The Catholic Bishop of Gboko Di-
ocese, Most Rev. William Avenya
has said that one who is afraid of
dying for Christ is not worthy of being
a priest. The Bishop made this assertion
at the ordination of seven Spiritan dea-
cons to the Catholic priesthood at the
St. John the Baptist Cathedral , Gboko
, Benue State, Nigeria on Saturday, Au-
gust 31, 2019.
The bishop said that they were at the
Cathedral to do what God has asked us
to to do, to ordain priests who will do
the business of the tabernacle – to ad-
minister the word of God to his people,
to serve at the altar of God and to be of
service to humanity for the salvation
of souls. The Bishop said that in the
course of the ordination ‘We shall invite
the Saints in heaven to join us as we pray
for them’.
Bishop Avenya reminded the candi-
dates for the ordination what the work
of the priest is: according to him, the
priest has few things to do: He is to:
Proclaim the word of God so that
humanity may follow the ways of God.
The priest must do so with patience and
perseverance. He is to persuade the
people to buy into the agenda of Christ
and if the people reject the message, he
must dust his feet and leave the village
in which he works for another village.
Administer the sacraments to God’s
people free of charge as the sacraments
are not to be administered for money.
‘You have received freely and you must
thus give freely.’ The priest will thus an-
noint the sick and not the dead as there
is no Sacrament for the dead but for the
living.,
Work with the people of God, that is,
the priest must serve God’s people by
doing, whatever is good in the com-
munity for the good and the develop-
ment of the people. ‘You are supposed
be dedicated and committed to your
work” Give your life for the ransom of
many , following in the footsteps of the
one who has called you, Jesus Christ, as
he gave his life for the salvation of many.
After expanding on the three essential
works the priest is to do, he opined that
one who is afraid of giving his life for
the sake of Christ is not worthy to be a
priest. ‘When priests and bishops give
their lives for God, they Will change the
world.’ He said. He also said our Chris-
tianity does not encourage superficial-
ity but total commitment. He therefore
admonished the People of God to be
serious with the work of God in order
to make positive impact in life.
Bishop Avenya thanked the Spiritans
for training the candidates as he admit-
ted that it is not easy to train a priest. He
also thanked the parents for donating
their children to the church and re-
minded them that giving a child to the
church is not investment of which they
would expect profit but simple dona-
tion to God for the good of humanity.
