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

A PERSONAL PROFESSION OF FAITH BEGETS RENEWED ENCOUNTER 1st Reading               Acts 4:32-35 Psalm                          Psalm 118:2-4,15-18,22-24 2nd Reading              1 John 5:1-6 Gospel                        John 20:19-31 Beloved, Happy Divine Mercy Sunday! Today is the Second Sunday of Easter and it is dubbed “Divine Mercy Sunday”, a day on which we recount the merciful love of God and proclaim, further with the Psalmist, that “the Lord's mercy endures forever” (cf. Ps. 118: 1, Responsorial Psalm).  The readings of this Sunday have been carefully  chosen with special regard for the season of Easter in which we are, and seconded by the acknowledgement of the Divine Mercy which gives ‘peace amidst fear’. Jesus' Heart is our home, our rest, the centre of reversal and rep...

HOLY THURSDAY  1st Reading    Exodus 12:1-8,11-14 Psalm               Psalm 116:12-13,15-18 2nd Reading   1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Gospel              John 13:1-15 Beloved, we have been ushered into the crucial moments of the Holy Week, the Triduum. Holy Thursday commemorates two sacraments: ‘Holy Orders, thus, the institution of the ministerial priesthood’ and the ‘institution of the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist’. These two sacraments go hand in hand. Jesus instituted ‘the worker and the work’. The readings of this evening are eucharistic. The first reading speaks of the ‘Passover’ event in Egypt. Paul, in the Second reading, recounts Jesus' words at the Last Supper as handed over to him by the Lord. John's Gospel informs us about the washing of the feet of the apostles and Jesus ‘being at table’ (cf. Jn. 13:12).  Just like how John's Gospel emphasizes signs having deeper theological m...

  “God of Mercy and Compassion, look with pity upon me” By: Edmund Elorm Ackuaku Every great event is marked by a period of preparation. This preparation involves an anticipation and a disposition towards what we hope to celebrate. We are privileged to enter the season of Lent, a period of intense preparation in anticipation of the Mother of Sundays, Easter. Advent is to Christmas as Lent is to Easter, the greatest feast of the liturgical year. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday.  This year's Lenten observance is not different from other Lenten observances, yet we can differentiate it and make it unique if we dispose ourselves properly to it. Lent denotes a 40 days preparation. Scripturally, forty recounts the 40 years of wilderness wandering of the Israelites, and the many forty days and years stories in scriptures.  Lent as pointed out by St. John Cassian in the 5th Century is “the tithes of the year”. Here, we give to God those delightful but dangerous portions of life. Si...

In a few days, we shall be welcomed into a new season. Days ago, we celebrated the last Sunday in the Catholic Church's liturgical year; The Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time, but usually not said this way). We are set to begin a new year based on the Church's liturgical year, from which we draw many lessons and indications, vital for spiritual, political, and socio-economic well-being. With Advent in 2020, we shall be ushered into YEAR B. Advent is the season in focus. From Adventus (ad-venio, to come to), Advent is a season of the Church's greatest expectation, for having laboured in “Babylon”, subjected to sin, torture and brutalities of God's opponent, the Church anticipates the birth of a Redeemer. Within this time, we unite with Israelites, who up to date, await the birth of the Messiah, the expected sign of freedom from oppression and foreign governance, based on Ancient Israel political atmosphere. Advent helps us...

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  CARRYING THE CROSS Dear Friends, we enter the 2nd Day of the praying of the Holy Rosary in this Month of October. Clearly, today would like us to delve into passion and sorrow with particular reflection on the Sorrowful Mysteries as it is the tradition on every Friday, with Good Friday being the day maximus . Today is also the 1st Friday of the Month of October and hence, it is a sign of communion of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.  The Mysteries of today, I would say, take us unto a pedestal wherein we journey with Christ in his passion, like Mary, aspirating and trying to enter those same moments of pain and agony. That fellow whom we love, always yearn to listen to, walk with, I speak of Christ, is about to be sacrificed. This level embodies God's love for us, for mankind, “in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (cf. Romans 5:8), winning us to himself, desiring that we might stray no more. This vivifies an erudition of love especially when fused with sacri...

1st Reading      1 Corinthians 2:10-16 R. Psalm            Psa. 145,8-9.10-11.12-13.13-14 Gospel               Luke 4:31-37 Dear friends, today we are presented with one of Jesus' liberation acts presented as a healing. As outlined in his programmatic discourse which he expounded in a synagogue in Nazareth (yesterday's Gospel) to be on a mission of bringing good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, we see Jesus liberating a  possessed man.  This kind of story relayed by Luke already should stress the fact that Luke concerns himself more with works of a physician since he himself is a physician. We speak best in our fields.  Today's Gospel, I believe, engulfs our various situations in life, situations wherein we are chained by forces seeming to be beyond us. An encounter with Jesus sets the pace for a liberation from such challenging situations. With Christ, powerlessness, a sort of ...