Easter is here again. Many Ghanaian Christians will travel far and near to join families to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Easter brings to an end the period of Lent when we intensified our efforts to remain close to the Lord through prayer, the charitable works we did to ease the suffering of humanity and the fasting from food and other things in order to seek God’s forgiveness for our sins and to show love to our fellow brothers and sisters. The resurrection of our Lord conquers the evil of wickedness by human brings as was demonstrated in His crucifixion. Easter opens for us a new page of victory over the evil of destruction and hope for a better life.
Jesus in fact taught us many things about God and about how to live with one another. His teaching about the Kingdom of God sought to place God at the center of the heart of people and requested from them total allegiance to God whose reign of love, mercy and justice conquers the evils of our fallen world. Everything Jesus said and did was to show the primacy of God’s love for humanity. The healing, exorcism and other mighty works He performed were all to bring humanity to its intended wholeness. His teachings and the parables he narrated revealed God’s presence and compassion. The life He lived was a life “for” others. His death was a death “for” the life of others. When He took bread and gave thanks at the last meal with His disciples, He said, “this is my body which is for you” (1 Cor 11:24). The blood of Jesus was also “poured out for many” (Mk 14:24). His death, therefore, was to accomplish the will of His Father whose project for humanity was to bring it to salvation. As he himself said, “it is for this very reason that I have come to this hour” (Jn 12: 27). The life of Jesus Christ was a life of total self-giving.
Easter invites us to live for the other, to donate our lives for others. This is what Jesus taught us by His life and death. This is what God wants from us. Self-donation breaks down the barriers of political division and social exclusion and welcomes all to the one community of brothers and sisters. It destroys tribal and sectarian considerations and permits all to have equal access to the goods and resources of our country. It pulls down our egoistic and self-centered attitudes and promotes love and compassion for the poor and suffering and also for our earth. Anyone who celebrates Easter must be ready to dismantle the evil tendencies in us that sent Jesus to his shameful death on the cross and that continues to disfigure the beauty of humanity and destroy nature.
I am asking from my fellow Ghanaians one special favour this Easter: Let us respect our environment. The evil of greediness and disregard of the other is leading us to destroy our environment. There is need for a serious “examination of conscience” by every Ghanaian concerning the way we are treating the environment. We cannot overcome poverty by causing more suffering to the earth. Our people and especially those who make decisions for our country, especially our political and traditional leaders, must be seen to care for the earth and help reverse the trend of destruction. Some of the destructive activities to our environment are said to be sponsored by the so called “big-men”. In many places in the western region, destructive activities to the earth is going on blatantly as if our country lacks political, civil and traditional leaders. Our rivers have seriously been polluted by gold-mining activities. Just take a look at the River Ankobra, River Pra, River Tano, or any river big or small beside you! The result is that those who live along these rivers and depend on the rivers for their livelihood get only dirty water, a serious hazard to their health. Due to the destruction, life and vegetation in the river are dying. Our fishermen are left without income and so cannot take care of their families. River-tourism which could be a way of generating income for our country and so raise the standard of living, is disrupted on account of the ill-treatment to the environment and pollution of our rivers and water-bodies. A spiral of poverty! We need a certain “responsible nationalism” that permits us to see the damage we are causing to the environment. The long-term consequences of our action to future generations of our population are readily predictable.
A major role God gave humanity at creation was to be “masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that move on earth” (Gn 1:28). When God took the man he had created and settled him in the garden of Eden, he specifically asked him to “take care of it” (Gn 2:15). Taking care of nature is one of our major responsibilities. Pope John-Paul advised that we should go beyond “what serves our immediate use and consumption” and “communicate with nature as an intelligent and noble “master” and “guardian” and not a heedless “exploiter” and “destroyer” (Redemptor hominis # 15).
The redemptive work of Jesus through His death and resurrection raises our fallen world from its despicable state to reflect the grandeur of God. Our cooperation is needed to bring this program of God to its completion. The event of Easter liberates not only humanity but the whole of creation to reflect the glory of God. This liberation is God’s way to transform creation so that “it might be freed from its slavery to corruption and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom 8:21). May this Easter enkindle in each Ghanaian the grace that will help us destroy the vices of greed and self-centeredness and lead us to transform humanity and nature to reflect the glory and beauty of God. I wish you all a grace-filled Easter celebration.
Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie
Catholic Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese