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

1st Reading            Numbers 21:4-9 Psalm                      101:2-3,16-21 (R. 1) Gospel                     John 8:21-30 By: Edmund Elorm Ackuaku Patience  The readings of today speak directly to us about two kinds of virtues we ought to cultivate as people who are journeying like Israelites through the Desert of Lent. In fact, we are reading from Numbers and John. These are significant to our understanding of our time today.  The first reading speaks about an event which occurred in the desert. We read about the Israelites speaking against God and Moses. They were portraying impatience. God sent seraphs to deal with them for which some had to die. We see Moses as an intercessor who pleads again on behalf of the people and God responded as usual to save the situation. The response was the construction of a bronze serpen...

1st Reading       Daniel 13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62 Psalm                  Psalm 22:1-6 (R. 4abc) Gospel                John 8:1-11     By: Edmund Elorm Ackuaku                     Just wait We enter the fifth week of Lent with the focus on the triumph of good over evil. This is recounted in the readings of today. The theme of trust and hope solely in God amidst injustice spans through the readings of today. The two readings concern cases dealing with Adultery; one was a forgery and the other true. The figures involved were females and it was a Juridical setting taking Jewish laws as the rod of measurement. The two readings culminate in a sort of granting mercy and vindication of the victims through God's intervention.  The first reading narrates false allegations levelled against Susanna by two Elders wh...

1st Reading               Wisdom 2:1,12-22 Psalm                         33:16,18,19-21,23 (R. 19a) Gospel                         John 7:1-2,10,25-30 By: Edmund Elorm Ackuaku         A warped theology leads to a warped morality The expectation of a Messiah is of much interest to the Jews as they await the revelation of one who will redeem them politically and religiously from foreign oppression, especially from the Roman government. The Messiahship of Jesus remains debatable to them in the sense that they were expecting a Saviour who would agree with them in all things. They were disappointed in all respects. Jesus, who is proclaiming to be the Messiah by way of the signs he performed, seem to be a man who is just against the social, political, religious and economic situatio...

1st Reading                  Exodus 32:7-14 Psalm                            105:19-23 (R. 4a) Gospel                           John 5:31-47 By: Edmund Elorm Ackuaku Mercy and Authority God's plan to redeem the Israelites and settle them on a land flowing with milk and honey (cf. Ex. 3:17) portrays his love for them and establishes his relationship with Israel as spousal wherefore the unfaithfulness of Israel is pictured as adulterous (cf. Ez. 16:32). Acts of 'adultery' are sins against the Love of God for his people, Israel.  The first reading narrates yet another adulterous act of the Israelites in which in the absence of Moses, their leader, they thought of molding a god so that they can attribute their escape from Egypt to that golden calf. The people living in the Middl...

1st Reading          Isaiah 7:10-14;8:10 Psalm                  40:7-11 (R. cf. 8a.9a) 2nd Reading        Hebrew 10:4-10 Gospel                   Luke 1:26-38 By: Edmund Elorm Ackuaku The Salvation of God We celebrate today the manifestation of the love of God to humanity by allowing his Son to take flesh in order to bring to fruition the redemptive act of God. This is The Annunciation of the Lord. We may also consider today to be the confirmation of Mary's vocation to be the mother of the Redeemer and at length, the redeemed as well. This feast recalls the 'fiat' (yes) of Mary wherefore she affirmed God's invitation to serve and said “Ιδού ή δούλη κυρίου. Υένοιτό μοι κατά το ρήμα σου”  (Behold! The servant/handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word). This event which finds fulfillment in the New Testam...

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent 1st Reading                 Ezekiel 47:1-9,12 Psalm             Psalm 46:2-3,5-6,8-9 (R.8) Gospel                          John 5:1-16 By: Edmund Elorm Ackuaku RESTORATION TO NEW LIFE The theme of restoration to new life spans through the readings of today. This theme is further stressed by indicating the Temple in Jerusalem as the setting and water to be the restorative force as peculiar to the two readings. The first reading narrates Ezekiel's vision of water flowing from the threshold of the temple and enlivening creation. The reconstruction of the Temple and the flowing of life-giving water which are seen in the last portions of the book of Ezekiel indicate the New life to be given to Israel while they are in exile. This is a promise to the Israelites. Like creation (the trees on the bou...

Lent is a time to fast, pray and give alms; this is what many of us hear about the famed season of grace. It only arouses the question, “As Catholics do we only do these things in Lent?” It seems like this is what is behind our Lenten observances. We tell ourselves, “As for this lent …” I have a question in the midst of all these, “After lent what next?” The roots of the term ‘lent’ itself has in it a very vital lesson; the old English lencten which refers to the springtime. This is the season after winter in the Western world. It is a time of rebirth. It is comparable to the wet season that follows the harmattan in Ghana. It is a time when things that seemed dead awake and begin to bear fruit. Thus lent is a time of rebirth of virtue. Lent is not a season of extraordinary deeds, it is a season to start again the good things (virtues) we left to wither and almost die. After lent there is new energy to walk in holiness. There i...