NAN-H-7
Love
By Cecilia Ologunagba
Abuja, Sept.25, 2016 (NAN) Catholic Rev. Fr. Julius Agah has called on Nigerians to show love to one another, especially more to the less privileged in the society.
He said on Sunday in his homily at the 2016 Cultural Day Celebration of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Catholic Church, Gwarimpa, Abuja, that people ought to embrace culture of love in their dealings with people.
The priest said any Christian that sowed charity would receive mercy and kindness from God as well as receiving love and mercy from people.
“If you don’t sow charity, you don’t expect to receive charity; if you don’t sow kindness, you can’t expect to receive kindness.
“ You should also listen to the Word of God because it is what you sow through His word that you will receive,’’ he said.
Agah said that the only culture that Jesus Christ taught His followers was culture of love, urging Christians to do same.
In his remarks, Mr Erim Abraham, Coordinator of the Cultural Day, said: “We have come as a community but individually unique; we have come to praise God as a people, but individually chosen.
“We have come to magnify God’s unity in our diversity and we have come to sing the praises of God in etymologies of our being.’’
He, therefore, called on Nigerians to preserve their cultures and use them for national unity and development.
The theme of the day is: “Imbibing the Culture of Perpetual Mercy.’’
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, is a Roman Catholic title of the Virgin Mary represented in a celebrated 15th-century icon.
The icon has been in Rome since 1499 and it is permanently enshrined in the church of Sant’Alfonso di Liguori, an Italian Catholic bishop and a redemptorist priest.
Because such subsequent priests had been appointed custodians and missionaries of this icon by Pope Pius IX in 1865, the image has become popular among Roman Catholics and has been much reproduced.
Modern reproductions are sometimes displayed in homes, business establishments and public transportation.(NAN)
CIA/KAY
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Edited by Kayode Olaitan