By Rev Fr Gerald Nwafor
We have stumbled into the Lenten season. The excitement of Christmas has not faded away completely and the purification of body and soul associated with Lent just hit the time. All the stock in the fridge, what will happen to it? I mean beer, meat, and other orishirishi. The electricity is not at its best and this year’s Easter is far away on April 20th.
There must be a way out. It is a time to share those things we do not need anymore, starting with food, because the government in power has said that they have no plan to alleviate the suffering of the masses. They were the people shouting that the government should allow the poor masses to breathe. So, it is time for the brother to help the brother.
Even in the order of priority when Jesus was talking about the most important things in our tradition, he started with almsgiving, then prayer and fasting. Therefore, in that order of importance, please reduce the number of bottles or cans of beer, wine, soda, and juice you drink this season of Lent. Save some money to share with the poor. Those who may claim that they do not have poor people around them should cook good jollof-rice with chicken water and send it to prisons, orphanages, and some churches that have outreach ministries.
All around us are poor people and destitute. Some people have over 50 pairs of shoes and sandals: the average Nigerian person would ask (why na?). It’s not worth it. Go look at that wardrobe and see what you have not put on for the last year or two, bring it out and give it to your cousins, nephews, nieces, uncles, and aunties.
They would appreciate it and even pray to God for you. Remember that our saying has no Christian or religious connotation (Ebe osi puta maji kwulu maji). It works very well because our God is the God of love and charity: that is why it rains for the good people and bad people. Every good act has a reward, and we were told in the Christian tradition that charity covers a multitude of sins.
This is the time to prove yourself with love and care for one another. If you moderate all the excesses and make some simple savings, please do not put it back into your account because that will be cheating God if you do not share it with the poor.On the other hand, I would suggest that you moderate the time you spend watching television and social media.
I am not very old, but I grew up in the 80s when we watched television only at night, not because we were poor or rich then, but simply because that was when the television stations were turned on. It would start at 6 PM will a long sound of piiii and the seven nwafor colors (blue, black, yellow, green, orange, red, and pink). Your parents would tell you when to put it on and when to switch it off. In our case, it was 7 PM to 9 PM so that we could listen to ABS (Anambra Broadcasting Station) news and NTA (Nigerian Television Authority) news. After these two events, the television was switched off and covered with the TV-cloth, and parents would retire to their rooms divided with a large sheet of cotton, and the kids would face their books.
That moderation can come back during this Lenten season to bring sanity into one’s mind, because what is flying around now on the television is sickening and disgusting. Since February, the senate has been discussing Senator Natacha and Senator Akpabio (the senate president). One may ask so what are they discussing? One popular Nigerian musician called Omawumi sang a song titled “If you de ask me, na who I go ask?” but I can tell you for free that the matter has nothing to do with nation-building or policy making.
Therefore, you do not need to waste your time on television and social media this Lenten season. Even the one that I would not like to talk about because it concerns my constituency (Christian community). A Christian girl went to a Christian pastor or man of God and claimed that she had been blessed by God under a period of two weeks with a mansion worth 500 million Naira.
The man of God was jumping up and down until it was discovered that the girl was lying and that the house in question belonged to another person who had nothing to do with the girl. I think the Rwandan model will be adopted. No religion should talk about testimony, miracles, or vision. Keep it to yourself when it happens. Back to the main point here moderate watching television this Lenten season (maka ndi gi).We have talked about moderation in many ways but there are areas you need to increase.
Increase your prayer habit by attending the Stations of the Cross every Friday. I would say that you can increase your call to duty in the family, schools, work area, companies, and home. If you save the amount of energy you spend talking and chatting, you can re-channel that energy into some useful things like hard work. Engage more in community service, volunteering in the church, or your good organization. Go to all the Masses, meetings, and other responsible occasions that would benefit your body and soul.
If your family friend is bereaved, go a put in a word of consolation, and if you have a little cash you can give it for prayers. If a friend suffers some mishap or injury go and visit, and call for prayers over the friend; although he may express some surprise, tell him that it is the Lenten season, and you have decided to go on the journey with Christ. That you are trying to be as close to Christ as possible this season.
Take it on my friends. Moderate the moderate-able and increase the increase-able. Let this Lenten season be the turning point in your life. The journey of a thousand kilometers starts with a step. If you start to control, moderate, and fine-tune your life this season, you will be happy on Easter Sunday because you will resurrect with Jesus. But if you continue in your old ways of eating alone and drinking alone, the conclusion is that you die alone too. Happy Lenten season.
