Christmas: Catholic Priest calls on Christians to carry good news, give alms
From Daniel Mtindiga, Jalingo.
The Chaplain of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Chaplaincy, Taraba State University, Jalingo, Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Williams P. Awoshiri has called on christians to carry good news and as well, give alms emphasizing that Christmas is the Feast of Good news as well as the Feast of giving.
He made the call while delivering his Christmas Sermon at the Chaplaincy church today the 25th of December, 2024 on the Theme: ‘Christmas is here’
According to him, Christmas is the feast of giving, feast of good news, feast of divine presence and the of peace respectively.”Be carriers of good news. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news (see Isaiah 52:1). The essence of good news is to give people hope.
“In a world full of hatred, malice, prejudice, and injustice, we are called to bring good news of the birth of Jesus Christ. We are to give hope to the hopeless, joy to the lowly heart, peace to the trouble, and encouragement to those who are discouraged. Let those who are around you, see the reason to be happy even when the situation suggests otherwise.
“Christmas reminds that we are bearers of God with the missionary privilege and duty of conveying the peace of Jesus to those around us by loving them as Jesus did.
“Through sacrificial, humble, and committed service, the Lord wants us to become especially in this season, instruments of peace.”
He emphasized that as instrument of peace, we must share with others Jesus, the Emmanuel, the Prince of Peace living within us adding that, peace is the best Christmas gift we can give or receive.
The Rev. Fr. however, laments how Christmas has suffered a lot of wrong meanings and defective perspectives.
“Christmas has suffered a lot of damage for a long time running. One of the degrading descriptions of Christmas seess it as ” holiday “, but it is not; it is rather a ” Holy Day, ” and the period around is called ” Holy Season. “
