Rev. Fr. Godfrey Udeh of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos has said that Good Friday was the day Jesus offered himself for sacrifice for mankind.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Good
Friday is the fifth day of the Passion Week or Holy week that marks the beginning of the celebration of Easter.
It is also a day when Christians all over the world commemorate the passion and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ by crucifixion outside the walls of the old City of Jerusalem where Christ laid down the ground rules of a life of sacrificial love.
Rev. Fr. Udeh, the Parish Preist of Saints Peter and Paul Tedi of the Lagos Archdiocese, told NAN in Lagos on Friday that the season was essential to mankind.
Udeh, while speaking on Easter, said that historically, the crucifixion of Christ on the cross of Calvary represented the partial fulfillment of prophesy of the old and his own prediction on the salvation of mankind.
He stressed that it occurred at the summit of the Holy week when Christ endured the passion of his crucifixion and ultimately offered up his spirit on the promise of superabundant life and salvation for the world.
The cleric said that Good Friday was a reminder to Christians on the need to recognise the significance and centrality of the Cross as the symbol of sacrificial love and compassion.
According to him, the period is the most important in the life of a Christian.
“It is a period to meditate on the paradox of Christ’s sufferings as a precursor of glad tidings, vis- a-vis our individual contribution toward achieving a common goal as we are being demanded of now.
“The Holy Week is also a moment of sobriety and a time to reflect on the true value of the Cross of Calvary on which the Christian faith is grounded.
“As Christians, we should use this opportunity to redirect attention toward a new dedication to promoting the prize of salvation which Christ has bequeathed us.
“It is also a time to self-appraise on the extent our adherence to the life and teachings of Christ have impacted on the national ethos and values.
“Also on how the leading light of gospel and the values emanating from it shone to illuminate the society gripped by darkness of selfishness and greed,” he said.
He added that today, the world is stuck by large scale deprivation, devastation, destitution and suffering.
“Christians should therefore engage in genuine introspection on whether they have truly represented and demonstrated the virtues of Christ in building a society worthy of his legacy of Justice, fortitude, humility, love and sacrifice,” he said.
Udeh noted that “as we celebrate this year’s Passion of Christ, may the lessons of love and sacrifice which Christ embodied find a fertile ground in our hearts.
“May it find in us willing tools to change the trauma of the present world to light that sooths and heals”. (NAN)
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