Christians must establish personal relations with God - Father

Very Reverend Father Francis Adoboli, Vicar General of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra has called on Christians not to shirk their earthly responsibilities as that could give negative repercussions on their spiritual lives.

This, he said could be achieved by establishing personal relations with God to fulfil both spiritual and social development.

“Much as we need to pray and carry out our responsibilities in church, we should also not shirk other responsibilities outside the church as they both play complementary roles.”

Fr. Adoboli, who was delivering a lecture on ‘The Spiritual, Social and Physical growth and development; the role of the Catholic Men’s Association’ at the Martyrs of Uganda Catholic Parish in Mamprobi, Accra said it was a mistake for Christians to continue saying that the earth was not our home, but Heaven.

The lecture formed part of the 44th Anniversary of the Founders’ Day of the Martyrs of Uganda Catholic Men’s Fellowship in Accra.

Two other lectures would be carried out by Professor Ernest Kofi Abotsi and Fr Adoboli on Thursday and Friday respectively at the Martyrs of Uganda Catholic Parish, Mamprobi, Accra.

Fr Adoboli said it was common for Christians to attribute their calamities to the making of the devil, and it was rightly so because of the African world view of religion and challenged Christians to go beyond the confines of those beliefs to inspire the younger generations to establish personal relationships with God.

“God is not far away from you to do what you are expecting of him, but sometimes we get discouraged because we have not established personal relations with him.”

He explained that because Christians had over the years harboured some doubts about the performance of God, some had resorted to listening to prophecies from some people, rather than building their own spiritual kingdoms.

“God grants favours to people who persistently believe in him and carry out his words, but as human beings, we sometimes retreat when our ambitions are fulfilled.

“Some people stop going to church when they make a lot of money, others decide to marry so many women, because they have become financially powerful.”

He challenged Christians to pursue activities that would enrich their spiritual lives, enhance their spiritual growth and promote their physical development, rather than resorting to things that were quite imaginable.

The programme attracted patrons from the Catholic Men’s Fellowship and other invited societies of the Church.