WRITTEN BY NGOZI OBILERI
Catholic denomination world over Wednesday, held holy mass to mark the Ash Wednesday.
At St Joseph the worker chaplaincy UNIZIk Awka, parishioners gathered at the church at half past six in the morning to be part of the mass.
Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Lenten season, a period when Christians take part in the passions of Christ by denying themselves of worldly Pleasures and engage in sacrifices as penance for their sins.
Delivering a homily, a vicar in the parish reverend father Emmanuel Uduh described Lenten season as a period for sober reflection, a time to give alms and live a holy life in preparation to meet Christ on the Last day.
Reverend Fr Uduh advised Christians to subject their bodies to suffering this period as a way of killing the mortal body which is the major temptation man has.
Speaking on the significance of the day, a parishioner who is the commissioner for Road Infrastructure ,furniture and Maintanance Mr Lawrence Chinwuba explained that the ash reminds Christians that they are dust and unto dust shall they return urging them to use this period to care for their neighbors especially the less privileged ones.
On his part, the Principal secretary to the governor Mr Willie Nwokoye said that the forty days journey with Christ is a spiritual affair meant to bring man at peace with God through honest repentance necessitated by the mood of lent advising them to maintain the new life they will turn to after this Lenten period
Some other parishioners Mrs Nkechi and master Bertrand Bruno maintained that the lent is a time when Christians apart from living a holy life ,receive answers to their prayers because they are closer to God.
The event featured rubbing of ash earlier blessed during the mass.
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