Prior to my transfer to Enugu, my confreres from Nigeria used to share with us the experience of the church back in their beloved country. Among many things they hold in esteem about the church in their country is the person of Bishop Michael Eneja. They told us, he is a living Saint.

When I arrived in Nigeria in July 2004, I was very inpatient to encounter this living saint that constitutes the treasure of the Catholic Church in Nigeria. I had to wait for a couple of months before encountering him during a courtesy visit paid to him with CYON Holy Trinity, During this visit, I see in him an embodiment of a true Pastor conscious of the integral well-being of the youths. He underscored to us the importance of the mortification of senses in an era where the mass media remain challenging to Christian virtues.

I believe that life of Bishop Michael Eneja has left an indelible mark on me. Merely staying with him at the sanctuary despite his old age teaches me a lot. He does not fail to stand during Mass because of his age. He never fails to leave his seat to go to altar for consecration. Anytime I want to relent from any liturgical gesture because of one reason or another, the person of Bishop Michael Eneja reminds me of the joy of participating with others during prayers.

Seeing him on Sundays during benediction, praying the rosary with the people of God in Holy Trinity Parish, reminds me of the place I should accord to prayers at this age that religious life is being challenged by activitism. All religious should rediscover the primacy of prayer in their lives in Bishop Eneja. Indeed he is prayer to the core.

His ardent love for others is another challenge to me. All those who have been in contact with him can testify to this fact. Back in my country Cameroon, two years ago I visited the Archbishop Emeritus Paul Verdzekor who narrated his unforgettable experience during his studies in Bigard Memorial Seminary Enugu from 1954 to 1957 with Bishop Eneja. He told me that during long vacation, he used to stay in school and during weekends his rector will give him a bicycle to go and pass the weekends with Fr. Eneja who was then Parish Priest of Iv Valley.

In a nutshell, he told me he always felt at home with him. I was very happy when he told me he was going to write a letter to Bishop Eneja. When I listen to priests and seminarians who have worked with his Lordship, all speak eloquently of his activism. As a seminarian shared with me that anything he wants you to do for him, can only be done it it does not cause discomfort to others.

I equally have a lot of admiration for his apostolic zeal. Lumine Gentium no. 25 teaches that “Among the more important duties of Bishops that of preaching the gospel has pride of place.” Beyond all shadows of doubt, Bishop Eneja was preacher per excellence.

In “The influence of Pentecostalism on Catholic Priest and Seminarians in Nigeria.” Hilary Achunike implores us priests and seminarians to emulate Bishop Eneja’s mastery of the scriptures in order to halt the exodus of our brothers and sisters to Pentecostal “Church.” He wires “He (Bishop Eneja) has been reputedly described in many quarters as a “Mobile bible,” because of his vast knowledge of the scriptural quotations and his expert ability to lace his homilies with apt or relevant scriptural quotations” (2004:87-88).

I am convinced that this quality of his is also suggesting to us a solution to the phenomenon of Pentecostal churches that is a preoccupation to the Catholic Church. Once more, Bishop Eneja reminds me of the priority I should give to the scriptures in my humble desire to become a priest.

When I look at His Lordship, I can posit him as a model to all religious as they strive to live the vow of evangelical poverty. Bishop Eneja is a man of God who trusts without reserve in divine providence. He used all his energy to work for the people of God in the Catholic Diocese of Enugu without thinking about his future as a Bishop emeritus. He never thought of pitching a tent for himself as a retirement home.

In my mind, he is more religious than many professed religious. In a world where some consecrated men and women are worried about their future, the material condition in which Bishop Eneja retired invites me to trust in God who will never fail those who He has called to His harvest.

The last point, I want to highlight in the life of this living saint is his tenderness towards his domestic staff. I have never heard or seen any calling on people to join him/her to thank God for a domestic staff as Bishop Eneja did some two years ago for his driver who enjoys working with him for almost a quarter of a century.

Conscious of the fact that the treatment reserved for the domestic staff of priests and religious leaves a lot to be desired. We should learn from this pastor to recognize in every person the image and likeness of God and give to each and everyone the respect to his/her due.

I wish his Lordship the best that he wishes himself and pray those who have worked with him, especially as his secretaries to take time and go into a painstaking research and articulate his life in a book that can draw people to emulate his virtues and live holy lives.