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.

Dealing with Suffering

"life is not a bed of roses" is a popular adage. But, is this really true? What of those born with silver spoons; those whose future have been planned out; those who are born into, so to say, perfect families? For these few, life is but a bed of roses. 

However, we know that roses have thorns in them and these are integral parts of roses. 

THE SCIENCE OF GENETIC ENGINEERING

 THE SCIENCE OF GENETIC ENGINEERING

With the novel accomplishments in the world of medical science, and its overbearing claim to even break new grounds as regards man’s natural make-up, a pertinent question to ponder on is; can science achieve a world without diseases and disabilities? Within the parlance of Human Genome Project, science purports to possess what it takes to “prevent or reduce the prevalence of disease caused in significant part by deleterious genes, (Dan Brock, Genetic Engineering). 

THE FACADE IN RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP.

 THE FACADE IN RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP.

  Man, as the popular saying goes, is an arena of infinite possibilities. Man, in order to find answers to the infinite number of questions that divides his attention, seeks to enter into various relationships with the world, springing from social, economic, political, environmental and of course the climax of this interrelatedness, the religious. John Mbiti, in his seminal work: African Religions and Philosophy, highlighted that deep within the human heart is the conception of a divine. No one needs to be taught that. 

Can a celibate have friends of the opposite sex?

 

24th  Friday in ordinary time.  (Luke 8:1-3)

“These were the women who provided for them out of their means”

“Can a celibate have friends of the opposite sex?”

A certain priest became notorious for driving down to the brothel in the afternoon and spending some time there on a weekly basis. The parish Council couldn’t bear it anymore so they approached him, because he not only  scandalised parishioners, but also gave their Christian brethren from other churches a reason to ridicule them. For crying out loud, what business does the priest have in a brothel? Well the truth  was the priest encountered this lady (a prostitute) in the confessional and though she was sorry for her way of life,  she was reluctant to let go, nor would she come anywhere around the church unless for confessions once in a while. Thus, the priest took it upon himself to help her turn a new leave, so he visited her on a weekly basis.

What comes to your mind when you see a celibate with a friend of the opposite sex, if the prostitute lady, eventually starts coming to church, and she’s sighted with the priest standing and discussing after mass, or worse, the priest decides to drive her home, what will the many who don’t know the whole story think?

HEGEL AND HUMAN RECONCILIATION

 HEGEL AND HUMAN RECONCILIATION

The struggle to live together as human from diverse walks of life and origins, has never ceased to occupy the keen interest of men and beasts alike. The pages of scripture redound with attempts to put a seeming glue into the various divides of human species, to see how people, only because they breathe in and breathe out same components of air can live together without being at each other’s throats always. But very interestingly, beyond scriptures, thinkers of all eras have taken to heart the salience of such endeavour. So that both theists and atheists alike, at least converge on this point. And the rational conclusion that both worlds (religion and philosophy), have arrived at is that, the battle for reconciliation must begin from the self; the individual human heart. The war must be fought within. 

Can a blind man lead a blind man?

 

23rd Friday in Ordinary Time.  ( Luke 6:39-42) 

Can a blind man lead a blind man?

Christ was aggrieved at the fact that we humans are easily disposed at condemning others without evaluating our own life. We don’t condemn publicly what we do privately but we even go as far as condemning people who are better than we are for the slight mistakes or misdeeds they commit.

When the bride groom is taken from them, they will fast.

 

22nd Friday in ordinary time. Luke 5: 33-39.

“When the bride groom is taken from them, they will fast.”

Are you kidding me, Did Christ who always prayed and taught His disciples to do so just defend them for not offering prayers and fasting like the disciples of the Pharisees? Of course not. Rather He’s bringing our attention to the importance of being sensitive to the demands of the present time we find ourselves in.

I know who you are, the Holy one of God

 

22^nd Tuesday in ordinary time: Luke 4:31-37.

“I know who you are, the Holy one of God"... 

