Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Ibadan, Most Reverend Gabriel Abegunrin has said genuine respect for others and their rights is crucial for the nation to attain sustainable peace.
Abegunrin made this call in his message to felicitate with Christians on the Easter celebration.
For sustainability, he said Nigerians must imbibe the lessons of Easter by moving away from dark corrupt practices to the light of integrity; from tribalism and nepotism to true brotherhood; from hatred to love; from terrorism, kidnapping, war to peaceful co-existence; from greed to contentment; from injustice to equity and fairness; from hopelessness to joy.
He said: “We must have genuine respect for others and their rights in order to achieve peace. Our words, actions and activities must be seen to work actively and deliberately towards peace, either individually or collectively, personally or communally.
“This passage from negative and dark realities to positive realities is another dimension of Easter we need to appropriate in our country Nigeria. We are sent and challenged to pass from our dark corrupt practices to the light of integrity; from tribalism and nepotism to true brotherhood; from hatred to love; from terrorism, kidnapping, war to peaceful co-existence; from greed to contentment; from injustice to equity and fairness; from hopelessness to joy.”
“Every Christian is sent and must become a joyful messenger, preaching the Gospel. Jesus’ gift of eternal life, the light of Christ, the joy of the Lord is for all and not for a few; it is the Christian’s primary duty to spread the good news.
“In Easter, we see how shame, scandal, powerlessness and weakness were suddenly transformed into glory, honour, pre-eminence, laudation and applause. We must allow the power of Christ to bring about this transformation in our country and to permeate every aspect of our lives.”
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