LAGOS – Families can salvage the country from the current security challenges if their foundation is rooted in God, a Catholic cleric said on Saturday.
The cleric, Rev. Fr. Joseph Nwanua, made the assertion during the closing ceremony of activities to mark “The Year of the Family” at Saints Joachim and Anne Catholic Church, Ijegun, Ikotun, Lagos.
Nwanua said that the one week spiritual exercise was centred on the family as a unit that could make or mar the society.
“The family is a very important unit of a society, it is a domestic church that produces a moral or criminal society,” he said.
Nwanua consequently advised parents to bring up their children in the fear of the Lord and teach them good manners, ethics and moral home training.
In a message on the topic: ”The Family Being a Witness of God’’, Rev. Fr. Paul Amenaghawon said the society is a reflection of the family.
Amenaghawon said that if the family was not built on love, the society would be full of hatred and crime.
“If the family is divided, it will reflect on the society,” he said.
The Coordinator, Family and Human Life, Ijegun, Mr Chika Nwaenyi, advised parents to rise up to their responsibilities as role models.
A widow, Mrs Ekaete Nduese, said the training of children was important to nation building.
“If you train a child, you train a nation. We must bring up our children in the right way because the world is full of crime,” she told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
NAN reports that the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos declared 2014 The Year of the Family. (NAN)