    This was an exclamation from a demon. Well why? Maybe because though it was manipulating a human body, the demon is a spirit, that moves in spirit and can perceive a spirit.  And Christ as God is a spirit though he was made incarnate in human form. As a human now, if my mother and another lady were discussing in another room, I’ll be able to differentiate which voice is my mother’s because I have lived and communicated so often with her that I don’t just know her voice but can understand the message in her silent gaze. I could spot her out by her steps even if there are many women coming from a distance that I can’t see their faces, and even certify her reported spoken words if it contained her preferred clichés for example if she likes putting ‘am telling you’ or ‘nawa oh' in-between her words. Same applies to other members of my family and close friends. 

CIVIL SOCIETY AND CIVIL OBEDIENCE.

  

“I pledge to Nigeria my country, to be faithful, loyal and honest…” The opening words of the Nigerian national pledge, is one that seems to ‘subtlety and freely’ demand obedience from its people. The citizen, out of freedom, pledges to obey. Stemming from Socrates, Aristotle, down to all social contract theorists, the concept of civil-obedience, is something that is required as a payback which the government gets in return of its protection of life and property of the people. Society, has come to stay as a result of search for order in human chaotic nature hence, it is a creation of man. Civility, equality, respect, common good, criticism, all ought to be the features of a civil society, thus it should be conceived as a sphere of solidarity and subsidiarity, in which a certain kind of universalizing community comes gradually to be defined and to a certain degree, enforced. It ought to thrive on public opinion, possessing its own cultural codes, in a democratic idiom. Patterned by a set of peculiar institutions. 

THE IDEAL AND THE COMPROMISE

A question that has kept boggling my mind for some time now, reads: are there rigid ways to finding God? Are there spelt-out paths to finding peace of mind and consequently eternal life? Very vehemently, I would like to answer in the negative. An emphatic NO. In the gospel of John, Christ conspicuously states: I am the way, the truth and the life. Have we ever asked: what way, what truth, what kind of life? In answering these questions, Christ himself states quite clearly; I am the only one way that leads to the father. From all pointers, he is the way that leads to the truth and life which is God. What we have endeavoured to clarify so far is that Christ is a way. What way? The true and enduring way that leads to God the Father. Consequently, he is the Ideal. The ideal to God, to enduring peace. The question which remains unanswered therefore is: since there is no one way of getting to Christ as we have previously answered, from where Christ can then lead us to God, does the very notion of compromise exist in Christ. Put differently, given that the path-way from Christ to God the Father is one, namely Christ himself, does the road from man to Christ accommodate a truce?

Collins and His Mother - He loves us more than we love ourselves.

       

 The Love that Mother's bear towards their children is so strong that mothers, typically, can do anything to see the child happy. So it happened that there is a boy named Collins. A boy of about 12 and the only child of the parents. He is used to enjoying the enormous generosity of the mother. He is of such confidence that he can get anything he wants from the mother because of the past experiences and the level of love which the mother shows him. 

LOVE GOD AND DO WHATEVER YOU PLEASE - ST AUGUSTINE

    St. Augustine once said "Love God and do whatever you please". This statement seems to be confusing because one will wonder, can one be justified if one loves God and still live a life not worthy of a child of God? Can we say that all that is needed to be holy is simply to love God? Yet this seems to be what St. Augustine is implying. Does it mean that if I love God, then I can fornicate, lie, steal, kill, commit abortion and I am safe? To better understand this confusing statement, I think its better to understand what it means to Love God. 

Joyful Self-abasement - The truthfulness of Humility

 

  When I shared my blog post on Friday, which I wrote on St. Crispin of Viterbo. I noticed that in the introductory paragraph, I had in mind to write "The life of a true Christian" but ended up writing "The life of a through Christian." This, however, was made known to me by one of my brother. I was really disturbed because I had already shared the post to many social media platforms. Even though i corrected it in the various platforms, I was still disturbed because of the persons that would have read it. Thus, I shared my plight with my brothers, some of whom sympathized with me but one made a comment that got me thinking. He said, "You are disturbed because you think you are beyond mistakes but you are not God." This statement sent me to meditation and I began to think about myself.

