Nigeria: Catholic Ladies Counsel Youths On Chastity

Mar 13, 2015

By allafrica.com
In the secular sphere as often depicted by the media, sex outside marriage is no anomaly. The result of this is that many people hardly even understand the many benefits accruable from sexual morality. Also, many people it is believed, have little or faint idea about what modesty in dressing should really be. Senior Reporter Anthonia Soyingbe was at a recent public function where the importance of chastity was the subject of discussion.

The women were convinced by their maternal instincts on chastity being a great virtue.

They were members of the Lady of St Mulumba (LSM) of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Lekki Deanery at the Catholic Church of Transfiguration, Victoria Garden City, Lagos, and coming together at the time of Lent, gathered about 500 catholic youths in the neighbourhood to discuss a subject so dear to their hearts, the benefits of chastity.

Welcoming the youths to the one-day seminar entitled, Chaste Youth, Happy Adult Sure, President Lekki sub-council of LSM, Nkiru Eze, lamented that chastity and purity are not valued as they used to be in the past. She however attributed this to frequent separations and divorces, urging youths to embrace chastity in all its ramifications, Eze noted that God still values purity.

Also charging the youths on the need to embrace chastity, Parish Priest of Catholic Church of Transfiguration, Rev. Father Mike Okonkwo said that a child who embraces chastity will automatically become a happy adult. Okonkwo called on youths in attendance to make good use of all they learnt and said it will definitely make them happy adults.

Saying it as it is, one of the facilitators, Dr Onyeka Iwuchukwu, enjoined youths to always crave for God’s presence when tempted to sin. Iwuchukwu, who addressed the many ills of living an unchaste life as a youth noted: “Sex is celebrated everywhere but I will tell you emphatically that chastity is still cherished.”

“As a youth, you need to preserve yourself according to God’s injunction. Your relationship with God is very important in whatever you do and I think you should ask yourself constantly, is it worth destroying your relationship with God through fornication? Consider so many things before you sin, and don’t allow yourself to be tossed around by Satan.”

Iwuchukwu concluded by advising youths to embrace chastity by being the masters of their bodies.

Speaking on the spiritual benefits of Chastity, Lady Chineze Ofodile stated that chastity is not only about pre-marital sex, adding that it is something to be treasured. “All these things are distractions in our world. Chastity enhances us, so let us stop painting the picture that we can get away with unchaste acts.

“We complain about breakdown of marriages but I tell you, if you want a future of peace, you need to cultivate it today, by living a chaste life. Respect yourself and you won’t indulge in anything that is not pure. Let us open our eyes to the teachings of God and his Church so we can have a better society. Chastity is the basis of everything that is good, and don’t forget that everything that is good doesn’t come cheap. I enjoin you all to learn self-control because we can’t repair the damage after it is done.”

Gertrude Bassey, who spoke on the medical benefits of living a chaste life as youths said, any youth who lives a chaste life will grow up to be a happy adult. Aside from this, Bassey opined that living a chaste life brings about a healthy marriage and fertility will be preserved while they remain healthy.

According to her, “The youth is the live wire of every society, and if we don’t train them as we should now, then the future is not certain. Chastity is all encompassing and it is not old-fashioned. If you are pure in whatever you do, then you will succeed. The internet is there, bombarding our children with lots of things but we as mothers and caregivers, have the primary responsibility of training our children to be responsible adults. We should not close our eyes to these facts,” she added while speaking with Daily Independent at the workshop.

Asked if chastity is still a virtue for this age, Anthonia Obi, one of the youths in attendance affirmed saying, “to a very great extent it is and it is something everyone should strive to achieve as it gives women self-confidence.”

Another attendee, Amaka Onyekachi when asked on her thoughts about the prevalence of un-chastity said it is very rampant and many youths go into it without weighing the many negative consequences.

“Sometimes, of course, unmarried young women and men do say they’re “in love” when they engage in sex. Then the relationship ends, the partners enter into new relationships, they again have sex, and again they say they’re “in love.” It mocks love, and it is better to call it serial fornication. And it mocks parental responsibility for parents to imagine they’ve done their duty by telling their children to avoid unprotected sex, and to have sex only in a caring relationship,” Onyekachi told our reporter.

Chastity goes beyond not engaging in premarital sex, chastity is about moral cleanliness in thoughts, words, deeds and purity, the speakers advised the young people.