BISHOP CHIKWE'S 2005 EASTER MESSAGE

LOOK NOT FOR THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD (cf. Lk. 24:5)

My dear people of God,

For forty days, the whole of Christendom marked with a unique sense of solemnity, the period of lent, during which we meditated on the passion of Christ and its implications in our lives.

By obediently following the road to Calvary, He achieved the eternal will of the Father; namely: to offer salvation to the whole of mankind. In thanksgiving to God for the new life that Easter brings we join the whole of humanity in chorusing: Alleluia! For the Lord is risen Indeed!

With this great joy in our hearts, I wish to draw your minds back to one issue which in my 17 years of pasturing the flock of God in Ahiara diocese, I have always emphasized; and that is: “the need to deepen the faith.”

I have developed this theme in various shades and forms in all my pastoral letters and it has formed in the main, the prime thrust of my pastoral drives in the diocese.

The exhortation of the Angels to the Apostles: “Look not for the living among the dead, (cf Lk. 24:5 ) becomes more relevant now, especially, given the latest moves I have made in further deepening the faith in our land.

The crusade against all forms of obnoxious practices with regard to “Okwukwu” festival still goes on, so also is the war we declared on fetish practices and the patronizing of fetish shrines such as 'ala-ogbaga, etc. It is my earnest hope that each person appropriates the noble message of those directives so as to fully live and gain the new life that Easter brings. Living and practicing those fetish observances that were obtainable in the pre-Christian era of the history of our people would translate to looking for the living among the dead.

Again, in my most recent pastoral letter to the faithful of our diocese, I addressed the issue of the struggle for the Ezeship stool, which has torn many communities to shreds and stalled development.

The resurrection of Christ reminds all of us that we should make both our lives and communities living tabernacles of the most high God. Such will guarantee peace, tranquility, justice and development in our communities.

With the long history and the depth of the faith in our land, it is unwholesome to hear talkless of seeing our Christians make non-sense of the faith through undue struggle for power and influence.

As we herald the resurrection of Christ from the dead, let us also rise with Him to a newness of life full of love for one another, peace among brothers and sisters, common will in developing our land and above all, repudiation of our past sinful lives.

I pray that the risen Lord fills our minds and hearts with things that are noble and praise worthy and that this joyful message of Easter will find a home in us.

HAPPY EASTER

Most Rev. Dr. V. A. Chikwe
Bishop of Ahiara.