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

In recent times, there has been a labourious demand on our part to restore the universe to its original state of innocence. This kind of innocence resides in the fact that, all things have been created good and hence, seen with communality, perfection lies in them. With the concept and attribute of goodness which is being used to refer to all created things comes the goodness of the Creator of these creatures of which man is an indispensable part. Put at the apex, life, even of the considered minute constituent elements of the universe, ought to be defended and protected.  The responsibility to protect and preserve entrusted to man, by virtue of his capability to control all other things, in recent years, has been a left in the oblivion duty. Forsaking this divine responsibility, man forsakes not only the Creator of the universe, but also his very self. This is against the backdrop of he being an active part of the universe and hence, a deliberate refusal to faithfully carry out th...

1st Reading          Hosea 14:1-9 Psalm                     Ps. 51:3-4.8-9.12-13.14 and 17 (R. 17b)  Gospel           Matthew 10: 16-23 After every fall into sin, the Love of God beckons the faithless heart to experience a change towards good and come to an acknowledgement of God's goodness, thereby leading to conversion. The theme of conversion  is well expressed in the first reading of today. With Conversion, we remember the season of Lent which this reading tends to relive again and again.  Today, we end the book of Hosea with an appeal to Israel to seek God's forgiveness for turning away from his love. They acknowledged their guilt and spoke of the weakness of what they trusted in (foreign nations, other gods and even themselves).  Consequently, we hear about the restoration of Israel. God offered to be like dew for Israel. Dew is a life-giving element. A return to...

1st reading           Hosea 11:1-4.8c-9 Psalm                 Ps. 80:2ac and 3b.15-16 (R. 4b)  Gospel                     Matthew 10:7-15 Hosea continues his exposure of the transgressions of Israel. Today, he tells us about the relation between Israel and God while he stresses Israel's worship of another god. Hosea speaks of God's redeeming act when he redeemed Israel from Egypt. In all these, Hosea tells of God's decision not to give way to his wrath to come to play. The wrath of God will mean doom for Israel. Like former times and how he treated them with love, God deems it to redeem them and bring them back to himself. We, today, want to still trust in the unfailing love of God for his people, for us. The Gospel speaks of the mission of the twelve. Matthew notes that they were to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (v. 6), not the pagan territories or ...

1st Reading          Hosea 10: 1-3, 7-8, 12 Psalm             Ps. 105:2-3.4-5.6-7 (R. 4b) Gospel                    Matthew 10: 1-7 Dear friends, today we have Hosea speaking to the Israelites as he exposes their transgressions. Noting especially their cultic acts and a consequential future breakdown of the human leadership, the abandonment of the altars, and implementation of God's punishment, Hosea advises them to seek a renewal of heart and turn to the Lord. “The more the abundance his fruit, the more altars he built” (v. 1). The basis for building an altar, sacred pillars is Faith. These resonate well with a sacred arena dedicated to a deity.  Sacrifices are made in these altars as expression of worship to God. If the element of faith is lost, whatever is done culminates in the payment of lip service. This resultant usually becomes the order when we ar...

1st Reading       Hosea 8:4-7,11-13 Psalm                   Ps. 115: 3-4.5-6.7ab and 8.9-10 (R. 9a)  Gospel                 Matthew 9:32-38 “They were like sheep without a shepherd”. This is a very striking statement made by Matthew in his attempt to describe the crowd and to stress Jesus' pity on them. Here are a group of people won to redemption by Christ's love but do not have enough people to show forth same love for them.  The first reading speaks of an attack on the existing religious and political institutions of Israel. They were rescued from Egypt and brought to their present location. They have soon forgotten God's redeeming work and have resorted to human leadership not endorsed by God. These are people who, by their very disdainful acts, have portrayed to be without a shepherd, one who takes care of them. They seem to communicate a message of not showing regard ...

1st Reading        Hosea 2:16,17-18,21-22 Psalm                   Psalm 144:2-9 Gospel               Matthew 9:18-26 We are ushered into the weeks of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time with a continuation of Matthew's narration of the ministerial life of Christ.  Today, we are presented with the raising of the official's daughter and the healing of the woman with a Haemorrhage. We have to realise that these are feminine characters receiving the restorative power of Christ. Jesus enters their hopeless situations and spurs hope.  The narrative, however, begins with the Official seeking from Christ life for her daughter who has just died. The story seem to be overshadowed by Jesus' interaction with the woman with a Haemorrhage.  Our disposition matters in what we seek. Faith complements and becomes a good ground for God's redemption. There should always be an effort on our part. W...

1st Reading               Ephesians 2:19-22 Psalm                          Psalm 116:1-2 Gospel                        John 20:24-29 Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas, the apostle. What dawns with the mention of Thomas, the apostle is his popularly attributed doubt for which some find it easy to call him the 'doubting Thomas'. The Gospel of today narrates the specific event in which Thomas' doubt of Christ is recorded. I would, however want us to reflect on two important things. The first being that Thomas was referred to as a “twin”. This is very interesting.  Scripture records individuals who are twins or two people who are related (eg. Peter and Andrew, James and John, etc).  We never hear of Thomas' twin. The Greek term used to refer to twin as used in today's Gospel is "Δίδυμος" (Didumos). This word ...

1st Reading      Amos 7:10-17 Psalm               Ps. 19:8.9.10.11 (R. 10b)  Gospel              Matthew 9:1-8 Reactions to injustices often take the form of violence on the part of the individual(s) being attacked. The utter of truth may tend to suffer malice for speaking reality.  Today's first reading portrays a similar situation in which Amaziah, the High Priest, seeks to stop Amos from prophesying. This is a society in which the people have shown disregard for God and injustice prevails even among the religious elites. Amaziah knows that Amos' prophesies will come true with disastrous consequences. Meanwhile, Amos goes on to say what he was given to say.  Again, Amos was accused of prophesying for bread, for money (v. 12). This means that Amos is a prophet by profession. Amos replied by stating his wealth for which he does not prophesy as a profession. He is herdsman and a dresser o...

  1st Reading     Amos 5: 14-15.21-24   Psalm                Ps. 50:7.8-9.10-11.12-13.16-17 (R. 23bc)    Gospel        Matthew 8: 28-34 Happy New Month. Today, we enter a new month, the month of July. July, by way of reminder, is dedicated to devotion to the Precious Blood of Christ. Related to this devotion is man's demand for mercy and liberation. Let us, therefore, endeavour to start the month well, counting the blessings, appreciating God's love for man, and never disdaining God.  On the issue of not disdaining God, the first reading expresses excerpts from the first two woes against Israel. There are, however, three woes issued against Israel. V. 14-15 treats a sort of admonishment and an advise to choose that which is good and hate evil. In v. 21-24, Amos speaks of the rejection of sacrifices, offerings, feasts and songs. This is strange. What have the Israelites done?  In any...