The Parish Priest, the Catholic Church of the Ascension, International Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos, Rev. Fr. Jerome Omoregie has urged Christians to listen to Christ and act in consonance with His word. The Chaplain of the Knights and Ladies of St. Mulumba Nigeria, Isolo Sub-Council made this statement while delivering a paper entitled, “Lent: A time to encounter Jesus,” at the Sub-Council’s Lenten Retreat held last Saturday at the Catholic Church of the Ascension.
He noted that listening is different from hearing, and crucial to our relationship with God. Fr. Omoregie said, “Our encounter with Jesus invites us to listen. Listening is an essential aspect of the life of every disciple. A good listener hears what is being communicated and tries to grasp the message. Listening is different from merely hearing, since one who listens allows the message to speak to him rather than try to form an impression of what is about to be said. “Therefore, we do not only receive instructions from Jesus and assimilate them by listening, but we also learn from the words of the Master. Christ makes this clear in John 10:27, “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice.
I know them and they follow me”. “Listening during this encounter with Jesus also requires that we do something about what has been heard. To be regarded as true disciples, St. James tells us to do what the Lord tells us and not merely listen to him (James 1:22). “You must do what the Word tells you and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves”. The Chaplain gives a correlation between hearing and doing as he termed listening as God’s call to action. “Our listening to Christ calls us to action. More than ever before in the season of Lent, we are called to love our neighbour when we hear the parable of the Good Samaritan, and we are challenged to be considerate towards others in the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus. We are called to imitate the good example of other Christians who remind us of Jesus Christ and we are challenged to do the same by the way we live.
“Let us listen to Christ as he speaks to us in the words of Scripture and in daily events. Better still, we must pray that the Lord should give us the grace to do His will daily. In case we do not grasp his message entirely, we must seek the advice of our Spiritual Directors, and others who are more experienced in spiritual matters to clear our doubts.” According to Fr. Omoregie, our encounter with Jesus should leave us with the resolution to make a difference in our own lives and that of others. He urged the Knights and Ladies of St. Mulumba to begin with their families by taking full responsibility for themselves, their spouses and children by loving them, protecting them, and serving them.
Continuing, he stated, “You must also make God perpetually present in your homes through family prayer. Love and honour your spouses and teach your children and grandchildren to love God with all their hearts, all of their minds and all of their strength. Train them to honour constituted authority and to live responsibly. “Our encounter with Jesus must lead us to confront evil, pursue justice and love mercy. To treat others with kindness, respect and compassion. To work diligently to provide for the needs of your families. To forgive those who have wronged you and reconcile with those whom you have wronged. This personal encounter with Jesus should lead us to walk in integrity as men and women answerable to God. To also seek to honour God, obey His word and do His will.”
Fr. Omoregie went on to warn against self-righteousness as he charged Christians to rather seek true repentance. “We must avoid self-righteousness. Oftentimes we are quick to criticise and condemn others. It is easier to see another person’s back than one’s own and we might forget that our weaknesses might even be far worse than theirs. “We must be aware of the hypocrisy that accompanies self-righteousness. Instead, we must all aim at true repentance and help the weaker ones to do the same.”
