By Olivia Obijiaku
Resident Priest in Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Fegge Onitsha, Rev Fr Anthony Igweagu has reminded the faithful of the place of the Cross in Christianity when he presided over one of the Masses in the parish on the Solemnity of the Exaltation of the Cross, Thursday, 14th September.
The priest who observed that some Christians detach themselves from the Cross of Jesus pointed to the imitation of His Mother as a sure way of attaining eternal bliss.
“If you are close to Jesus in holiness and life of prayer you will definitely experience the weight of the Cross. You will notice that all the Saints you know suffered grievously, starting from Our Lady. She suffered lack of the blessings that other people pray for. So accept the Cross of Christ in all its forms. You only need to ask God for the grace to carry any cross. Our Lord Jesus is capable of saving us in some other ways but He decided to go through the Cross. Those who say they were are not meant to suffer again because Jesus has suffered and carried our Cross misunderstood God. They forget that Christ suffered for us and expects us to take after Him. If He did not want us to suffer, He would have not have allowed the apostles, those close to Him to face persecution. The closer you are to the Cross of Jesus, the more you will experience the weight of the Cross. The farther you are to the Cross, the less you experience the weight of the Cross.”
Fr Igwenagu had on the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Friday, 8th September, 2023 invited the faithful to accept the Blessed Mother Mary as their mother so as to overcome the challenges of life. “You will pray well if you want to be a true child of Mary. She is an embodiment of all the virtues.
Nothing will stop you from making heaven if you learn the virtues of chastity, prayer and obedience from her. All other virtues will meet you if you if you keep these three virtues. Everybody should decide to make her their Mother,” he advised.
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