Life is Worth Living

There's an old expression that is never trite in usage; a group of words that may appear to be hackneyed but never timeworn; very inspiring and always expressive of complete meaning and sense. In a very beautifully crafted King James English, that expression reads: IRON SHARPENETH IRON. This is what we celebrate today. We call to mind the meeting of two women: an ordinary event which turned out to be an extraordinary flow of events. An ordinary visitation which paved way for a SPECIAL VISITATION OF GOD.   Mary didn't just arise to visit Elizabeth. She visited for a purpose. When you take a quick look at the preceding section of today's gospel reading, it is said that the angel of the Lord informed Mary of the pregnancy of her old relative Elizabeth (cf. Luk 1:36) in order to prove to her that there's nothing impossible for God. After some time, Mary set out to visit Elizabeth: probably not to confirm whether the message of the angel was true or not, for she had already ...

The Blessed Trinity is a mystery: in the sense that it is impossible to fully understand or explain. Instead of wasting time thinking and talking about the logicality of such a mystery, it will be better for us to reflect more on the significance of the reality of the Trinity for us. In the scriptures, we may find some references to the operations and reality of the Trinity. Gen. 1 suggests that the creative work was undertaken by the Trinity. At the beginning of creation, a mighty WIND from God swept across the waters of the deep (and for the Jews, the “WIND” is indicative of the presence of the Spirit). The entire universe was brought into being by the power of God’s Word: LET THERE BE... AND THERE WAS. Who or what is this Word? John 1:1.14 says that “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God; and the Word became flesh and lived among us”. The Word is Jesus, God the Son and the second Person of the Trinity. In Matt 3:16-17, as Jesus emerged from the wa...

The bible describes the children of the world as astute, shrewd and clever. To have an edge over the world, the children of the kingdom must be much more astute, shrewd and clever. Simply, we must have wisdom in order to engage or deal with world. Wisdom is one of the fine gifts of the Holy Spirit which will surely be given to those who ask for it (cf. Matt. 7:7-11; Luke 11:13).   Solomon desired wisdom, asked for it and got it. His one and only request was that God should give Him the wisdom that sits by His throne (cf. Wis. 9:4), and that He received in abundance. Ben Sira sought wisdom, asked and worked for it and found her (cf. Sir.51:20b).   Having cleansed the Temple, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders came to Jesus and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things?” Jesus responded with a question: Was John’s baptism from heaven or from men? If they had said: “From heaven”, Jesus would have asked why they didn’t believe John. If they had answered: “Fro...

If anything can no longer be used for what it is meant for, then it becomes useless. Uselessness invites disaster. In all fairness, whatever that proves to be absolutely useless should be discarded, destroyed or thrown away. It is only a mad man that keeps gathering and hoarding things that he will not use. With the above in mind, we may begin to understand why Jesus cursed the fruitless fig tree in Mark 11:11-26. This very gospel passage becomes difficult to understand if taken literally. I mean, why would Jesus curse a fruitless fig tree when it was not time for it to bear fruits? If the passage is understood metaphorically, it may make some sense. That event took place within the context of the heightened tension between Jesus and the Jews. In the Old Testament, the Jews (or the Israelites) were severally described as God’s vines. A vine tree is expected to be productive with good fruits at the proper time. If it does not bear fruits when everything has been done for it to be fruitf...

What a universe of striking beauty and splendor! There is an ordered cyclical movement of times and seasons. Nature has never presented itself as a confused mixture of things and events. I see order. I see beauty. Creation could not have ended up as such a beautiful piece of art without the tact and intelligence of the Master Artist, God Himself. What we see as beautiful are shadows or faint reflections of God the Uncreated Beauty.   To this end, Sirach proclaims that “the work of the Lord is full of His glory” (cf. Sir. 42:15-25). In the created order of things, nothing was made in the image and likeness of God except the human person. If other created things reflect God’s glory, imagine how glorious the human person is since he/she is the only image and likeness of God the Creator! If we fail to appreciate this fact, we will remain "midgets" of ourselves, will always cower in fear and feel overpowered by certain forces and realities. The worst kind of blindness is spiritual...

