By Fr Pat Amobi Chukwuma
I went to hospital few days ago for my annual vital organs test. It was in the early morning of that Wednesday. Immediately I arrived at the medical laboratory department, I saw my debtor sitting at the door of the laboratory. It was his turn to enter. I exclaimed, “What a nightmare!” He owes me a huge sum of money I gave him as loan.
There and then my attention was divided. Should I go after him there to settle the debt or neglect him and do what I came for? In other words, which one is more important: my money or my health? I valued my health more. Nevertheless, since opportunity comes but once, I also reminded him of the debt. He made mockery of me that I prefer money to my health.
I made it clear to him that if he fails to pay me before submitting his blood sample, then the debt will negatively affect his blood test. He asked me to go and collect my clothes where I took my bath. Thus I wrote him off and went into the laboratory for blood test. If wealth and health were placed before you to make a choice, which one would you prefer?
The following day, I went to the same hospital laboratory to collect the result of the vital organs tests. Afterwards, I headed straight to see a doctor for the interpretation of the results. There, I met a colleague in the Lord’s Vineyard. He was also waiting before the doctor’s consulting room.
I joined him. After some minutes, his mobile phone rang as loud as a school bell. It was the mason working for him in his parish church that was calling him to tell him that he urgently needed five bags of cement to complete the delicate work he had at hand. I overheard my colleague telling the mason that he was at the hospital waiting to see a doctor for his health challenge.
The dilemma is: should he rush home to provide the cement or should he wait and see the doctor? I intervened instantly by asking the priest, “Which one is more important? Your health or cement?” He was dumbfounded. After some minutes, he returned the call. He asked the mason to abandon the church work for now because he cannot risk his health over cement supply. Cement can wait but failing health cannot. A dead man does not build a house.
Some people prefer money to good health. The love of money has sent many to their untimely graves. A certain gravely sick man was rushed to hospital to see a doctor. He was referred to the emergency department for prompt attention. The doctor on duty took time to examine him in and out. He was diagnosed of serious ailment that required instant admission.
The patient loved money more than his health. Thus he calculated that his hospital bill would run into hundreds of thousands of Naira. Hence, he rejected the hospital admission and medication. He asked his driver to take him to a street chemist for drug mixture. The quack chemist mixed fake drugs for him for cheap money without the diagnosis of his ailment.
After taking the cheap fake drugs for three consecutive days, the sick miser entered into coma. The following day, he slept and didn’t wake up. Now, his next of kin is planning to accord him a befitting burial which will gulp millions of Naira. He died an unbefitting death and would be given a befitting burial. Who is the loser?
A certain poor widow within my vicinity occasionally comes to my parish to ask for alms for the upkeep of the half a dozen children her late jobless husband left behind. Three of the children are not going to school due to lack of funds. Even eating is hard for the widow and her six children. They eat from hand to mouth.
Their menu timetable is one– zero –one. That is, they take only breakfast and supper. One day, the widow came to my office and requested me to come to her house and bless something for her. I thought it was a family altar of prayer. Surprisingly, when I reached she pointed a covered object to me to bless.
I asked her to remove the covering. Low and behold it was an ‘adigboroja’ (useless) old car she bought from the savings and alms she received from charitable groups and individuals at the cost of N500, 000. I shouted, “What! Are you the owner? What a misplacement of priority!”
I refused to bless it because such a useless car abhors blessing. I asked her to sell the liability car and use the proceeds to pay school fees and provide some foodstuffs for her starving children. How can a wretched and hungry widow be riding an old car when her family is collapsing? How can she maintain the old car and fuel it in this period of extreme economic hardship?
A bicycle rider without bell should sell his bicycle and buy a bell in order to avoid accident. Likewise, a night driver without light in his vehicle should sell the car and buy headlamps.
Many people in our society today pray for long life and prosperity. Rarely can you hear anyone praying for good life. Which one is your priority? Long life or good life? Someone can live up to a hundred years and end up as a failure in this life and the next. But someone else can die at the age of 50 with temporal and eternal success. For me, quality is better than quantity.
During the burial Mass of the late Reverend Father Anthony Udogu at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Awka, a few days ago, the homilist, Reverend Father Jonas Unegbu, emphasized that some persons glory in longevity and material achievements. They forget that our Lord Jesus Christ asks, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul” (Luke 9:25).
Also Jesus sent out the 72 disciples on evangelization mission. They came back and reported that they cast out evil spirits here and there. They gloried in their achievements, rather than their salvation. Hence, Jesus Christ told them to rejoice, rather that their names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20). Are my name and your name written in heaven or in this ephemeral world?
The Catholic Diocese of Awka mourns the sudden death of Father Anthony Nnaemeka Udogu who died while playing lawn tennis on that fateful Monday of 19th May 2025. He was the Parish Priest of St Francis Catholic Church, Awka as well as the Head of Department of Criminology at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Igbariam. I wish he were still alive to deal with criminals ravaging the lives of innocent Nigerians nationwide.
He was a committed priest. He was hardworking, as well as jovial. We miss him so much. By God’s grace and personal effort, we shall meet to part no more in heaven.
The next day after his interment, I went to the priests’ cemetery to pray at his graveside. I saw something strange over his grave. Six lawn tennis balls were placed side by side on it by the Association of Tennis Players, because he died while playing lawn tennis. Instantly, something struck my medulla oblongata. Does it mean that if a drunkard dies, bottles of beer would be used to adorn his grave? This will push surviving drunkards to sleep over his grave. If a driver dies, then motor steering should be placed over his grave.
If a footballer dies, then footballs will be used to crown his grave. This will prompt children to turn the graveyard into a football pitch. If a butcher dies, then qualitative meat will be placed over his grave. Consequently vultures will conglomerate there to celebrate a sumptuous banquet. If a millionaire or billionaire dies, then dollars and Naira notes will adorn his grave.
Thus, thieves and beggars will tumble over each other in a stampede. What happens if a car dealer dies? What follows will be unimaginable. If a soldier or policeman dies, Ak-47s will be surplus over his grave. Then, armed robbers will surround the grave for “special prayers”.
