
all over the world promised people a better world by the
year 2000. We, in Nigeria, were promised housing for all
by the year 2000! Free education, good roads, water, light,
better transportation, in fact, every good thing was promised
all Nigerians, by the year 2000!
24.
The year 2000 has come and gone yet there are no good roads,
water, education etc in most parts of Nigeria and for Nigerians!
False promises must not be allowed to continue. Christians,
in fact, all Nigerians, must be politically enlightened
so as to remind Nigerian politicians of their failures in
the past, especially now that they are grouping and regrouping
for politics. We must let them know that our democracy must
last and participate in the nature of honest democracies
as part of the global political reality that ensures human
freedoms.
25.
Guarantee Human Rights! The guarantee for human rights is
the assurance of authentic human freedom as a basic right
of all human beings. The Human Rights Violation Investigation
Commission, headed by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa inaugurated
on July 14, 1999, is a healthy development. It is a good
sign of the practice of democracy. One of the aims of this
was to achieve reconciliation between those whose rights
were violated and those who violated them. We mention this
because it shows a direction that must be continued. Human
Rights’ protection must be encouraged as a social
responsibility of all Nigerians to ensure stable social
justice.
26.
Guarantee Press Freedom! The death of Dele Giwa, the courageous
Nigerian journalist killed through a letter bomb, on October
19, 1986 has surfaced in the Oputa panel. His blood has
been crying to the Nigerian polity for redress. His example
points to the need for a courageous press that is dedicated
to telling the people the truth. Press freedom must be protected
and defended. Lack of responsible press freedom is a fact
that still terrorizes the Nigerian public sense freedom.
It is reminiscent of the era of military tyranny in Nigeria.
27.
Guarantee Religious Freedom! The Sharia episode in some
parts of Nigeria is keeping all Nigerians watching and waiting
to see at what point a particular religion is made a State
religion and imposed on all. Nigerians are watching to see
how one religion is officially turned into a political weapon.
Nigerians are waiting to see when politics is forcefully
transformed into a particular religious creed and imposed
on all in the State.
28.
Who, in Nigeria, does not know that when the Governor of
Zamfara State, Alhaji Ahmed Sani Yerima, introduced the
Sharia legal system on October 8, 1999, and began its implementation
on January 27, 2000, he set in motion a process that is
in progress in some parts of Nigeria? The question of human
rights, as it concerns religious freedom in Nigeria, must
be restated clearly and secured by our government and public
officials.
29. We support the separation of “Church and State”.
We uphold the secular nature of our nation, Nigeria. This
means that no religion should become a State religion. Because
it is in the secular nature of a State that religion, and
freedom to profess it, is guaranteed. We will not, therefore,
relent in our efforts to promote human rights and religious
freedom. This we are committed to doing through dialogue
and respect for our fellow Nigerians of other faiths. But
we must make sure that the same situations, which, in the
past, led our country into chaos do not arise.
(IV) CONCLUSION
The
Task Ahead
30. I chose to recapitulate for you, as it were the preparations,
celebrations, and fruits of the Great Jubilee. This is meant
to put into your hands, for posterity, a document of our
preparation, participation and dividends of the celebration
of the unique event that ushered us into the new millennium.
It is also meant to guide us to keep our minds on the Lord
Jesus Christ as we have been purified to bear greater witness
for Him in the third millennium. Our task is to continue
to seek first the Kingdom of God and all other things will
be added to us. Our task to make Christ present and loved
in Nigeria directs our energy prominently towards social
justice, a challenge I have spoken of here.
31.
This task is missionary and pastoral. And, as you know,
we have a “large crowd of witnesses around us. So
then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the
way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and
let us run with determination the race that lies before
us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith
depends from beginning to end.”(Heb. 12: 1-2).
32.
Some of you have enthusiastically expressed to me their
wish and hope that we would celebrate the 15th anniversary
of our diocese in the new Cathedral by the year 2003. My
immediate reply to such wishes is that “Our help is
in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.”
I welcome such wishes. I am praying for their realization.
Pray harder for them too. As we focus on the new Cathedral
project, we will not forget the projects of human promotion,
community building in love and faith, the education of the
young. We pray that the Good Lord will provide us with the
means to promote His Kingdom on earth as we march to meet
Him in heaven. May our Lenten observances be filled with
divine blessings.
Most
Rev. Dr. V. A. Chikwe.
Given at Maria Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral,
Ahiara diocese, Mbaise, Nigeria.
Ash Wednesday, 28 February 2001.
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