WHY WILL JESUS CALL THE POOR BLESSED. (MARY, MODEL OF POVERTY)

   

  "Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20) or as Matthew puts it "Blessed are the poor in Spirit for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven" (Mathew 5:3). These where the first words of Jesus in his sermon on the mount. He started his public ministry by emphasizing the place and role of poverty in the whole story of the Christian person. But poverty is something abhorred, rejected and never wanted. Can we say that Jesus is happy with the deprivation and wretched situations we see in some under-developed countries, the wretchedness that makes many to die of hunger or the crisis many experiences based on the fact that they cannot afford some basic necessities of life. Surely, this is not the will of God because we cannot see the glory of God in a man who is not fully alive. What, then, is Jesus referring to when he talks about this?

DO YOU KNOW THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THESE SINS WEREN'T FORGIVEN IN THE CHURCH? - ST. CALLISTUS I

   

  One of the most beautiful powers of the Church is the power to forgive sin, entrusted to her by her Divine Spouse, Our Lord Jesus, "If you forgive any sin, they are forgiven; if you retain any sin, they are retained" (John 20:23). This assurance that our sins are forgiven when we approach the sacrament of reconciliation, continues to urge us on to the hope prepared for us which the eyes, the ears or the imagination of man cannot experience. This grace of God's benevolence, also, supports St. Theresa's claims that, "God is just, He understands that we are but humans". However, there was a time in the Church when certain sins were considered unforgivable especially by the physical Church. These sins are MURDER, IDOLATRY, FRAUD, APOSTASY, BLASPHEMY, ADULTERY, FORNICATION. This, at a particular time in history caused great issues in the early Church. However, we owe the full access to God's mercy through the ministry of the Church, as we have it today, to the disposition and intervention of Pope Callistus I.

10 facts about Carlo Acutis

The internet has been disturbed by the sight of a body displayed, incorrupt and wearing jeans and sweater. The site of the teenager attracts such awe since we are used to seeing saints dressed in cassocks or religious habits. However, this holy man of our time teaches us that in our time and place we can as well be as great as the saints of old. Not by trying to follow the exact life style they lived, as in their culture and practical living but by allowing the spirit of Christ incarnate in us and make us live out the Gospel in our own particular situations with things around us.

5 FACTS ABOUT ST. THERESA OF THE CHILD JESUS

 St. Theresa of the Child Jesus is among the most popular Saint of the modern times. She is popular because of her spirituality of doing little things with so much love and devotion that it merited her great sanctity. As the Nigerian Church celebrates the memorial of this great Saint of the modern times, we want to share 5 golden facts that forms St Theresa's spirituality. To have a better and full grasp of this great Saints' life, read up Her classical Autobiography THE STORY OF A SOUL