"STAY WITH US, LORD" (Luke 24:29)

LENT Each year the Church observes the 40 weekdays of Lent before Easter to singnify the 40 days of Lent, which precedes Easter is based on two Biblical accounts: the 40 years of wilderness wandering by the Israelites and our Lord's Jesus Christ 40 days in the wilderness at which point He was tempted by Satan. We participate in abstinence, times of fasting, confession and acts of mercy to strengthen our faith and devotional disciplines. These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies and pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works). Lent is about conversion, turning our lives more completely over to Christ and his way of life. That always involves giving up sin in some form. The goal is not just to abstain from sin for the duration of Lent but to root sin out of our lives forever. Conversion means leaving behind an old way of living and acti...

Alphonsus Liguori Feast Day: August 1 Canonized: May 26, 1839 Beatified: September 15, 1816 Alphonsus was what was call a “gifted” student today. He was a lawyer by the time he was 16 years old! He came from a wealthy family in Naples, Italy, and had every advantage in life from the moment he was born in 1696. But his parents were spiritually devoted people, and Alphonsus was taught that the greatest blessing he had been given was his faith. He prayed often and attended Mass even on days when he was appearing in court. Alphonsus found that he was not happy with his life. He sought to understand God’s will for him and finally realized he was being called to the life of a priest. He studied theology and was ordained when he was 29. Alphonsus became famous for his preaching. He spoke so that everyone in church—even people who had never gone to school—could understand his message. He gave retreats for the poor and he encouraged people to pray more often. He founded an order of priests...

THE CALL (Luke 9:51-62) Every human person in today's world seeks to find meaning to his or her life. People, particularly young ones,are often discouraged when they are unable to perceive the why of life and aim to search for it in wrong and absurd ways. Every human person has a purpose to fulfill in life. All have a specific task and are individually called by God for a task or a mission. The call that God gives is personal. We will however not comprehend the mission easily unless we are totally attentive to His calling. Luke tells us in his gospel he was absolutely determined, to set up something that will be immovable, that is concrete.Jesus , in walking towards Jerusalem, was walking toward the celestial city, to embrace the sufferings and the cross. He was on His way to the triumph of His glory: throughout all His life here on earth, He proclaimed his glorification on the cross and His triumph at the end times. His purpose of coming into the world was to proclaim the Kingdo...

THE COST OF BEING CHRIST'S (Luke 14:25-33) Jesus is on the way, going from village to village to announce the coming of the Kingdom of God. Here He speaks of the true discipleship. A disciple is one who is learning or has learnt from his master or teacher ,or one who follows the teachings prescribed by a master or teacher. The demands of a total discipleship requires a total dedication on the part of a Christian. Luke in His gospel clearly tells us that following Jesus in the most radical terms would mean to find Him in all persons. In following Jesus, we have to go with the whole way anf have to accept totally His way of seeing life and then pitting that into practice in the way we live. A Christian is someone who desires,at any cost, the Glory of God and his own happiness in the Heart of Christ Jesus. The essential condition for true discipleship demanded by Jesus was and still is total dedication, a total commitment of self to Him. Hence, a complete surrender to the call of...

THANKSGIVING by: Edmund Ackuaku My brothers and sisters , the theme under discussion is Thanksgiving. According to the A-Z dictionary, Thanksgiving is an act showing appreciation to someone or something for a good deed done. In the first reading (2 Kings 5:14-17 ) and the Gospel ( Luke 17:11-19) we are being faced with two great acts of Thanksgiving Naaman after washing seven times in the Jordan as directed by Elisha, the prophet of God was healed of his predicament. He later returned to Elisha to thank him for healing him(Naaman). To his utter dismay, Elisha refused the gifts bought by Naamar as Thanksgiving showing Naaman to give thanks to God. Also in the Gospel, Jesus healed ten lepers whom He ordered to go and see the chief priest. On their way they were all healed but only one of them returned to thank Jesus for healing them. Now the question is : HOW OFTEN DO WE GIVE THANKS FOR GOOD DEEDS DONE UNTO US? Immediately we are being helped out of a situation we at once fo...

 Serenity Prayer God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen. Holy Name of Jesus Save Us (The blessing of St. Francis of Assisi) The Lord bless thee and keep thee The Lord show His face to thee and have mercy on thee The Lord turn His countenance to thee and give thee peace. The Lord bless thee. Amen. Prayer for the Sick Dear Jesus, Divine Physician and Healer of the Sick, we turn to You in this time of illness. O dearest Comforter of the Troubled, alleviate our worry and sorrow with Your gentle love, and grant us the ...

OUR CHRISTIAN JOURNEY My brothers and sisters in christ let us today reflect on our christian journey taking the doubting attitude of peter as an example. Referring to our bibles, we recall that as there was a terrible wind blowing at night, the apostles were frightened while they were in a boat crossing over to the other side to spread the good news of Christ. At once they saw someone walking towards them which increased the fear in them. This fear made them forget Christ at once. When Jesus realised that they were afraid, He calmed their fears by telling them to take courage. Peter being the first person to called out to Jesus , requested Jesus to command him to come to Him(Christ).Jesus didn't hesitate. He commanded Peter to come to Him. Peter began to walk on the water as Jesus and while he was drawing closer and closer to Jesus he was griped with fear once more due to the wind that was blowing.He began to sink into the water and He cried out to be saved by Jesus. The terri...