Bereaved persons, especially widows have been assured of God’s divine love, as He cares for them and does not despise their tears nor shudder when doubts about their faith arises in the dark times they experience in their lives. This was the position of Rev. Sr. Josephine Odorwike while delivering a talk, titled, “God’s divine love, holiness and fruitfulness”, to the Daughters of God (widows), recently at St. Leo Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos.
Recollecting passages of scripture where care of widows was emphasised, Sr. Odorwike described God as the protector and upholder of widows, as she called on others to emulate this disposition of God to the bereaved. According to her, a grieving widow needs gospel-drenched compassion and not pity, adding that to offer compassion in any circumstance is to share in another’s suffering, and in so doing, we mirror the suffering of Christ on our behalf, thus expressing the profound love of God. On scripture that talks about cleansing oneself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and perfecting holiness in the fear of God, she noted that God is concerned about the heart condition and physical appearance of his people. Sr. Odorwike enjoined the people to be born again and sanctified, as well as shun all kinds of sin and impurities that defile their soul, including immodest dressing, fornication, lying, pride, envy, covetousness, among others.
She urged the widows to rebuild their life, recognise that God has a new purpose for their lives, be active in Church and fellowship with and become involved in the lives of others. The Reverend Sister asked those around grieving persons to encourage them to serve, not looking at them through the lens of their loss, but rather chose to see God’s faithfulness as they deepen their trust in their Saviour. She said a devout widow should chiefly seek to cultivate the graces of perfect modesty, renouncing all honours, rank, title, society, among other vanities, adding that she should be diligent in ministering to the poor and sick, comforting the afflicted, leading the young to a life of devotion, studying herself to be a perfect model of virtue to younger women.
According to her, “Necessity and simplicity should be the adornment of her (widow) garb, humility and charity of her actions, simplicity and kindliness of her words, modesty and purity of her eyes; Jesus Christ Crucified the only Love of her heart.” “1 Timothy 5:3-6 states, ‘Honour widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplication’.”
