Lenten Period Not Routine, but Spiritual Moment to Eliminate Sin -Bishop Ezeokafor
As the Catholic Church worldwide observed the ‘Ash Wednesday’ 5 March 2025, in commencement of the 2025 Lenten Period, the Catholic Bishop of Awka, Most Rev Paulinus Chukwuemeka Ezeokafor, has urged all Christians and people of good will to use the moment to eliminate sins in their lives and in society by consciously and faithfully living out the three pillars of Lent: Prayer, Fasting/Abstinence and Almsgiving, reports Fr. Robert Anagboso.
Ash Wednesday is a Catholic Liturgical Celebration which annually marks the beginning of the 40 days of Lent which is a special period of prayer, fasting/abstinence and almsgiving by the faithful in preparation for the great celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, generally known as Easter.
The Lenten period of this year holds a special significance as the Church equally prepares to celebrate the following Jubilees within the Lenten Period, underling the significance of the spiritual exercise. The Jubilees are: Jubilee of the World of Volunteering, 8 – 9 March; Jubilee 24 Hours for the Lord, 28 March; Jubilee of the Missionaries of Mercy, 28 – 30 March; Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers, 5 – 6 April.
In his homily during the Ash Wednesday Holy Mass at St Patrick’s Old Cathedral Church Awka, Bishop Ezeokafor emphasized the importance of the Ash Wednesday Celebration as one of the Catholic spiritual life of striving to attain perfection. This is especially encouraged during the Lenten Season, adding that ‘The Lenten period is not an annual empty ritual of routine; it is rather a conscious and conscientious spiritual activity, to declare war on evil and totally eliminate sin in our lives.’
Continuing, the prelate enumerated the three pillars of the Lenten Period as Prayer, Fasting/Abstinence and Almsgiving. Dwelling on each of them, Bishop Ezeokafor counselled that Prayer was the ultimate key to obtaining graces from God for everything wished for in life, noting that the season of Lent afforded Christians an intense moment of prayer.
‘If you have not been praying, this is the time to begin and deepen your prayer life as a Catholic,’ emphasized the prelate. Explaining the different kinds of prayer good Christians can embark on in this season, Bishop Ezeokafor advised that people could pray the holy Rosary, the Bible, especially Psalm 50/51, do meditations, and, above all, attend Holy Mass and participate actively.
On fasting, the Bishop maintained that ‘Fasting is good; but it is not a mere reduction in quantity of food we eat but a tool to acquire temperance and self-control over the flesh in order to achieve holiness of life.
‘We need bodily restraints. A person who lacks self-control will fall into and commit all sorts of sin, but holy fasting is a panacea to spiritual laziness,’ Bishop Ezeokafor declared.
‘Similarly,’ he continued, ‘Abstinence is denying oneself of things that are even legitimate and licit for the sake of God.’
The prelate counseled that one could abstain from spending much time on the phone and on the internet, television and similar things, in order to have more time for the things of God.
Speaking on almsgiving, the Prelate of Awka, described it as a form of prayer where the faithful showed Christian charity to others, especially less privileged brethren who were in need of assistance.
‘All fingers are not equal. In one way or the other, there must be a person you are better off, so, look for that person and help out,’ he said, adding that charity covered a multitude of sins, according to the scripture.
Elucidating on the obligations of Ash Wednesday, Bishop Ezeokafor explained that apart from marking the beginning of lent, ash was actually cast on the heads or foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance and a reminder that man was nothing but mere dust.
‘It is all for us to go into penitence, repent of our sins by doing penance; above all, to always remember that we are dust and unto dust shall we return,’ he said, noting that other notable spiritual obligations was fasting.
Emphasizing the teaching of the Church on Ash Wednesday, Bishop Ezeokafor instructed that children who had attained the age of 14 should abstain from meat only, while people from 18 to 60 years should not only abstain from meat but equally observe fasting from at least one of the meals, noting that the sick and those with particular needs were exempted.
Going further, the Bishop encouraged the faithful, especially the healthy and strong, not to limit themselves just to the basic teaching of the Church but to put extra effort in order to achieve closer union with Christ.
At the end of the Mass, the Bishop blessed the ash which was applied on the foreheads of all and sundry, including the Bishop himself, the concelebrating priests, the religious and all the lay faithful who gathered in their numbers.
Welcoming the Bishop to the Old Cathedral Church after the Holy Mass, the Awka Diocesan Cathedral Administrator, Very Rev Fr Anthony Nwafor, thanked the Bishop for coming to celebrate the Mass of Ash Wednesday at the Old Cathedral Church, noting that it was a thing of great joy and immense encouragement to the faithful.
He equally thanked and recognized the presence of the priests who concelebrated at the Mass, including Very Rev Msgr J. P. C. Nzomiwu; the Bishop’s Secretary, Very Rev Dr Evaristus Ifeanacho; one of the Awka Diocesan Medical Directors, Rev. Fr. Dr. Emmanuel Anagor and a number of other priests and religious.
