PATRICK Akpah George

It was indeed a joyous occasion as 35 candidates received the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist and some were baptised. The Parish Priest of St. Theresa AWOTAN, Fr Claudius Uwaoma ISch. admonished the candidates to be of good behaviour henceforth, for Christ lives in then as new creatures in Christ. He advised the Parents to cooperate with the Church in preparing their children for Sacraments and urged them not to push or rush their children for sacraments as he reminded them that this children are also the children of the Church. “We are collectively making effort to bring them up in faith.” He said.

Continuing in His Homily, he queried: Why will the gospel of a criminal (for so, they called him, the reason why they Crucified Him), permeate, penetrate throughout the whole world, gone to the four corners of the world? Spreading This Gospel started with a few people and today the gospel is every where. A criminal was crucified today and every body is shouting Alleluia. He further asked: What is the power behind it? What is the answer? This question leads us to a deeper answer.

Looking into the Scriptures for an answer, He said, in the Acts of the Apostles, Gamaliel advised the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees and Scribes when they were persecuting the Disciples, he gave them wise advice… He said “in years past, some rabbi existed, who rose to fame with their teachings, but faded away with time, let us not persecute them, for if what they are doing is not from God, they will fade away, and if it is of God, not only will you not be able to stop them, but you will be fighting God.”

So much effort have been employed to end the Gospel, but it will not work.

Answering the question…. He said “It is the transforming power of the risen Lord, and that is why we are here. Let us ask ourselves personal question, Why am I here? Answer is in the gospel of John 12: 21; We want to see Jesus.

Why do you want to see Jesus? To ask him what must I do to have eternal life and to encounter his transforming power, for when you are transformed you will accept the will of God. The most important thing is to build the body for Christ. We are here to experience the risen Lord and his transforming Power that is why we are here. Our duty is to help one another to achieve it.