Religion
Outgoing priest charges successor for commitment
By Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka
Abuja
Rev Father Benedict Udemba, the outgping parish priest of St Matthsw’s Catholic Church, Karmo, Anuja, has advised his successor, Rev Father Boniface Ngene to do what he knows how to do by humbling himself in discharge of his duties in his new parish.
He gave the advice at a send off party organised for him and his associate, Rev Fr Nor Raymond Sunday in the parish.
Udemba was recently transferred from Karmo to St Francis’ catholic Church, Bagusa, Abuja.
To his former parishioners, he advised thus: “You should keep on doing the best they have done and their best should also be that they should behave like sheep, not like goat.
Justifying the occasion, the outgoing priest, Udemba said: “Send – off is worth celebrating and it is a way of thanking God, because I came here in peace and left here in peace. I did my best here, because God was with me while I was here.”
Promising to take pastoral presence from his former parish to his new one, he explained pastoral presence as among others, being close to the people, by visiting them. He said that construction of church buildings, among others like schools were very important, but he maintained that pastoral presence was more important.
“Although church – building is good and all forms of comstructions in the parish, like schools, among others are equally good, but being close to the people, visiting them at home, among other similar things are more important. That is what I mean by pastoral presence.”
However, the incoming parish priest and the Vice Chairperson, Parish Pastoral Council (PCC), Rev Fr Ngene and Mrs Clementina Okolo have respectively advised Udemba and his associate, Nor to ensure that they take the good works they did in the their old parish to their new ones.
Urging the priests to ensure that they maintain the tempo, the Vice Chairperson, Parish Pastoral Council of the parish, Mrs Okolo admitted that Udemba and his associate really performed wonderfully well, even as she observed that should they keep on the way they did in Karmo, the sky according to her would be their limit in their selfless service to God and man.
On his own, the new parish priest said: “It is a beautiful thing to appreciate the work the priests have done before we came, and you can see that the parishioners are excited and this has shown that the people of God appreciate the work we are doing.”
While wishing them well, he equally urged them to extend what they did in their former parish to the new ones, which according to him made their former parishioners to celerbrate them.
Responding to questions, Ngene therefore promised to improve upon where his predecessors stopped, even as he urged the people of God to support and advise him, so as to achieve a common aim.