I now understand the meaning of a mother’s death. Fr. Eburuaja.
2 min readWhen Rev Dr Tochukwu Ukwuoma, the Catholic Bishop of Orlu Diocese called out Fr Emmanuel Eburuaja to come and greet the people during the Requiem Mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church Mgbee, the Rev Father, took the microphone and invited his elder brother, Christopher Eburuaja to join him at the altar. He said that Christopher is the first son of the family and there was a need for both of them to be together.. When Christopher joined the priest at the altar, Eburuaja greeted everyone present and went further to say this: “I have been consoling families who lost their loved ones, mothers and others but today, I have come to understand deeply how it feels to lose one’s mother.” This opening statement by the youthful priest moved many close to tears.
At the end of his speech, Eburuaja, thanked the bishop and the priests who have been supportive since the death of his mother was announced a couple of months ago. He thanked his Mgbee people and sent more advanced appreciation to the people of Umuaka for all the support and love they have shown towards him. “I really don’t know what I did for Umuaka people for them to spoil me with such high level of love.”
After this speech, the church came to an end and the people went back to the Eburuaja family compound where the matriarch Ezinne Regina Eburuaja was finally laid to rest.
During the burial, many assumed that Eburuaja would again go down in tears but he was comforted spiritually as he performed all his duties as a priest and remained calm. Father Eburuaja read the funeral oration on behalf of the family unshakably.