…Exhorts Students to See Suffering as Part of Life
By Mmaduabuchi Onwumelu and Ebube Edieh
The Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, His Lordship Most Reverend Paulinus Ezeokafor, on Monday, 23rd September 2024, dedicated St. John of God Secondary School (SJGSS) Chapel Awka, to God Almighty.
Dedicating the Chapel preceded by the Eucharistic Celebration, Bishop Ezeokafor exhorted the Management, staff and students to care more about their spiritual growth, charging the students to take seriously their academic pursuit, noting that no man wants to settle down with a liability, urging them to be useful to themselves, family, society and the Church.
The Chief Shepherd of the Catholic Diocese of Awka maintained that suffering remained an essential component of life, urging the parents and guardians to disabuse their minds from offering to their children and wards all that they asked for, saying that doing so could only make them lazy and unserious.
The charismatic Prelate who addressed the students later on their Assembly Ground, admonished them to work hard and tap from their teachers’ wealth of experience and then, add theirs to make them more prepared and better citizens.
Bishop Ezeokafor emphasized that suffering could only make one tougher and stronger and would go a long way in shaping the person’s views to life as well as making them resourceful individuals.
‘In all, pay serious attention to your spiritual growth; pay attention to your teachers. Tap from them and add to yours. Be focused and resilient. You must stoop to conquer,’ the Local Ordinary exhorted.
In their separate speeches, the Chancellor of the Diocese, Very Rev. Fr. Charles Ndubisi; the Spiritual Director of the School, Very Rev. Monsignor John Ezeanyika; Manager of the SJGSS, Rev. Fr. Malachy Mmaduewesi; appreciated the Bishop for making out time to be with the students and for his words of encouragement, admonitions, and motivation, describing him as a caring shepherd who would not allow any of his sheep to go astray, adding that Bishop Ezeokafor’s presence in the school would impact positively on the students, staff and Management. They urged the students to make adequate use of the opportunity before them.
‘Bishop Ezeokafor is loving, fatherly, and humane. We are grateful to him. We cannot thank him enough,’ Fr. Mmaduewesi concluded.
The Awka Diocesan Education Secretary, Reverend Father Maximus Okonkwo, accompanied the Bishop to the school.