Prayers are not just petitions offered to God. Sometimes, they can serve as a kind of exhortation for ourselves. In that sense, we pray not to change God but to exhort ourselves for transformation and change. In Sirach 36:1-2.5-6a.11-17, the people of Israel is portrayed as praying that God may let other nations know as they have known that there is no God but Him; that all who are on the earth may know that He is the God of the ages. Just as many of us do, maybe the people of Israel expected God to perform ground-shaking signs and wonders to prove to the nations that He is God. They might not have taken note of the fact that the most convincing sign of all signs is a life of righteousness, sacrifice and service. From Christ’s own perspective, it is only in such life (life of sacrifice and service) that true greatness can be found. Jesus is truly great not just because He walked on the sea or healed the sick or raised the dead or fed thousands of people with few fish and bread and so o...

In life, there must always be a price to pay for higher values. That price is known as ‘sacrifice’ – giving up something of less importance in order to get something of greater importance. To RECEIVE, we must be ready to GIVE. This is one of the secrets of a successful and happy life.    The act of giving can be challenging enough to our human tendency, because we are more likely to be calculative and to look for what we can gain from what we give. However, giving becomes much easier when we remember that we have received ALL out of the generosity of our Good God. The question is: What do I have that I did not receive? To this end, Ecclesiasticus 35:12-13 exhorts us: “Give to the Most High as He has given to you, generously as your means can afford; for the Lord is a good rewarder, he will reward you seven times over…”.   We may ask as Peter asked: “We have left everything and followed You, what will be our reward?" Jesus may respond as He did to Peter: “I tell you s...

On March 3, 2018, Pope Francis issued a decree that the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church should be celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost every year. Having commemorated the birthday of the Church on Pentecost Sunday, it is right to reaffirm and celebrate Mary as the Mother of the Church on this day. We don’t need to think far in order to understand the maternal connection between Mary and the Church (how Mary is the mother the Church). If we accept the truth of the Scriptures that Mary is the mother Christ, then we should readily accept the fact that she is the mother of the Church because the Church itself is the mystical body of Christ (cf. Col. 1:18; Eph. 5:23). As Mary stood beneath the cross (cf. Jn. 19:25), she accepted her Son’s witness of love and welcomed all people in the person of John the Beloved Disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal. In addressing the world “Woman, behold your Son”, the Crucified Christ proclaimed Mary’s ...

Down the ages, we have been praying for the presence and assistance of the Spirit. And I am sure God doesn't refuse to grant His Spirit to those who ask of It. But haven’t we had enough of this Spirit? Why do we still need the Spirit in our time? Do we seek to receive again and again what we have always received? Or do we seek to renew what has been received? So many questions indeed! But one thing is clear and indisputable: there is still an urgent need of the Holy Spirit in our time and clime.   I look around and see ruins, emptiness, devastations, pollution and moral degeneration. The entire created order seems to have gone out of shape; many things have fallen apart. The Psalmist is thus right when he prayed, “LORD, SEND FORTH YOUR SPIRIT, AND RENEW THE FACE OF THE EARTH” (cf. Psa. 104:30). Before creation, the earth was a formless void; darkness covered the face of the deep; and a wind from God swept over the face of the waters (cf. Gen. 1: 1-2ff). “Ruach” is a Hebrew word for...

Someone calls himself a SECRET CHRISTIAN. But “secret Christianity” is nothing but a contradiction in terms. To describe oneself as a secret Christian is as absurd as saying that there’s an invisible sun. By nature, sun has been configured to shine and to be visible. By profession, a Christian has been configured to bear witness to Christ. And to bear witness is all about striving to allow the light of Christ shine through us. Of course, such a lifestyle can’t be secret; otherwise it becomes a gross contradiction. And that is why Jesus describes His followers as the light of the world. Light is meant to shine for everyone to see. It is not meant to be lit and hidden.   The apostles and the early Christians were a group of people whose lives were like light very bright and visible to all. They never ceased from bearing witness even when conditions were unfavorable. Paul’s face-off with the Jews catapulted him to Rome where though bound with chains he still radiated the light of Chri...

The proverb “Once bitten, twice shy” simply tells us that “an unpleasant experience induces caution”. When a student fails a subject, he/she does not need to be told to make effort not to fail again. Of course, the student must be tested again and again in order to ascertain whether he/she has got it right. There is always room for improvement.   Peter denied Jesus when He was on trial. His denial carried more weight than the desertion of the rest of the apostles because he denied a man who entrusted him with a very sensitive task of leadership. After the resurrection, Jesus tested Peter once again in order to confirm Peter’s readiness to witness to him (cf. Jn. 21:15-19). He asked him one question three times. Jesus didn’t ask to ascertain the keenness of Peter’s intellectual acumen. He didn’t ask to know the depth of his mystical knowledge on spiritual matters. He didn’t ask to assess Peter’s dexterity in rolling out biblical quotations. He didn’t ask to know the frequency of his...

