Accra, March 25, GNA - Christians in Ghana on Friday joined others throughout the world to celebrate Good Friday, which marks the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, some 2,000 years ago. The day, which is a significant event on the Christian calendar, affirms their faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.

At the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Accra, members wore mourning clothes to express their grief of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In his sermon, Canon Professor John Pobee, challenged Christians to be mindful of the mission of Jesus Christ and the relevance of the message of the cross to humanity.

He spoke on the theme; " The Relevance of the Message of the Cross to Our Time and Place."

Prof. Pobee noted that, while Christians believe that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ brought salvation to the world and reconciled man to God, it was necessary for the world also to learn to reconcile with each other to make the course of the Jesus complete.

He said Jesus sacrificed himself willingly for mankind, but it was sad that man had failed to reciprocate the gesture by loving one another.

"How easily we sacrifice for convenience, play politics of thoughtlessness, ignorance and compromise with wrong doers by keeping quiet for evil to triumph," he said.

He stated that it was imperative that Christians realise the true message and importance of the cross and not see the occasion as a yearly ritual of a historic event that had no relevance to the modern generation.

Prof. Pobee therefore, called on Christians to stand up to the truth to ensure that the current moral decadence that had gained deep roots among societies were totally subdued.

"There is the need for urgent action to be taken on the current indecent political battle and tension between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to prevent any further chaos," he said.

He called for total submissiveness on the part of both factions to ensure reconciliation, adding that, there was the need for total forgiveness and total confession of guilt and urged the leaders of both political parties to lead the course towards the achievement of reconciliation in the country.

He utterly condemned the actions and recent pronouncements of the former President Jerry John Rawlings against the President John Agyekum Kufuor and said such pronouncements breed tension and disunity among citizens.

He therefore, appealed to the high-ranking officers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to advise him against future pronouncements. Prof Pobee called for tolerance of each other's views to ensure peace and unity among citizen.

Prof Pobee also said the relevance of the Cross could be fully realised if certain traditions and customary practices that hinder both the physical and spiritual development of women were done away with.

"This would allow women to develop their God-given talents an also be able to exhibit their gift of intrusion for the growth of the church," he added.

He also called for responsible parenthood that secures love and quality care during old age and further applauded the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which he said would alleviate the suffering and difficulties posed by the cash and carry system.

He urged all Christians to celebrate the Easter festivity with greater reflection on the sacrifice made by the Lord Jesus Christ and contribute their quota to ensure peace and unity among all mankind.