By Ignatius Okorocha 

As Christians all over the world celebrated  Fathers Day last Sunday, Chapline of Christ the King Catholic Church Kurudu, Rev Fr Cyril Udom (OCD) has enjoined Catholic Men Organization ( CMO) to seek the face of God as the only way to overcome the current economic hardship in the country.

Rev Fr Udom, a religious priest from the Carmelite Order, in an interview with our Correspondent lamented the increasing hardship being faced by most families in the country occasioned by the harsh economic measures by the government.

He appealed to heads of families in the parish not to give in to despair or lost of hope but rather seek the face of God and show strong affection to their families.

According to him,” my  message to the Fathers of this parish actually comes from the second reading of today’s Holy Mass where we were told that God is love and that we should love.

“So, I encouraged our fathers who have been  so loving to their wives,children and families to continue to show love to one another as a practical way of expressing the gifts they received from God for their families.”

He observed that there has been obvious manifestation of loss of hope displayed by some fathers as a result of the increasing hardship most families have been exposed to since the removal of fuel subsidy and other harsh economic policies of the present government.

Continuing the clergymen said,”First and foremost , l have a message for the mothers and children of this parish  and the message is that they should support their husbands and fathers on whose shoulders the burden of taking care of the families rest on.

“When things are so bad like it is presently in the country, the  children should support their fathers. They are the greatest pillars of love and affection for their families. This is because God has called them to participate in his  gift of being heads of the families. 

“Each human father is a participant in the gift of divine fatherhood. So, let the fathers not be discouraged, let the fathers continue to look  unto God who called them to this special gift. I am sure that God will definitely stand by them, support them and give them every assistance they need.”

On the increasing number of couples whose marriages  have not been blessed, Fr Udom noted that some fathers can not afford to sponsor their wedding in line with expectations of the society while some who are well to do would like  to organize a quiet wedding that wouldn’t attract large audience.

He advised parishioners that are yet to bless their marriages to consider its spiritual values rather than it’s social value at this time that things are getting too hard,noting that the idea of spending big money to organize a wedding should not stop Christians from embracing the sacrament of matrimony.

“So, as men, we need to advise such people to cut their clothes  according to your  size.

This parish has made wedding easy for couples to bless their marriages without unnecessary expenses through the Mass- wedding.

The parish organizes Mass-wedding and bears the cost of entertaining guests after the wedding.

“So, they can always come and take advantage of the opportunity provided by the parish to bless their marriages through the mass-wedding.

The mass-wedding provides protection for those who wouldn’t like their marriage to be exposed to the general public even when they have the wherewithal to throw big parties to celebrate their marriages,” he noted.

Earlier, CKC kurudu President of Catholic Men Organization (CMO), Mr Patrick Ucha said that the message of this year’s Fathers Day celebration dwells on spiritually among Christian fathers in particular and  Catholics in general.

According to him,”This message is encouraging all men to be conscious of the trying times which the whole country is facing.

“Every member of the family is facing it. The economic situation in the country is biting harder and we are trying to cut down our expenses to make sure that we face the difficulties our families are passing through with patience.

“We should also be security conscious in some environment to curtail the menace of banditry and kidnapping.”

On couples that are yet to join the CMO in the parish because of their inability to be  properly wedded in the church, Mr Ucha said,”those who don’t have their marriages blessed in the church should come and make it known to us and we will help them normalize their marriages  in the church.

“We would like to have interview with such couples to know what is really the cause of not having their marriages blessed in the church. But as you can see, we have a committee in place to handle such cases.The committee is known as liturgical committee.”

On the Projects the CMO is pursuing, CMO President said the projects include Solar system and Car Park.

He explained that, “The organization had to embark on installation of solar system in the Parish because of  frequent power outage in the parish during the celebration of holy Mass and that prevent such anomaly, CMO had  to embark on the installation of Solar system in the parish.”

On the construction of Car Park, he said the Parish  has been experiencing car theft during celebration of Sunday masses and that CMO  felt that the the major way to safeguard parishioners cars from been vandalized by criminals  was by constructing a Car Park within the Church premises and also by installing pm security measures around  the parish.