Have you ever wondered why Jesus was insistent on unity in His high priestly prayer? Why did He so passionately pray that we would be one as He and the Father are One?  What I perceive as an answer to the above questions is found in the same prayer: "that the world may believe that the Father sent Him" (cf. Jn. 17:21). As we Christians continue to fight with each other, I wonder what we want the world to believe. Many of us are die-hard racists and sectionalist: very divisive and jealous of one another. Such attitude would definitely affect the dissemination of the Gospel in a very negative way.  Once there is a crack in a wall, it is doomed to collapse. Once there's division among us, every other thing begins to fall apart. When we do not speak with one voice even in worldly affairs, we may lack what it takes to make some impact. Disunity creates an enabling environment for the thriving of satanic projects. Don't be surprised to know that babies are still being massa...

Wolves are dangerously predatory: they aggressively feed on other animals. They invade not to befriend but to scatter, kill and destroy. One of the things that a shepherd must contend with is the invasion of wolves. In the wilds, shepherds and sheep are in constant danger, wary of wolves and other dangerous animals.    Having spent some time in Ephesus, Paul envisioned some form of infiltration of the Church of Ephesus by ravenous religious “wolves” or predators. As a Greek city, Ephesus was a centre of learning and citadel of knowledge. Of course, in such a city, many false teachers must have arisen claiming to be teachers of the truth. The same can be said about Africa. Africans are notoriously religious. In such a clime, folks with dubious intentions will continue to put up business centers otherwise known as “churches” where they rein in their preys, take advantage of their gullibility and feast on them with reckless abandon.   The danger that St Paul foresaw in Ephes...

One can’t be at rest when his/her task is left undone. There is always a certain feeling of joy and satisfaction that accompanies a job well done.   In Acts 20:17-27, St Paul was glad to confess before the elders of Ephesus that he has accomplished his course and the ministry which he has received from Jesus Christ. And what is this ministry? In Act 9:15, at that very moment of his conversion, Paul received a ministry from Jesus through Ananias that he has been “chosen as Christ’s instrument to bring His name before the Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel.” From that moment, Paul knew that he had been given a task to accomplish.   In His high priestly prayer (cf. Jn. 17:1-11), Jesus expressed His joy for accomplishing His task. His task was clearly spelt out in Luke 4:18: it is recorded that the Spirit of the Lord anointed Him to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. In Jn. 17:1-11, Jesus joyfully ex...

For many people, it is a horrible experience to be left alone. Imagine finding yourself in a situation whereby no one cares about you; no one wants to associate not to talk of identifying with you! Such a situation can be extremely dangerous and unnerving.   As human as He was, Jesus must have been burdened by the thought of being abandoned by His closest allies. Imagine how He might have felt by the mere remembrance of the fact that a time would come when He would be left alone. Nevertheless, He was very much convinced that “He will never be alone, for His Father will always be with Him” (cf. Jn. 16:32-33).   From time to time, we will be confronted with the reality of loneliness, abandonment, suffering and rejection. At such times, we may find ourselves in a dilemma of reality versus conviction. That we face unpleasant life situations is a REALITY of life. But that we will never be alone is a CONVICTION that we should never discard.   The indwelling presence of the Holy...

The last words of a very important person are very important. Those who ignore them do that at their own peril. From John 17, Jesus prepared to close the chapter of His physical existence on earth, and face His passion, death and resurrection. At those last moments, He deemed it necessary to speak about the things that are most important. In John 17, Jesus specifically prayed for unity. What is it about unity that made Jesus to pray for it?   In His prayer for unity, Jesus asked God to consecrate His disciples in the truth. To “consecrate” is to set apart. He prayed that His disciples should be set apart in the truth. Jesus’ prayer for unity should remind us of a particular truth: that God is one (cf. Deut. 6:4; Jn. 10:30). We were not thrown into the world for no reason. We were created to be like God. The truth is that God is one. The God-Head is a community of three divine persons existing as one. This is a truth which can never be fully understood.   In the readings, the C...

The Gospel of John seems to be deeper than the rest of the Gospels in terms of its theological content. Full of symbols and imageries! Many things are expressed in cryptic terms. Deeper reflection is needed for deeper understanding. Jesus said to the disciples “I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour will come when I will no longer speak to you in figures but will speak clearly about the Father (cf. Jn. 16:25). The questions are: When is that “hour”? Is it after His Death, Resurrection and Ascension into heaven? Is it at Pentecost when the Spirit of Truth will come to open the minds of the disciples to understand all that He said? What exactly will that "hour" say about the Father? Too many questions! Too many speculations!  In John’s gospel, the term “hour” is only used as a reference to the death of Jesus. One thing that Jesus always emphasized is that there would be an "hour" when He would be glorified. That Hour would be His Hour of Glory. And that w...

