From the Bishop's pulpit at Sunday mass:

It was a usual Sunday morning in the middle of May, and early as it was the intense heat of the season had not yet had a chance to level it's firm grip over the city of Enugu, the city amongst the Udi hills which sprawled to the West and the North.  A few drops of dew remained on the leaves of grass, and from her hideout in the blue heavens of the sky the sun was attempting to peep through the clouds of the rainy season. here and there could be seen a lone straggler making his or her way to mass, for as the hour was still early, most of the town was still in bed, obediently obeying The Lord's exhortation to keep the Sunday a holyday, a day of rest.
A loud noise was heard across the parking lot of the cathedral and a small old green Toyota Corolla, which must have nearlier been older than the driver himself pulled into the parking lot , and a smart looking youngish fellow  quicjly stepped out, and after meticulously locking and relocking the doors of the car, he proceeded towards the front entrance of the cathedral.  He wore a formal light blue shirt and a pair of khaki colored trousers which seemed most suitable for the time of the year, and he strode confidently into the church and without much difficulty he found a seat in the back of the cathedral.
He was surrounded by all men as the men sat on the right hand side of the pews and the ladies on the left, for although there was no sign designating the seating as for men and women, by tradition , the women had always sat on the left and the men on the right, and it was in this way now a custom. As the person on the end of the pew never wanted to be dislodged form his choice seat it meant he had to negotiate his way through the legs of several men and found himself finally safely ensconed in the middle of the pew, with little or no ventilation, and barely enough room to sit.
The Bishop himself was presiding over the morning mass, and Obi was quite happy to welcome this unexpected occurrence,

" Yes, yes, my brothers and sisters, hehad started," we must make an effort every day to choose God over evil, I cannot tell you how urgent this message is, for each day must be lived as if it is the first day and the last day you will live, the first day, because then you will be enthusiastic in the Lord's work, and the last day, because then you will be fearful of the judgements of God. The reason for the urgency is because the Lord cannot wait, His message of salvation must be preached from the rooftops,our very lives must bear witness to the faith we hold dearly in our hearts.  Yet, I shudder to think that we can so easily fall into complacency, and be overcome with a sense of self-righteousness, a condition where we take for granted the Saviour of the world.  A man who loves his wife remembers the little things she likes, and pays attention to the smallest details, and likewise a man who loves God, must be attentive to the small things and great things with equal diligence.  I know the question before you all right now, you worry that we have no pope, or you worry over who the next Pope will be or will not be. "Ca me fait egal", it is not for us to tell the Spirit of God, for we know not where he blows from or where he goes; and only God and God alone can see the interior of men's hearts' and make judgements thereupon.  In all things we must trust in God and His mercy, and remember that " God is close to the broken hearted" and to those trampled down by lives woes.  For us there are more immediate problems, problems with security in a nation of unimaginable proportions. Problems of injustice and corruption which have laid such a heavy weight upon the back of the working man that instead of ourlife expectancy increasing over the last fifty years it has worsened, and that not only due to AIDS. Yes, we have great good here in our town of Enugu with our sprawling seminaries and convents, how many saints there are, are known to God alone! Yet, it is an undeniable reality that in parallel to this great good, to this pearl which has been entrusted  us to safeguard the faith for future generations, there is intense evil.  Against the goodness, which perhaps goes unrivalled, there has sprung up an evil which may also be unrivalled, an evil where a man kidnaps and kills his brother or sister for money. These acts are repugnant.  So today and everyday let us rededicate ourselves and our lives to Jesus Cristus, and let us renounce all inclinations to sin. Let us hold on to the hem of the cloak of the Blessed Virgin, and determine to lead chaste and Holy lives."

 The words had reverberated to the core of his being, it was not that Obi was a bad young man, but neither was he a saint, and he had felt that certain parts of the homily were like the Holy Spirit carrying a lance to his heart to excise certain propensities that lay therein towards sins of the flesh. Sins of the flesh, he mused, were necessary for procreation, yet at the sametime he recognised that in his hearts of hearts there was nothing he wished more for than to lead a life that was upright in the eyes of God and man.  Yet this was the theoretical aspect of the equation, for his soul fully acknowledged all these things but it was in the practicality of the matter that his soul met opposition in the form of his own physical weakness wherein he often and freely fell in love.