The Beginning and the End

0
10
The Beginning and the End

By Fr Pat Amobi Chukwuma

Whatever has a beginning must have an end. Everything has both, except God. Recently, an overzealous woman came to my office to book 100 days Gregorian Mass. Her intention is that God may reveal to her His origin. I turned her request down and explained to her that she was swimming against the current and that her intention is null and void.

She responded that she does not know how to swim at all, talk less of swimming against the current. She affirmed that her prayers are always answered and this present one should not be an exception. She emphasized that since she attained the age of reason she has been dying in thought and has searched the whole Bible and world Encyclopedias to find out how and from where God originated.

I told her that she is searching in vain because a finite being cannot comprehend Him who is infinite and mysterious. God is omnipotent and omnipresence. He is the Alpha and the Omega; the Beginning and the End. The great philosopher Aristotle called God the Unmoved Mover.

It is a dogmatic teaching that God has neither a beginning nor an end. “Quod erat Demonstrandum” (QED):  ‘that which was to be demonstrated’. When we go to Heaven we shall see Him as He really is. Before the over inquisitive woman left, I said the prayer of Exorcism over her and poured one gallon of Holy Water on her head in order to the douse the overzealousness in her mind.

This world has a beginning and an end. It was created by the Almighty God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. In the Book of Genesis we read: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:1 -3). For six days God created all living and non-living things upon the universe. The climax of God’s creative activities is the existence of human beings. The Creator said, “Let us make man in our own image and likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Male and female He created them.

Adam and Eve are therefore the first ancestor and ancestress of mankind, living and dead. Thus we owe our origin to God’s merciful love. God himself pre-existed. He does not need human beings to exist. Is the image of God still intact in you and me? Or have we tarnished it by iniquitous living? Of course we shall give account of it on the Day of Judgment.

God is immortal. As fallen human beings we are mortal. In other words, every mortal being must die. However, death is not annihilation; rather it is transition from mortality to immortality.

Death is the dissolution of the body, wherein the soul which is immortal goes back to the Creator for eternal reward or damnation. Death is the end of a new beginning. The Preface of the Dead tells us that human life is not ended but changed.

Someone asked if there is enough space in eternity that would occupy all transformed human beings from the beginning to the end of the world. I put it to him that human beings while alive in this physical world occupy space and are subjected to the Law of Gravity. On the other hand, transformed (departed) human beings no longer occupy space

All shall be accommodated over there because they have been transformed into spirits. Jesus Christ himself told us that in his Father’s house there are many mansions. Those mansions are not material but spiritual mansions. We own properties on earth. At death we abandon them here and depart empty handed.

There is no carrying of luggage on the journey to eternity. Only those who lived evil life while on earth shall carry the luggage of sins to their damning destination. But those who lived well on earth shall be singing praises on the way to eternity. All said and done, human life begins on earth and ends in heaven. The ultimate question is: Where will you or I spend our eternity: in Heaven or in Hell? The die is cast!

The Church’s liturgical Year begins on the first Sunday of Advent and ends on the Last (34th) Sunday of the Year with the solemn celebration of the Kingship of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinful mankind.

The 2024/2025 liturgical Year has begun. Advent is the period of preparation for the celebration of Christmas and expectation of the Second Coming in glory of Jesus Christ. Shall we be worthy to stand before Him when He comes again to judge the living and the dead?

Christmas is here once again. The Incarnate Word should not only dwell among us but deep in our hearts. Christmas is not just an annual celebration of the Nativity of Our Redeemer and Lord Jesus Christ. Instead it is the re-enactment of his presence among us with whom nothing is impossible.

It is a period of sober reflection and repentance. If we celebrate Christmas well on earth, then we shall reap its fruit forever in heaven. In other words, Christmas is not left behind on earth; it is carried over to heaven. Therefore, let us all adore Him temporarily here on earth and forever in heaven.

The Lunar Calendar is about to end as well. It begins from the first day of January and ends on 31st day of December. Christmas ushers us into the New Year annually. We are hereby called to live the life of Jesus Christ from January to December. May God grant all those who died during the course of this year 2024 eternal life!

That we are still alive is not a merit of our own, but Divine privilege. We ought to jettison on board the ship to the New Year 2025 everything that is not in consonant with the will of God. That is what we call New Year Resolution.

We pray for better and transformed Nigeria in 2025. The Year 2024 brought overburden on the citizens of this country, especially the poor masses. The sudden removal of fuel subsidy, acute electricity outage, worsening insecurity, especially kidnapping and wanton destruction of innocent lives weighed down so much on us in 2024.

Economic hardship, hunger, incessant failure of the National Grid, deepening National Greed, corruption, election malpractices and every obstacle that hinder our country’s entrance to the Promised Land must not see the light of the day in 2025. I plead with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to grant the South Easterners a special Christmas and New Year Bonus by releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in order to douse the worsening insecurity situation in the Region. Long Live the ideal Nigeria! Glory to God in the highest and on earth, especially in Nigeria, peace to men and women of goodwill!

I owe special gratitude to God for endowing me with the wisdom and strength to write for public consumption since 1998 to date. I also appreciate my lovely readers locally and worldwide.  I shall not write ad infinitum. It will come to an end when nature retires me. I wish all and sundry merry Christmas and a hopeful New Year 2025. In God we trust!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.