This Sunday we celebrate Christ who sows the seed of God’s word in our hearts. In the light of Isaiah’s prophecy and the Christ’s parable of the sower, the Church enjoins us to evaluate our relationship with the Word of God. So, we must ask […]
Joys and sorrows, health and sickness are part and parcel of life, let us never give up hope. Sometimes in our life journey we may feel what Pope Benedict described as an eclipse of God, because our problems appear insurmountable to us. Jesus even cried out on the cross, “my God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” However, he later added, “into your hands Lord I commit my spirit”.
The call of Jesus to discipleship is an invitation for us not to be complacent in the society in which we live. It must be engraved in our consciousness that our Christian calling demands us to live a holy life – to be the best-behaved child, the best husband, wife, dad, mum, uncle, and aunt. It also challenges us to be altruistic and compassionate in our daily living, and to be diligent as we discharge our duties or responsibilities.
Jesus in today’s Gospel, (Mt 10:26-30), instructed his disciples not to be afraid. He acknowledged that spreading the Good News comes with challenges which may include denouncement from people, imprisonment or even paying the ultimate sacrifice with our lives. However, like Prophet Jeremiah who remained faithful to his ministry as a prophet despite the mud that was thrown at him, Jesus expected his followers to do the same.
The ultimate loss is for one to lose one’s soul; this was the rationale for Christ insisting that we should be guided only by what is pleasing to God, for no human but God has the power and authority to deny us the beatific vision.
Due to the centrality of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ in the economy of salvation, the Church has singled it out for a commemoration today. The Eucharist symbolises the self-emptying of Christ on the Cross and an invitation for us to follow the example of Christ who came not to be served but to serve and to offer his life for our justification. The Eucharist is the summit around which the other Sacraments revolve. Jesus, during his earthly ministry, performed multiple mighty works through which he made the kingdom of God present to the people. He healed the sick, raised the dead, gave hope to the distressed and fed the hungry. However, only once did he say to his disciples, “do this in memory of me”, and it was after he instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood.
“Today’s feast invites us to live in the awareness of the presence of the Triune God within us: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The mystery of the Holy Trinity, a doctrine enunciated by the ecumenical Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople, is one of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity and the greatest mystery of our Faith, namely, that there are Three Divine Persons, sharing the same Divine nature in one God. There is one God, who has three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each Person is God, yet there is still only one God”.
Before the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus, they were timid and lacked the courage to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus which is the Gospel of life. But once the Holy Spirit bestowed his gifts on them, all the human fears in them dissipated. They began to proclaim the Gospel and many people who heard the message about Jesus where touched in their hearts and a respectable number, (over three thousand), asked to be baptised in a single day! (Acts 2:37-41).
The Ascension of the Lord marks the official end of Jesus’s regular appearances to his disciples after his resurrection. We recall that on Easter Sunday morning, he appeared to weeping Mary Magdalene at the tomb and commissioned her to bring the Good News of his […]
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, may the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ continue to give you the special graces you need during this period of lockdown due to the Coronavirus. The Gospel of today, (Lk 24:13-35), presented us with the […]