One of the reasons why God was so much worried about Israel was because of the culpable ignorance of the leaders: they had great opportunities to know, but they did not care to know. God was not just worried because of them; He was much more worried because the lives and destinies of those they led were at stake. Of course, a leader who is bereft of knowledge will surely end up as a disaster to the led! We must accept it as a principle that: “For any group to be productive and progressive, there must be an effective leader. For a leader to be effective in leadership, he/she must know what it means to lead and must have the willpower to apply that knowledge.”   We are celebrating Matthias, chosen to fill the gap left by Judas; elected to occupy a leadership position as an apostle. Acts 1:15-17, 20-26 gives the criterion for which one must be elected into that position: he must be a direct witness to the baptism, public ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.   Jesus’ life, m...

The word “PROCESS” suggests that things happen in stages; and this calls for patience. So much of life is the experience of process, of moving from one stage of something to another. Our own individual lives can be understood as a process. As we go through life we find ourselves moving through stages or seasons. Moving from one stage to another always involves some form of “letting go” and “moving on”. Part of the challenge of life is to address and deal with the various moments of letting go and moving on that the process of living entails. Like every one of us, Jesus’ life was a process that involved a succession of stages. His hidden years in Nazareth might be understood as one stage in his life; His public ministry as another stage. His baptism was the transition moment between these two stages. His death on the cross was another transition moment between His public ministry and the short period of His resurrection. The ascension that we celebrate today was the final transition mom...

The cerebral cortex is the part of the brain that is responsible for higher brain functions (such as solving advanced arithmetical problems, making sense of abstract ideas, etc). The cerebral cortex of a child is not so elastic as to adequately analyze, synthesize and assimilate higher brain processes. And that is why instructors employ more of visual aids in educating children. The visual aids make things easier for them to understand.   As St Paul continued with his missionary, he found himself in Beroea where he was fiercely opposed by the Jews; and quickly he escaped to a Greek city called Athens. Athens was the home of philosophers and the hub of the European intellectual history. Amongst other things, Athenians strongly believed that life ultimately ends at death. Athens was also a city of many gods. In Athens, it was easier to meet a statue of a god than to meet a human being. Shrines were littered everywhere.   All in all, Athenians were a people steeped in philosophy ...

It is just two days to the Solemnity of Ascension: a day on which we solemnly commemorate Christ’s ascension into heaven. It was not and could never have been a good feeling for the disciples to part ways with their Master especially when the bond was already strong. The emotional pains it brought about couldn’t have been easily assuaged. At such a time, a counselor was needed to fill the gap, reinforce hope and build up morale. The counselor is the Spirit of Truth. We must acknowledge the fact that certain experiences, no matter how unpleasant they may be, are meant to build us up not to keep us down. Little wonder then why Christ told the disciples: “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (cf. Jn. 16:5-11). As we go through the Acts of the Apostles, we cannot but learn that it was really to their advantage that Christ ascended and consequently sent the Counselor. If the Counselor did no...

In today’s gospel (Jn. 15:26-16:4a), Jesus describes the Spirit as the Counselor and the Spirit of Truth. To counsel someone is to advise that person on a particular course of action. Of course, a counselor must have a wide range of knowledge on specific aspects of life. A doctor may not qualify to counsel someone on religious matters. A priest may not qualify to counsel an astronaut on what to do in the space. As the Counselor, the Spirit is coming not to counsel us on a specific area of life but to lead us to all the truth: in every aspect of life, the Spirit is there to show us the way. But we can only be directed if we listen to His promptings.   Last Saturday, we read that as Paul and his colleagues went through Asian territories, the Holy Spirit told them not to preach the word. When they contemplated to enter Bithynia, the Holy Spirit advised them not to venture into the city. In clear obedience to the Holy Spirit, they continued with their missionary journey. At Philippi, t...

