By Godwin Utuedoye,
OREROKPE: A total of 177 Catholics who have thoroughly undergone catechism training and prepared in the Catholic faith were on December 23, 2018 administered with the Sacrament of Confirmation with a charge to keep the Catholic faith firm and win souls for Christ.
Adorned in white clothes, with baptismal names knitted in their dress, the candidates were confirmed by the local ordinary of Warri, Most Rev. John Afareha.
While thanking God for the gift of the 177 candidates who have come to accept the Catholic faith and doctrine, the bishop urged them to put to practice all they have learnt and allow the holy spirit they have received to use them. He charged the candidates not to see confirmation as a mere rite, but rather a call to stand to defend the Church and the gospel as true soldiers of Jesus Christ.
Most Rev. Afareha, who took time to explain what confirmation is all about, maintained that, it is an invitation of the Holy Spirit to come and dwell in the heart of the recipient to enable him or her be firm in the spirit and as well equipped as a soldier of Christ.
He later called on them not to throw away their Catholic faith or dump the zeal that prompted them to seek for the Sacrament, adding that the only reason they will abandon the Catholic faith is when they fail to be rooted in Church activities or identify with the pious societies in the church.
Most Rev. Afareha urged the recipient of the sacrament to identify with pious groups in the Church and be ready to work and win souls for Christ.
Highpoint of the celebration was the invocation of the Holy Spirit by the bishop through laying on of hands on the candidates and anointing them with the oil of Chrism as a seal.
There was a thanksgiving by the newly confirmed in appreciation to God.
In his remarks, the Parish Priest of St. William Catholic Church, Orerokpe, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Obadjere thanked the bishop for the visit and prayed for journey mercies for him.