Bishop Odetoyinbo Confers Sacrament of Confirmation on 80 Catholics

No fewer than eighty catholic faithfuls who are parishioners of Catholic Church of Transfiguration Arepo, (CCTA) in Ogun State were recently given the sacrament of confirmation by the Bishop of Abeokuta Diocese, Most Rev. Peter Kayode Odetoyinbo in a confirmation mass and Thanksgiving.

The lucky faithfuls, THISDAY learnt, were conferred with the sacrament after passing through rigorous catechism training and tests before the arrival of the Bishop who was on a canonical visit to the parish.

Administering the sacrament on the parishioners at a mass, Odetoyinbo urged the parishioners to change from their old ways as the sacrament being conferred on them requires them to live the rest of their lives as worthy followers and apostles of Christ.

According to him, “You are now confirmed as a worthy ambassador of Christ, your attitude, conduct and behavior must henceforth be Christ-like. You are also to be at the vanguard of evangelism, winning souls for Christ”.

Earlier in his homily, the Bishop urged the faithfuls to go out like the apostles and preach the word of God. His words “As newly confirmed, you should go out as missionaries of God and evangelise. You should participate actively in church activities by belonging to the various Christian societies. You should allow your faith to be more deeply rooted as you are now soldiers of Christ”.

He stated that participating more actively in all the church activities by the faithfuls is one of the many ways to allow the church of God to remain alive and grow from strength to strength. The National Theatre in Lagos is expected to join more than 200 iconic structures around the world in nearly 60 countries that would be lit up in blue - the official colour of the United Nations-aspartofaglobalcampaign tocommemorateUNDayandthe 70th anniversary of the United Nations weekend.

World famous landmarks from Australia’s Sydney Opera House to the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, from the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro to the Empire State Building in New York, are also to be lit blue.

“I am grateful our Member States are showing such enthusiasm in marking 70 years of UN support for peace, development and human rights,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “By turning the world UN Blue for a day, we can light the way to a better tomorrow.”

The global celebration was expected to kick off in New Zealand and Australia with the lighting of the Sydney Opera House at dusk, and from there a wave of UN Blue will move across countries and continents as monuments around the world take part in the international event. The UN Headquarters in New York was to be lit up for two nights, beginning 23 October when the annual UN Day concert would be held, and concluding on 24 October.

Quoting the UnderSecretary General for Public Information Cristina Gallach, the Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Lagos, Mr. Ronald Kayanja said, ‘This is an initiative led by the UN Department of Public Information and has had tremendous support from governments, cities, mayors, and locally in any countries to ensure this collaborative public awareness of the UN Day.’