The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Most Reverend Matthew Hassan Kukah says ordination is not priesthood and that priesthood begins after the ordination ceremony.
The Bishop stated this in a homily during the Eucharistic celebration at the Holy Family Catholic Cathedral Sokoto on Friday for the ordination of three new priests for the Diocese of Sokoto.
He said many people have wrong notions about certain things and they need to be reminded. The priesthood of an ordained priest takes full course after commissioning by the Bishop. They are to live for the faithful and help to sanctify them through proper catechesis and administration of the sacraments.
Priests he said, are ordained to care for the souls and needs of the people wherever they are assigned by the bishop. He said they are not to make choices of places they would like to serve.
The prelate explained that God qualifies those He calls and is sure to provide for them wherever they’re posted to minister to souls.
He advised the new priests Reverend Father David Nwafor, Samaila Peter and Matthew Megwa to be committed to a life of prayer like St. John Vianey, the patron saint of priests as God’s blessings abound wherever God sends His workers.
Bishop Kukah said priesthood is a gift from God and that every gift is as important as the receiver. How you use the gift and what you use the gift for are very important and urged the priests to live exemplary lives by teaching what they believe and practising what they teach.
He added that many people dissipate and waste resources on things that do not matter much at the expense of the very necessary things. One of them he cited as example is wedding in the Church.
He said people do not realize that wedding ceremony is not marriage. Married life he explained, begins after wedding and that is what people should prepare for, more than the wedding ceremony.
Parents and communities of the newly ordained were present at the ordination which was witnessed by a large congregation.
The Cathedral was filled to capacity at the Holy Mass presided by the ordaining prelate Bishop Kukah and forty-one priests, the Dominican Sisters and Sisters of the Daughters of Divine Love and others.
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