My first encounter with His Lordship, Rt. Rev. Dr. M.U. Eneja (Bishop Emeritus) was during an interview in April 2002 at Holy Trinity Parish House, Independence Layout, Enugu.

The youths of our parish wanted to produce a newsletter called “LISTEN”. As the Editor-in-chief, we requested for articles from parishioners. Along the line, a parishioner reminded me that the newsletter/magazine would be incomplete if the Bishop Emeritus is not featured. It then dawned on me that we could share his thoughts and wisdom with the parishioners through an interview. Fantastic! It was a wonderful privilege for me to have a one-on-one chat with him.

As our father-in-faith revealed himself, his attitude towards life and beliefs, I was energized, encouraged and inspired. I felt proud to be catholic youth ad to defend my faith. In fact, he made to understand that the percentage of bad youths (boys or girls) is as small as 5% or less. Ironically, the evil done by this 5% spreads easily, quickly and becomes more popular than the good done by the 95%. Hence it is easy to generalize that the youths are “bad”, which is not accurate.

The Bishop Emeritus admonished that we ought to be perfect as God is perfect… in a succinct way, he declared that holiness and perfection can be achieved through discipline of the senses (sights, smell, touch, etc) and prayers.

Since my encounter with His Lordship (during the interview and other events), I have no doubt in my mind that he is a holy man and a living saint. His admonitions have helped me through good and tough times in my life.

My special prayer for him is that the good Lord will continue to give him grace and strength to impart his wisdom on us and grant him his private wishes. Amen.