Negative news destroys a nation -Cleric

News Agency Of Nigeria

January 6, 2019 4:19 PM

A Catholic Cleric, Rev. Fr. Bernard-Anthony Ngwu, on Sunday charged the faithful to be more concerned with spreading good news rather than negative ones to boost the nation’s image.

Negative news destroys a nation -Cleric (Independent Newspapers Nigeria)

The cleric, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the end of the celebration of Feast of Epiphany in Saints Joachim and Anne Catholic Church, Ijegun, a suburb of Lagos, said negative news could destroy a nation.

According to him, the wise men, who came from the East to see Jesus, though saw Jesus after the Shepherds had seen Him, went out to spread the good news of the birth to the world.

“The shepherds were the first to see Jesus Christ but did not go out to proclaim the news but immediately the wise men saw Him, they went out to spread the good news, ‘’ he said.

The cleric told NAN that when negative news was spread, it had negative effects on the progress of the nation as King Herod had for Jesus.

He said that the celebration of the Feast of Epiphany was meant to teach the faithful to exhibit justice, love and mercy.

“First, the story of the wise men teaches us to treat everyone in this country justly. God is a just God and so he did not allow the wise men to go back to Herod for his evil deeds to travail.

“Secondly, we should show mercy to people around us through visits and offering of symbolic gifts as the wise men did to Jesus,’’ the cleric said.

He also said there was need for people to show mercy to the weak, especially in the new year.

“A lot of people in Nigeria are weak financially; No jobs.

“This celebration avails us the atmosphere to show mercy to one another, value lives of others, instead of unnecessary killings,’’ the cleric said.

He urged the government to also be an example by showing mercy to her people by providing the necessary needs of the citizens accordingly.

“The government and employers of labour should show mercy by paying the salaries of workers without delay.

“The gifts of Frankincense, Gold and Myrrh represented the kingship, priesthood and suffering of Jesus – a planned mission of God manifested by the wise men, ‘’ the cleric said.

He also said that the star that directed the wise men to Jesus represented the search for solution, with perseverance for the truth, good news and trust.

“It takes time to get a response to issues and problems. It took the wise men some time to find Jesus but with perseverance, determination, success was achieved, ‘’ the cleric said.

He appealed to everyone to make a good judgement by making a good choice in the upcoming elections.

News Agency Of Nigeria