Key to Happiness.

The end for which we are all toiling, struggling and doing everything we do in this life is a search for fulfillment, in other words, a search for happiness. Everyone wants to be happy. We may have chains of desires and aspirations but the whole purpose of it all is to have a fulfilled and happy life at last. We go to school to study, to get good jobs and get money and thus, live a good and happy life. We want to marry someone we love because we will be happier with them. We enter the religious life because we believe our aspirations to give ourselves entirely to God will give us happiness.

Nevertheless, many have a wrong understanding of happiness. Some have a hedonistic view of happiness, where it is all about pleasure. To Some others, it is all about things going our own way. To many more, it is a life of no worries, no stress and freedom from any manual engagements. A deep look into all this will reveal the flaws in them. A happy life cannot be a search for pleasure because when pleasure is sought for its own sake, we end up becoming slaves to it and thus, loose our freedom. Even though, good pleasure would come along with a happy life. Nor are we to predicate happiness to things going our own way. If all of us wants things to be done our own individual ways, then, there would be chaos and no peace. More so, if we ascribe happiness to a life of rest and no labor, then happiness will be only for the rich and lazy.

O DEATH WHERE IS YOUR STING?

            The apostle asks, “O death where is thy victory, O death where is thy sting” (1Cor. 15: 55). Every day we continue to experience the sting and many victories of death around us. The sorrows, the pains, the nights of weeping and the painful thoughts that assail us daily, as we remember our loved ones, whom we cannot see or touch. We remember the happy memories, and even the bitter memories leave us with desire to see them again. Sometimes, we laugh and form to be strong outside but in the loneliness of our rooms we shed tears of hopelessness. How, then, can the apostle ask O death where is thy sting or thy victory? Is it not obvious in the immense pains and sorrows death causes us daily? Look at the little orphans that go through hell on earth because of death. Look at the widows maltreated daily because of death. Look at the youth who have to go through many troubles in catering for their families because of death. Can we not obviously see the stings of death all around us?

THIS IS TRUE FRIENDSHIP

           “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hands, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with friendship.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

            Nothing but heaven itself”, says Plautus, “is better than a friend who is really a friend”. Friendship, even though not counted among the basic needs of man is almost an indispensable part of our existence. We all need and desire to love, be loved and relate with others. As Aristotle puts it “no one would choose the whole world on condition of being alone, since man is a political creature one whose nature is to live with others.” Friendship is nothing but a mutually recognized feeling of goodwill between two persons; if only one person has a feeling of goodwill then it is not friendship and even if the two have feelings of goodwill towards each other but it is left hidden in the heart and not expressed, it is also not friendship. Friendship implies intimacy and deep sharing. Thus, when Jesus tried to show how intimate He wants us to be with him, He said, “I no longer call you servants, … but friends.” True friends are considered gifts from the Most high.

Friendship, however, needful and common it is, is a controversial issue especially as regards what true friendship is. Following Aristotle’s line of thought, there are three types of friendship. Friendship of Utility, Friendship of Pleasure and Friendship of Virtue.

I AM SPECIAL: SO ARE YOU! SO, WHY THE JEALOUSY? (Cf. Psalm 139:14)

God created everything in his love and at the end of all his creation, He admired it and saw that it was good.

Human beings were the last thing God created to take care of all other creatures. In God's great love, he made us in his image and likeness. What a great handiwork of God we are! What other creature of God was created in his image? None but we humans!

Psalm 139 described our uniqueness, giftedness and our preciousness in the eyes of god. As we are uniquely created, so we are diversely gifted (Cf. 1 Cor. 12:4-11). But our various gifts are to be used to achieve a common goal which is to praise and glorify god, and to build up the community. It is not for us to become competitive, jealous or envious of one another (Cf. Rom. 12:4-8;1 Cor. 12:12-31).