Before the fall, the created order was a paradise. But after the fall, creation was torn apart. Anarchy was let loose. The focus no longer seemed to be on what unites but on what divides. Hatred took flesh and manifested itself in racism, tribalism, sectionalism, rivalries, and so on. Divisive tendencies filtered into human relationships. People began to relate more on the basis of commonalities. The “other” more or less became a stranger, no longer a brother or sister.  Christianity calls us to live above these tendencies that seemed to have become normal and natural. Christianity preaches the message of a God who was made flesh (incarnation). Christ left his glory, condescended to be born a human person and live with us. He chose to relate and mingle with humans though He was God. Incarnation teaches us to outgrow our differences and empty ourselves for the sake of the other. If an incarnation-consciousness is not activated, we will never outgrow parochialism and discriminatory t...

One who wanders in the forest does not only need to be wary of lions, tigers and wolves, but must also steer clear of ants. No danger could constitute a serious obstacle to a hunter who is in for serious venture. As Christians, we are like hunters in the world. We do not hunt and reclaim souls for Christ with guns and spears but by our lives and disposition to the truth. Certain elements (big and small) will strive to scuttle our efforts: persecutors will arise in the family, in the Church and in society. But these should not deter us from proclaiming the message of truth.  In the early days of the Church, the orthodox Jews were almost as intolerant as any other present-day fanatical religious sect. This may help us understand what the apostles went through as they preached the gospel in the highly intolerant territories of the Jews. They contended with persecutors without (Roman authorities) and with persecutors within (those Jewish Christians who were still insistent that the Gen...

Introduction  “You didn’t choose me; I chose you”. Not chosen to dispute or to quarrel over issues; not chosen for religious ritualism (just mere observance of rituals). We were chosen to bear fruit, the fruit of love. This is what matters; anything otherwise is rubbish. Reflection  The Church on earth was not and will never be a perfect institution made up of saints. If you have thought and expected so, begin now to reconsider your thought otherwise you may end up very frustrated and bemused. That we are members of the Church does not mean that we have attained perfection. Christ came to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance (cf. Lk. 5:32).   No one is a finished product. We are constantly being formed to be better. Insofar as we live in the world and in the flesh, there will never be a perfect or morally airtight person or group. A certain man was making frantic efforts to convert a catholic to his new church. He tried to convince the Catholic to leave a Chur...

In the First Council of the Church held in Jerusalem, the apostles deliberated on the issue of circumcision as it relates to admission into the Christian fold. Conservative Jewish converts strongly advocated that Gentile converts must be circumcised before they could become Christians. Obviously, this became a thorn in the flesh of the early church. Gathered in Jerusalem in a spirit of prayer, love and oneness, the apostles finally ruled that no one (not excluding the Gentile converts) should ever be burdened with the ritual of circumcision (cf. Acts 15:7-21). On this, Peter remarked, “God gave the Gentiles the Holy Spirit just as He did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them”. Finally, James the head of the Jerusalem assembly ruled, “We should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God”. In the spirit of love, equity, fairness and oneness, the matter was resolved. We will continue to be strangers to each other as long as we continue to overlook the incontrovertib...

Introduction Our world is increasingly becoming anti-Christ (bent on diluting and opposing the teachings of Christ, the teachings of the Christian faith). We have a duty to defend the faith which we have embraced. We can only do this if we get ourselves completely rooted in Christ the True Vine, Master and Teacher.    Integrity stands out as a beacon when duplicity and intrigue are at work. A person of integrity is one who possesses and steadfastly adheres to true principles. Such a person can’t be blown away by winds of falsehood. A Christian becomes a person of integrity when he or she sticks to the teachings of the Church, and never bows to external pressures or influences. Mounds gathered around seedlings don’t suffocate them. Rather, they are meant to keep the seedlings firmly rooted in the soil against the ravages of erosions. The true teachings of the faith are the mounds we need against the ravages of false teachings. Over the centuries, one of the main problems that h...

In His farewell speech, Jesus mentioned that He would leave his peace with his disciples; that He would give them peace, not the kind of peace that the world gives (cf. John 14:27-31). So, which “peace” was He actually talking about? The exact Hebrew word translated as “peace” in John 14:27 is “shalom”. “Shalom” never means simply the absence of trouble. Barclay clarifies that “the peace which the world offers us is the peace of escape, the peace which comes from the avoidance of trouble and from refusing to face things. But the peace which Jesus offers us is the peace of conquest.” It is the kind of peace which no experience of life can ever take away from us; it is the kind of peace which no sorrow, no danger, no suffering can ever make less; it is the kind of peace which naturally comes to us independent of any outward circumstances. Jesus knew that Christians would face very hostile circumstances. By the virtue of their calling, they would be seen as the “dregs” of society. By thei...