From Esther Akaa, Lafia
The Catholic Archbishop of Jos Archdiocese, Most Revd Matthew Audu has stressed the need for Christians to sacrifice for one another, saying Jesus Christ paid a supreme prize by his death on the cross for the salvation of mankind.
Most Revd Audu who is also the Apostolic Administrator of Lafia Diocese stated this on Friday in an Interview with The Voice on the occasion of this year’s Good Friday, held at St William’s Cathedral, Lafia.
According to him, Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for humanity due to his love and compassion, thus should be emulated by Christians who believe in his death and resurrection.
“Today is Good Friday. It is a happy day for us Christians because it is the day that our Lord died on the cross to pay the prize for our sins.That is why we call it Good Friday. Jesus has redeemed us from our sins.
“We have quite a number of lessons to learn from this day.We too must lay our lives for others in our places of work. Everybody including the religious must do their best in ensuring that the world is a better place because generally we are not sacrificing enough and that is why we are facing challenges in our country,” Bishop Audu said.
He therefore, called on Christians to reflect on the death of Jesus Christ and be ambassadors of peace.
In a separate interview, the Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Dr Emmanuel Akabe, while speaking on the significance of Good Friday to Christians said it was a day of sober reflection, calling on Nigerians to share their resources with the needy inorder to ameliorate their sufferings.
Dr Akabe charged both Christians and non-christians to make meaningful sacrifices for one another, noting that the country can be better when resources are equitably distributed among citizens.
“Today is a day that calls on us christians and non-christians to make sacrifices for other people. Deny yourself of certain luxuries to make a fellow human being more comfortable. Good Friday also reminds us that this life is nothing and that we all belong to God. What ever we may think we owe in this life will one day come to an end.
“Unfortunately, we are living in a country where the rich are very few and majority of people are slightly living above poverty level. Those of us who are rich should look back and sacrifice our wealth, donate to the poor and let us have a country that is fair, a country that has equitably distribution of our resources,” Dr Akabe said.
The Voice reports that Good Friday is commemorated by Christians across the world to remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross of Calvary.