AS Christians all over the world celebrate the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead, a Catholic Priest, Very Rev. Fr. John Konyeke, has called on Nigerians not to despair as they will have reasons to sing praises to God.
Delivering Easter sermon at St. Columba’s Catholic Church, Agbor, Konyeke traced the despair faced by followers of Jesus Christ when they heard that He was betrayed and the news about His death on the cross.
He observed that the situation was such that the disciples were living in fear only for them to be informed that His body was no longer in the tomb.
“The discovery that His body was no longer in the tomb heightened their fear which made some of them to dare to leave where they were hiding.
“It was such a harrowing experience that is unimaginable until He appeared before them and said, ‘do not be afraid.’
“His appearance brought about a great relief and emboldened His disciples, which led to a great increase in the number of His followers.
“In our country today, there is great fear; fear of several things, including fear of the unknown.
“We have witnessed a lot of betrayals from those who are supposed to protect our interests.
“Some persons cannot move out of their homes because of fear, we are afraid of so many things – our health facilities are such that people prefer going on medical tourism, our education system is such that wealthy parents prefer to send their children out of the country, what about our roads, our farms, even in our homes, are we secured?
“But, Jesus is telling us, ‘do not be afraid.’
“Our Lord has come to give us hope, to tell us that we will have reasons to testify about His goodness; let us look up to Him.
“He comforted His disciples, He will comfort us; let us go into the world and preach about His goodness; let us engage in actions that will depict us as true followers of Jesus Christ.
“We should not be afraid; He will not abandon us; He has conquered death; He lives,” Fr. Konyeke said.
The Priest in charge of the parish, Very Revd. Fr. Pascal Nduka, was given a plaque to signify his 25 years in priesthood during the Holy Mass which also featured administration of first Holy Communion, among others.
