Prepare for heaven and not Christmas, Bishop Okeke counsels Christians
-Catholic bishop has urged Christians to focus on their spiritual needs rather than their material needs
-He noted that focusing on material needs mostly turn people away from God
-He further urged Christians to change from their bad ways in order for them to realise the benefit of Christmas
Okeke urges Christians to re-establish relationship with God
Ahead of the coming Christmas celebration, Most Rev Hillary Okeke, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, has urged Christians to make use of the festive season in preparation for Jesus Christ’s second coming.
Okeke, who made this call in his Christmas message at Our Lady of Assumption Cathedral, Nnewi on Wednesday, December 21 encouraged Christians not see Christmas only as period for merry-making. He said they should rather use the period to re-establish personal contact with Christ.
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“All these are not bad in themselves but in reality, they show such tendencies that divert people away from the essence of Christmas which is the celebration of the coming of Jesus Christ," he said.
Okeke further noted that it is the will of God for us to concentrate on the spiritual aspect of our lives, rather than the materialistic side.
According to him, material pleasure could have negative effect on our spiritual lives.
“These are material pleasures that can contradict the spirit of Christ who taught us not to worry about our lives and what we eat and what we wear, but to set our eyes on God’s kingdom and its righteousness.
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“Some Christians now see Christmas as Yuletide, a word that refers more to a festival rather than to the celebration of the mystery of incarnation, the birth of Jesus Christ.
“Commercialisation of religion, especially by the exploitation of the name of Jesus is the in-thing by people who are depraved in mind and deprived of truth. They imagine that religion is a way of making profit.
“Indeed, many persons need to change their attitude and approach to Christmas to achieve the real objectives of Christmas,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the federal government has declared December 26 and 27, 2016 as public holidays to mark the Christmas celebration.