Today is Easter, the commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter, the greatest and most exalted Feast in Christendom, evokes joy and thanksgiving. If Christ had not risen, says St. Paul, Christianity would have been in vain. This is why Easter holds great importance for Christians.
This Easter, more than anything else, calls for a deeper reflection about the meaning of human existence. Jesus Christ allowed himself to die on the Cross and afterwards resurrected at Easter for the love of mankind and by doing so wrought Salvation for mankind. Like Jesus Christ, let us remember that human life is of no use if it is not used for the service of others. Life is measured by love of neigbour.
God created us and put us in this world to cherish our fellow human beings not to hate them or hurt them. Pope Francis states,”… in the face of many false securities that have now crumbled, in the face of so many hopes betrayed, in the sense of abandonment that weigh upon our hearts, Jesus says to each of us, courage, open your heart to my love, You will feel the consolation of God who sustains you”
Therefore let us put love where there is no love. We must erect a framework of human solidarity in order to render assistance to weak, the hungry and the suffering in our midst. If Christ has sacrificed himself for us, we have to reciprocate that sacrifice by sacrificing ourselves for the good of others. With the growing poverty and human misery in Nigeria we cannot shut ourselves up in our cocoons and superficial religiosity oblivious of the sufferings of our neigbours.
Life is a gift we receive only when we give ourselves to service of our fellow human beings as Jesus did.
Our world is claiming too many new victims through many man-made disasters and natural disasters. Therefore we must lend a helping hand; we must start giving as music legend Michael Jackson was wont to sing. This is the only way to win the human race.
Easter is also the celebration of our common humanity. For centuries the great religious texts have taught the essential oneness of the human race. Christ allowed himself to suffer and died on the Cross and afterwards to resurrect at Easter for the salvation of the whole human race. He redeemed all the peoples of the world, not just whites, blacks, coloured or any other race.
But unfortunately, this transcendent perception of our common humanity has waned. We now live in a world that is increasingly torn apart by deep hatred, suicide bombing, and betrayal of the popular will, lust for power, sit-tight political dictatorship and economic and social strains.
Therefore this Easter invites us to eschew bitterness and rancour. We should learn to forgive always without habouring grudges. We need to identify some common values from which to build a new international order where justice, service, peace, respect for human dignity and mutual understanding reign. Christ came to serve not to be served. Therefore, world leaders should imitate his self-sacrificing service.
Regretfully the greatest obstacle to this self-sacrificing service is unbridled individualism. Instead of promoting the Common good, most of our leaders are only interested in promoting their private empires. Shame has disappeared from the public life. It seems as if selfishness, greed and corruption have become the societal norms. Calls for solidarity and reciprocity have diminished.
Everywhere there is man’s inhumanity to man. Meanwhile many Nigerians are dying of hunger, deprivation and frustration today.
When will this tragedy come to an end? Therefore this Easter affords our leaders the opportunity of attending to the needs of suffering Nigerians. Christ was not aloof from the people. He lived among the people; spent his whole life with the people; shared their anxieties, hopes and aspirations. He fed the people with the finest wheat when they were hungry; he healed the sick, consoled the sorrowful and wept for the dead. These should be the social concerns of our leaders at Easter.
On the whole, we need a new humanism in Nigeria based on true dedicated service, unity and love. We must learn to see Christ in our neigbours. We need a country where the citizens are not wolfs unto their fellow citizens. We cannot forget that our singular action has either a positive or negative effect on others.
If Christ has sacrificed himself for our redemption, we have to reciprocate that sacrifice by sacrificing ourselves for the good of others. We cannot shut up ourselves in prosperous religiousity oblivious of the sufferings of our neigbours. Christianity is not a way of seeking personal comfort or simply acquiring material things, rather it is a way of personal commitment and sacrifice for the noble cause of others.
May the joy of Easter awaken in you and your family a display of true dedicated service and love for our fellow men and women.
CONCLUDED
