By Josephine Oguntoyinbo & Michael Ofulue

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As the Lenten season begin today, Christians have been charged to use the period to pray for the Nation and the world in general for peace and progress to reign.

This year’s Lent which commences today starts with a programme known as Ash Wednesday will end on Thursday, April 14, 2022.

Clergymen in separate interviews with The Hope informed that traditionally, Lent was a period of spiritual discipline which culminates in the  celebration of Easter.

The General Secretary of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Supreme Council Worldwide, Pastor Ejide Aladesaye in a telephone interview informed that it was in commemoration of how Jesus Christ fasted and prayed for forty days and nights in the wilderness as well as of his death and resurrection.

The Clergyman while saying that Christians used fasting to totally humble themselves as worldly things were avoided, posited that it was a period to seek the face of God and totally repent from sins .

He called on Christians as they pray for themselves and families to remember Nigeria in prayer as it was only God that can salvage the country.

He stressed the need for Christians to ask for the Holy Spirit so as not to go back to sins after the forty days in order to achieve God’s purpose of being created.

Speaking,a Methodist ArchBishop, Most Revd. Obafemi Adeleye explained that it  was an annual event that  lasted for 40 days, not including Sundays, which  according to the calendar was  46 days long .

He pointed out the need for Christian to have a sober reflection and equally pray for Nigeria and the World in general.

He called on Christians to avoid  temptation and undergo a spiritual journey of self-discipline while fasting.

He assured that the Nation will be better if all believers  could call on God with a pure heart.

“Christian must be disciplined to  help us renew our relationships with God , while prayers and fasting deepens our relationship with God, it also sharpens our will and helps us evaluate things we might be attached to in an unhealthy way”,he counseled.

He harped on why almsgiving  and charity must be extended to the needy during the period and beyond ,noting that Jesus Christ emphasised  love and helping one another.

Also, speaking with The Hope on the significance and expectations of Christians during the period of lent Very Reverend Father Raphael Adesulu said it was a time for total submission to the will of God in humility.

Father Adesulu who is priest in charge of Mary Queen of Apostles Catholic Church Ijoka encouraged Catholics to reflect on their past lives and change for better in service of God.

Also speaking, Very Reverend Father Charles Uganwa said  Ash Wednesday was seen in the words the priest used to administer ash on the forehead of Christians urging them to always remember that they dust and unto dust they shall return.

He  disclosed that those words made Christians sober; reflective and   humble. In that humility Christians were expected to now practice their faith with dedication and commitment realizing their origin and eventual destination. With these in mind Christians were called to be more prayerful while exercising fasting and charity.

In message Pope Francis to mark year 2022 Lenten season, he enjoined Christians to  use the period to do good to one another and never stop being charitable adding that in such we can reap a bountiful harvest.

Pope Francis hinted that Lent was a favourable time for personal and community renewal, as it leads us to the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Lenten period culminated in the celebration of Easter which falls on Sunday, April 17, 2022.