St. Raphael's Catholic Church,
Lejja in Nsukka Enugu state was filled with people from different nooks and
crannies of Lejja community and beyond who assembled in mass to felicitate with
their son, the Emeritus Bishop of Nsukka Catholic Diocese, Most Rev. Dr.
Francis Okobo on his silver and golden jubilees celebrations.
The atmosphere wore a colourful
look and the early morning rain did nothing but added lustre and calmness to
the day. The joy of the people knew no bounds as they thronged into the church
arena to celebrate their father, brother and son.
They all gathered at St.
Raphael's parish, Lejja to celebrate the jubilee of Bishop Okobo who has spent
50 remarkable years as a priest out of which 25 years were used shepherding the
catholic churches in Nsukka as the Bishop of the Diocese.
The double jubilee celebration
was initially held on January 29th, 2016 at Saint Theresa's Catholic Cathedral
in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State. But the Bishop, as a true son of
the soul of Lejja Ugwuoke, still deemed it necessary on May 29th, 2016 to take
the double jubilee celebration to his home.
The thanksgiving mass conducted
on his behalf at St. Raphael' parish centre, Lejja was led by the present
bishop of the Diocese, Most Rev. Godfrey I. Onah who in his homily praised God
for the gift of the sacrament of Eucharist and bishop Okobo. He prayed God to
continue to lead and strengthen him in faith and also to comfort him in time of
trouble.
Father Bishop further sought
God's intervention on behalf of the people of Lejja for the good deeds of
bishop Okobo to be fruitful in their lives and the entire Nsukka diocese at
large. He linked the enormous contributions of the Celebrating Bishop to the
church with the biblical story on how Jesus fed the multitude with just 5
loaves of bread and 2 fishes but did not fail to warn the congregation about
their steady and erroneous quests for miracles.
"Miracles cannot take you to
heaven. That God performed a miracle for you does not necessarily mean that you
will go to heaven; the only thing that can lead you to heaven is repentance and
total preparedness to do all that God requires of you.
"That was why Jesus told the
multitude that followed him to seek the living bread; the everlasting bread
because the one they ate is just the physical bread and that is why they later
became hungry after a while. Thus, he gradually led them into the sacrament of
Eucharist; the living bread." he said.
Bishop Onah went on to state that
it was on the day that Jesus instituted the sacrament of Eucharist that he also
instituted the sacred priesthood and that that is why the entire lives of
priests revolve round the Eucharist.
"One thing that is clear to
me about bishop Okobo is not just only that he feeds people with the body and
blood of Christ, but that he totally gave up himself so that through him,
Christ will continue to give Himself to others; Christ broke bread, Okobo broke
himself.
"As Christ gave Himself on
the cross, Okobo gave himself in the priesthood totally and entirely. He is one
man that does not have private time and the more you criticise him, the harder
he works because he knows that he is not striving to please any mortal but
Christ." he continued.
Introducing Bishop Okobo to
address the people, the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Hilary Ogbaka was very
delighted and was grateful to God for blessing them with bishop Okobo and for
leading him this far. He commended the efforts of the Bishops, Monsignors and
all the priests and reverend sisters who made it to the occasion and prayed God
to bless all.
Bishop Okobo started by thanking
God for the gift of life and for enabling him attain his present position in
the church despite the fact that he is a mere mortal from a poor background. He
equally commended bishop Onah for making it to the event.
In the grand reception organised
in honour of the Bishops (Bishops Okobo and Onah), refreshments and dances by
members of various cultural groups from Lejja were used to spice up the
occasion, but more important was bishop Okobo's salient pledge to see to the
school fees of the entire class 1 of St. Raphael's Secondary School, Lejja for
the period of one year, which will not be forgotten by all who were present in
a hurry.
Bishop Okobo was born on December
4th, 1936, to the family of late Ozo Bartholomew Nnabuchi Ugwuja and Lolo
Josephine Ugwu Okobo of Lejja in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state.
His priestly ordination was on
June 4th 1966. He was appointed the Bishop of Nsukka Diocese on November 19th,
1990 and was consecrated the Bishop of the Diocese on 6th January, 1991 until
July 4th, 2013 when Bishop Onah replaced him.
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