Ash Wednesday: Clerics urge Christians to pray, love, forgive
Most Rev. Emmanuel Badejo, the Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Oyo, has urged Christians to love and forgive one another as the 40-day Lent begins on Wednesday.
Also, the Anglican Bishop of Oyo, Rt. Rev. Williams Aladekugbe, urged Christians to use the Lenten season to correct their faults, purify their hearts and control desires in order to grow in holiness.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan, Badejo said those virtues were necessary to ensure peace in the country and the world at large.
He also called on well-to-do Christians to always remember and take care of the poor and needy.
“We must take better care of the poor and needy, we must repent and change our ways for the better. This is the purpose of the period of lent,’’ he said.
According to him, lent speaks of the relationship between Jesus Christ and Christians – friendship and love.
“In daily life, true friends and lovers desire to share each other’s pains, sorrows, joy and victories and listen to one another.
“So, Christians who are truly friends of Jesus must desire to experience what he experienced, to share his life and live in his love.
“Christians cannot be talking only of what is pleasant in Christianity – pleasure and prosperity, and leave suffering, fasting and prayers,’’ he said.
The bishop said that in the midst of an imperfect world, the faithful needed to constantly make themselves better and partake in Christ’s mission of making the world a better place.
He said that fasting, prayer and almsgiving were meant to make the world better, adding that lent was a period of renewal and spiritual rehabilitation.
Speaking on Ash Wednesday, Aladekugbe said it was important because it marks the start of the Lent leading to Easter.
The Anglican bishop said ashes symbolises both death and repentance while lent was a period when Christians repent and mourn for their sins.
“Christians wear a smudge of ashes on their foreheads to remind them that they were made from dust and unto dust they will eventually return.
“Ashes are equivalent to dust, and human flesh is composed of dust or clay and when a human corpse decomposes, it returns to dust or ash.
“When we come to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday, we are saying that we are sorry for our sins.
“That we want to use the season of lent to correct our faults, purify our hearts, control our desires and grow in holiness,’’ he said.
Aladekugbe, who is also the Oyo State Chairman, Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN), urged Nigerians to pray, fast, focus more on God and be involved in charity.
“Events and situations around us show that we cannot do less, moreover, this year’s lent may be the one preceding the general elections in our country in 2023.
“The coming of Jesus Christ is imminent and nearer than expected, we should put our faith in God and stop trusting in our efforts.
“Salvation can only be found through faith in Christ alone, may God grant us true faith, spirit filled and refreshing Lenten season,’’ he said.
NAN reports that Ash Wednesday is celebrated annually by the Christian faithful, especially the orthodox churches, Anglicans and Catholics. (NAN)
