The Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist

This Solemnity shows that whenever we pray God answers our prayers but some times the time for the manifestation of our answered prayers may not be immediately. Just as the case of Zechariah who has been praying for so long, God heard his prayer but delayed the manifestation to His own appointed time.

Do not waver, God has heard your plea, you only need a little patience and it shall be well with you.

YOUR DOUBTS CANNOT DEBAR THE PURPOSE OF GOD

Zechariah doubted but the purpose of God must be achieved. No matter how you doubt or think that what God promised will not come to pass, ✋ the purpose of God will and must surely come to pass in your life.
You will do well never to doubt Him anymore for His word is yes and Amen.

CONTEMPLATION

Zechariah was rendered dumb because of his doubts.  However in his dumbness, God made him to Meditate and contemplate on the mystery before him. This was why he was able to proclaim the Benedictus which has formed part of the Church's Lauds.

In our prayers,  we should cultivate the habit of silence 🔇 during which we meditate and hear God speaks to us. Then we can proclaim like the psalmist  "I thank you Lord for the wonder of my being"

Let all our lives be constant thanksgiving to God.
Righteous parents beget righteous children.
May God bless all our parents and all the children

For those couples asking for the fruit of the womb, may God meet them at their point of need and give them the grace to be patient until HIS will is done. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
God bless you

Psalm 102

The writer of Psalm 102 was desperate. He was “oppressed,” suffering great physical or emotional distress, and he lacked the strength to deal with his problems. We find in his words an indication that he was absorbed in his pain, loneliness, and personal feelings. (Ps. 102:3, 4, 6, 11) He believed that God wanted to cast him aside. (Ps. 102:10) As we see from Psalm 102, even those who are in the faith can be in pain and be struggling to focus on anything else. The psalmist felt “like a solitary bird on a roof,” as if he had only his troubles for company. (Ps. 102:7) If you ever feel that way, pour out your heart to God as the psalmist did. The prayers of the oppressed one​—your prayers—​can help you as you battle negative thoughts. God promises that “he will pay attention to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their prayer.” (Ps. 102:17) Trust that promise.

God bless you

Monday, 8th week in ordinary time

The only meaningful attachment is Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The rich man lacked one thing: attachment to Jesus alone. When Christ asked him to sell what he owes and give the money to the poor, he was not happy because he was a man of great wealth.

The rich man wasn't having ill-gotten wealth,  we are not told that he got his money through dubious means, so he wasn't a sinner because he was rich, after all God is the giver of good things including wealth. It is not a sin to be rich.

However,  Jesus showed him what he must do with the gifts, God has given him; share with the poor, help to make others rich and happy,.  But the man couldn't part with his wealth because he was TOO attached to it.

My dear friends in Christ,  what are you attached to,  that is blocking you from serving God faithfully,.. It can be a sin you are unwilling to give up, or an unhealthy relationship that is putting you in bondage, or a position you occupy that you think no other person can do it better than you.

Whatever it is, Jesus is teaching us that the only attachment we should have is to  Himself alone. You may have only one cloth and can be so attached to it that you don't want anything or anyone (including God) to get in between you and the cloth.

Be attached to God alone, He alone is enough and sufficient for you.  Your money is God's gift to you,  and all the good things you have as well. He is the source of wealth, JOY, happiness and so on.

A river that forgets it's source will get dried completely.
Don't ever forget your source: GOD

Be attached to Him, every time and not to any other thing.

May God continue to assist us through Christ our Lord. Amen

Tuesday 2nd week of Lent

THIS LENTEN SEASON

We are reminded

There should be a no difference between the faith we profess and the life we live.

Faith is not only what is spoken by mouth it must be clearly seen in our way of life.

Do you say you believe in God but you are living your life like a follower of the devil 👿?
In appearance you look like a saint,  but inside, you are something else...

Now is the time of change.  Wash make yourselves clean, take your wrongdoing out of my sight (Isaiah 1:11ff)

Season of grace

THIS LENTEN SEASON

PAGANS HEARD THE WORD OF GOD,  THEY BELIEVE, THEY REPENTED AND GOD BLESSED THEM WITH HIS SALVATION. JONAH 3:1-10

YOU ARE NOT A PAGAN,  YOU HAVE HEARD THE WORD OF GOD,  MOST TIMES CALLING YOU TO CHANGE YOUR WAYS,  WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR RESPONSE?

BELIEVE MORE IN GOD, REPENT AND YOU WILL BE REWARDED BY GOD HIMSELF.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

I put before you today : life and death, choose life that you may live.

Discipline and deny yourself now so that you will be happy forever.

Be charitable, give out even what you need. It may be painful but that is the meaning of true generosity.

This is part of what we are called to do this season

God bless you

Monday, first week in ordinary time year B

CHRISTIANS

Yesterday when we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, we heard the Father's voice from Heaven saying you are my beloved Son, my favour rests on you. The same words can be applied to us, dear friends, for at our own baptism we became God's children, His beloved and favoured ones.
You are God's beloved child, do not tarnish your image by a life of sin and disobedience to God's Word. Rather we are to heed the words of Jesus today, Change your ways and believe the Good News.

We are reminded today that we are God's favoured ones as we heard in the first reading 📖 from the Letter to the Hebrews, " at various times,  God has spoken through the prophets, but in our own time,  he has spoken through His own Son" aren't we favoured? Ofcourse we are. For we have received the message of God from the God Himself and not even through the angels.

This is a wonderful privilege that we have as Christians and we are to follow our Lord Jesus Christ, the One sent to us directly by the Father.
The Gospel reading 📖 tells us what is meant to be a Christian,  and true followers of Christ. It tells us that the essence of Christianity is not just about following a set of rules and principles, rather it is in following an inspiring Person. People are not easily moved by words but more by the good actions and life of a person. The martyrs that we celebrate 🎉 didn't die for an abstract set of rules and principles, but out of love for a person , our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is what we are called to do as Christians. Our Lord Jesus Christ calls us everyday as he calls the first four disciples "Come, follow me" . That's our mission
This mission is urgent ,the call is also urgent so the response must also be urgent. An urgent call requires an urgent response.
Just as the four disciples hurriedly answered and followed Jesus, so must we.
The call is not a once and for All event. God calls us everyday , every time to be true witnesses to His Gospel. And so we must answer and respond everytime and every day .
Let each second , each minute , each hour , each day , each week , and every month  be opportunities to always respond urgently and hurriedly to The call of God, to change our ways and believe the Good News .
The disciples left everything to follow Christ , some have also left everything to follow Jesus. This is not just once and for all, we are all called to a constant abandonment of things that will hinder from fully following Jesus.

May God help us to be better Christians through Christ our Lord .