Fides Media Living the Faith
…Attains Golden Age
By Chioma Ndife
In appreciation to God for the gift of life and other numerous blessings, an Ekwulobia Diocesan Priest, Rev. Fr. Alex Ezema, wants to commit his life to the service of humanity.
Fr. Ezema, an indigene of Akpo in Aguata LGA, Anambra State, made the disclosure during his Golden Jubilee Birthday Anniversary while thanking God for the gift of life, noting that a lot had happened that would have claimed his life.
The Golden Jubilee Anniversary Celebrated amidst pomp and pageantry started with a Holy Mass led by the Catholic Bishop of Ekwulobia Diocese, His Lordship Most Rev. Peter Ebele Okapeleke, at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Ufuma and was followed with a special birthday party which was well attended by the priests of Ekwulobia Diocese, parishioners of Holy Cross Parish, knights of the Church, members of the CWO, Fr. Ezema’s relations, friends and well-wishers from different places.
Speaking to Fides, the celebrant, Fr. Ezema, described the celebration as a milestone and turning point in his life. He thanked God for the gift of life and good health which He accorded him to be the most precious of all gifts, saying that he decided to celebrate the birthday after taking stock of what God had done in his life.
He noted that there had been many circumstances that would have claimed his life but God sustained it for a purpose, while recalling that the situations that characterized his birth. He noted that the mother was very sick for a period of eight years, even while pregnant which affected him as a child.
He said it was the grace of God that had sustained him alive as he should have been dead based on human calculations and maintained that it was important for him to celebrate his life while alive than people celebrating him at death when he would no longer be conscious of anything.
He stated that it was important for people to remember the innumerable value that came with being alive and urged them to be contented with the blessings and other things which God had decorated them with as such added fulfillment to life.
He noted that life was too short to be gambled with and called on people to value their lives rather than struggling so hard to attain wealth and fame, thereby disregarding the need to be alive for the accumulated wealth to be enjoyed. He regretted that the value attached to life in Nigeria was nothing to write home about.
Addressing the celebrant, Bishop Okpaleke urged him to bear in mind that he had come of age and would be regarded as an elder. He urged them to be careful of his life style and take precaution of what he ate and drank as the two could either make or mar him in later years.
Fides gathered that the birthday celebration witnessed the presence of the celebrant’s 93 years old mother who danced around with the son’s other friends from different places.