Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The Priest In Charge of Saint Justinas’ Pastoral center in Jalingo diocese Reverend Father Anthony Hanya has said that the Church and lay faithful must rise beyond prayers to lend their voices in condemning evil in the society as part of their missionary calling.
Hanya who was speaking at a sermon to mark the 2021 World Mission Sunday said that the world is going through a lot of challenges worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and effects of global warming as well as fast failing moral standards and so is in dire need of missionaries to set the world on the right path once again.
“Knowing what is right from wrong is in itself a gift from God and proves of personal encounter with Christ. It is therefore imperative that we tell others of these experiences.
“We have found ourselves in a world that morality, conscience, virtue, and the truth are fast becoming very unfashionable. It is however important to speak up to uphold the truth and what is right and to condemn evil irrespective of how many people incline to it.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has increased our level of human vulnerability to a very large extent and has exposed our frailty. Some people have even taken advantage of the sad development to further defraud others and amass wealth. There is massive injustice and lack of human feelings. Consequently, we need to go on a Mission of compassion.
“Life has become very challenging for us especially in Nigeria with a terrible economy, daunting insecurity, failing health, education, infrastructural and moral systems, and so it is very important for us to become Missionaries of hope to the increasingly growing hopeless world.
Speaking on the theme You Cannot but Speak about what we have Seen and Heard, taken from the Acts (4:20), Hanya said that “we have received the good news from God and must give this back to the world. The one true and living God that we serve can not give us evil. And so we must begin to give love and compassion and make self sacrifices for the common good of humanity. We must begin to cherish and value humanity over worldly possessions. We must speak to the dying world base on what we have heard and seen as Christians. That is our calling as Missionaries”.