SOKOTO DIOCESE CONCLUDES EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto Diocese / Credit - Channels Television

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah says it is regrettable the level of irreverence to the Holy Eucharist by Catholics in modern day Catholic life.

Such poor reverence he said was not limited to the lay faithful. Some priests he added are not giving reverence to the Eucharist as they ought to do. He asked for a change of attitude so as to place the Eucharist properly as the highest point in our life as Catholic Christians.

The Bishop made the remark in the Diocesan Eucharistic Congress, held on Wednesday, at the Holy Family Cathedral, Sokoto with reflections on Becoming The Eucharist We Celebrate and the Necessity of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the Catholic life.

A priest of the Diocese of Sokoto, Rev. Fr. Cyril Chidi Ibe reflected on Becoming the Eucharist we celebrate, a call to live as one and serve the weak, said the Eucharist is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving in which Christ is present as Priest and Victim.

The Eucharist he said is the greatest gift of Jesus Christ to humanity because it is the gift of himself, really and truly present under the appearances of bread and wine. He stated that, “we come to the wonderful sacrament to be fed at the table of Jesus and grown into his likeness”. This he said was expressed by an atheist philosopher who was quoted as saying that “man is what he eats”, meaning that a Christian is truly what he eats. St. Leo the Great was quoted as stating that “because of the Eucharist, a Christian is truly what he eats”

Fr. Cyril Ibeh said “the first effect of the Eucharistic meal is a deeper union with Christ himself”, adding that a “two-fold faith is required to eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord in a worthy manner – faith in the presence of the Lord in the assembly and in the bread and wine”.

The Eucharist when properly received, he explained, increases one’s union with Christ, separates us from sin and a pledge of future glory.

In the second reflection, Rev. Fr. Zacharia Danbako observed that a number of Catholics show signs of coldness to the Sacrament of Reconciliation while at the same time receiving the Holy Communion. The implication is that such people run the risk of committing the sin of sacrilege by receiving the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin.

He cited the instance of a man who approached him in the confessional, not for confession but to question the rationale for continuing with the Sacrament of Penance proudly stating that he had not gone for auricular confession for three years and he had always received the Eucharist.

During the congress, discussions were held in syndicate groups to digest the reflections. General questions were field by participants most of which bothered on reasons for people’s coldness or nonchalance towards the Sacrament of Penance. Answers were given, reminding all of the necessity of auricular confession and forgiveness in order to receive the Eucharist worthily.

Time was created for individual confession by all, priests, religious and laity alike. The session was followed by the Eucharistic celebration which concluded the Congress.

Participants were treated to refreshment at the end of the Congress.

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