… Lays Foundation Stone, Administers Sacrament of Confirmation on 56 Candidates
By Mmaduab
The Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, His Lordship Most Reverend Paulinus Ezeokafor, 19th October, paid a pastoral visit to the Sacred Heart Parish, Adazi-Ani, Anaocha LGA of Anambra State.
The Catholic Prelate who said he last visited the Parish seven years ago, administered the Sacrament of Confirmation on 56 candidates and laid the foundation stone of the Church building.
In his homily, Bishop Ezeokafor exhorted Christians to do away with impatience, intolerance, reckless begging, and praying without faith, stating that it was only an ignorant person that would want to order God around and try to force Him to do their bidding, saying that God had many complaints, requests and petitions to attend to and at a given time.
The Bishop who talked about patience, endurance, tolerance, and meekness, enjoined all to work out their salvation, maintaining that heaven remained the target, even as he admonished Christians to allow God to complete the job He had started in their lives and desist from attacking or blaming God for not attending to them immediately.
He added that the ways of God remained a mystery to mere mortals and too incomprehensible and complicated for humans to decode.
On the newly confirmed candidates, Bishop Ezeokafor said they wanted to know God more and should be guided and cared for and nurtured in the things of God and those of the world, emphasizing that both worked together and that for one to be complete one must understand the world and then continue to run the heavenly race which he described as the most important.
The Local Ordinary reminded the faithful that Peter University Achina/Onneh project was still ongoing, noting that a lot needed to be done and that it was a continuous process.
‘You cannot say that we have completed the project. A university is quite different from anything else. You will continue to upgrade, and you’ll continue to pay salaries and other things. We are asking all of us here to keep contributing our quota. We are just taking off. We have no subvention or grant from anywhere, not even from the government. You cannot compare us with government owned universities. Public universities receive subvention and much support. Peter University is for all of us. We will continue to build it together.
‘We have given scholarships to many indigent students in the Diocese. What we have done is to ensure a smooth transition from primary to secondary, from secondary to university. We want our children to continue to grow in the Catholic Faith, Teachings, and Doctrines. We would have opted for factories and industries that would have given us a lot of money, but we decided to build a University where characters and minds would be trained,’ the cleric concluded.
He thanked all those who had contributed meaningfully to the growth of the Parish, saying that his visit would be a blessing to them. This was as he commended the past and present Parish Priests, the parishioners, for their contributions towards the growth and the development of Sacred Heart Parish Adazi-Ani
Responding, the Parish Priest of Sacred Heart Parish, Adazi-Ani, Very Rev. Fr. Lawrence Maduagwu, showered praises on the Bishop, thanking him for the visit after over seven years, saying that the last he visited was when he came to bless and commission the Grotto. He expressed delight with what he described as the Bishop’s administration acumen and fatherly love and care.
Some of those who attended the function included the Dean, Adazi Deanery, Very Rev. Fr. Ezeobi Henry; the Diocesan Bursar, Rev. Fr. Nicodemus Izuchukwu; former Parish Priest of Sacred Heart Parish Adazi-Ani, Rev. Fr. Valentine Mgbemena, (2015-2020); Reverend Father Chukwuemeka Ezeuzo of Mary The Queen Catholic Church, Okpanam, Delta State; the Mayor of Anaocha, Hon. Rome Ibekwe; Member representing Anaocha I State Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon. Nkechi Ogbuefi; Sir Chris Ezeuzo, Vice Chairman Parish Council; Mrs Amaka Dim, Secretary Parish Council; Mr Elochukwu Mgbakor, 1st Vice Chairman, Parish Council, Sir/Lady Dr Jerome Ezeuzo, among others.
Award presentations to deserving individuals, laying of foundation stone, group photographs, formed the high points of the occasion.
