Sunday August 24, 2008: Isaiah 22:19-23; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20

I have never been a Muslim and have no intentions of becoming one. However, I love studying Islam. Having grown up in a small town with a sizeable amount of Muslims, I came to know about the religion and some of their rituals. When I went off to college, I took classes in Islam and enjoyed every bit of them. I became very much interested in Islam and its relationship with Christianity. One of my major graduate papers was on Muslim – Christian relations. After graduate school, I have continued to research on Islam. I consider myself to be very knowledgeable about Islam and Mohammed, yet I have no personal knowledge of Islam or Mohammed. My knowledge of Islam and Mohammed is what I have read in the books and have learnt from Muslim friends and neighbors. I cannot make any faith claims based on this kind of knowledge.


The first question posed by Jesus Christ to his Apostles needed a response from the head. They needed to tell Jesus Christ what is out there about him. What they have learnt from people about him. The response to the first question is very easy. I can give that kind of response about Islam. The second question, “Who do you say that I am?” is the more challenging question and this is personal. It requires a deep faith. In the context of Islam, I cannot answer such a question. It is a question that moves us from the head to the heart. Christianity is not knowing about Jesus Christ, but, it is, knowing Jesus Christ personally. It is a heart to heart relationship with Jesus Christ. This knowledge of Jesus is life-changing. It changes not only our faith lives but it also changes our whole worldview. You no longer look at Jesus Christ as a nice guy, a good man, a humble person, even though he has these virtues, but you will look at him as truly what he is to you, a personal savior. There is a movement from the general to the particular. He is no longer a healer, but my healer; no longer a redeemer, but my redeemer; he is no longer the great provider, but my great provider. He becomes 100% personal and this influences how you look at the whole of your reality.


This personal knowledge of Jesus leads us to our personal freedom. You will find out how comfortable and relax you are in his presence. You would begin to see yourself no longer as a slave but a rightful son or daughter of God, fully adopted and with full rights and privileges and you dine with him not as a servant but as a co-heir. This enables you to freely share with him all your joys and sorrows, your happiness and pains, your successes and failures and you can freely ask him to help you with your challenges. You will find out that you are always in the “moment” with him and you can proceed into the future without any fears because you are confident that he will care for you.


Knowing Jesus Christ personally helps us to live out fully God’s will for our lives. The bible, the rituals of the church and the teachings of the church can only give us tools to know Jesus Christ. They do not replace our relationship with Jesus Christ. You need to know Jesus personally in order for you to know what he wants you to do. That is the only way you can be a good Christian. You need to discern God’s will for you daily. It will be a mistake to think that you know all that God wants you to do. You need a personal relationship with him to be able to discern his mission for you.


The gospel this week challenges us to go and build a relationship with Jesus Christ. We know Jesus by reading our bible; we know Jesus by being with his family every Sunday; we know Jesus by praying. Let us use all these tools he has given to us to establish a solid relationship with him. If you have never asked yourself before, spend some time this week and ask yourself, “Who is Jesus Christ to me?” Continue to ask him until he answers you. You will be surprised what you will hear and how that will change your life.

Sunday May 11, 2008, Pentecost Sunday: Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23

Last week, we celebrated the feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. The feast of the Ascension is 9 days before the feast of Pentecost. Jesus Christ instructed his Apostles to stay in Jerusalem until they receive the Holy Spirit. These nine days were days of intensive prayer and preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit. This was the very first novena in the Christian Church. Today, the church celebrates the feast of Pentecost. This is a special feast because it is the birthday of the Church. It is a significant feast because with the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, the salvific mission of the Trinity to human kind reached its peak – The Apostles have now known the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. With this fullness of the power of the Trinity, they are to go out and be witnesses to the whole world. The Church is no longer a small group of loyal followers in Jerusalem, it is now a world church, a church that must go to the ends of the world and witness the paschal mystery. God is entering into a new covenant with his people – salvation is now open to everyone, not only to the people of Israel.
The Holy Spirit brought about transformation in the lives of the disciples. They were no longer timid and fearful, but they became firebrand Christians who were willing to give of their lives for what they believe. Peter for example did not need to think twice about the consequences for identifying himself as a follower of Jesus Christ. He came out and boldly preached about the risen Lord. These apostles who in the gospel of Mark 9: 14 could not heal a boy that is possessed of a demon are now great healers. Peter and John healed the crippled man at the gate of the temple; Phillip is able to preach and convert Simon the magician; Stephen joyfully gives of his life becoming the first martyr. Acts of the Apostles 5: 12 tells us that so many signs were done in the hands of the Apostles that many sick people were laid by the sides of the streets so that their shadow will fall on them and bring them healing.
How come the Apostles were able to do all these mighty deeds and we are not? Did the Apostles receive the same Holy Spirit that we all received at baptism and confirmation? The Spirit of God is the same yesterday, today and forever. The reason most of us cannot work mighty deeds as the Apostles did is our lack of openness to the power of the Holy Spirit. This may be caused by fear. We all know that prayer of St. Augustine before his conversion, “Lord give me chastity but not now.” We really want to be empowered by the Holy Spirit but we are afraid of letting him lead us. We are more comfortable where we are right now and we are afraid of the unknown. If we continue to live just the way we are, we are not living to our full Christian potential. The Apostles did not remain in the safety of the upper room, they went out to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. The problem is that 10, 15, 30, 40 and even 50 years after our confirmation, many of us are still cooling off in the upper room.
What are some of the signs that the Holy Spirit is not fully alive in you? You find it difficult to pray or make time for prayer; you rarely study the word of God; coming to church is an obligation for you rather than something you look forward to or enjoy doing; you do not participate in any ministry in the church; you are afraid of identifying yourself as a Christian; you have not used the sacrament of reconciliation in over a year; you do not give of your time or talent or treasure to God; you do not share of your resources with those in need, etc. God does not want you to continue to live this kind of life. He wants to call you to a new life, a life full of the Holy Spirit. He wants you to experience a second Pentecost, where empowered with the Holy Spirit, you will truly become the person he has called you to be.
What you must do now to experience the second Pentecost? Embrace a life of solitude. This does not mean cutting off the people you cared the most about. It does not also mean isolating yourself. It is creating some silence in your soul, so that God may speak to you. We live in an age of technology: computers, iPods, cell phones, internet, satellite radios, etc. There is just constant noise and we rarely find time to hear God speak to us. How many times did you say you were going to spend just five minutes checking that email and then pray and you ended up spending two hours or more on the internet? How many times were you driving to work or travelling and you said you will just listen to that song on radio or CD and then pray and you found yourself at the end of your journey without giving time to prayer? We must give God priority and create that time for him to speak to us. In 1Kings 19:9 when Elijah had the vision of God, he did not experience him in the Strong heavy wind; he wasn’t even in the mighty earthquake; God was not in the fire; he came in the tiny whispering sound. When the Holy Spirit comes in a tiny whispering sound, will you hear it? Spend at least five minutes every day to listen to God speak to you.
The disciples prayed together. Jesus Christ tells us in Matthew 18:20, “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in their midst.” While it is good to have a personal prayer life, it is also good to pray with other people. The family is an excellent place to intercede for the coming of the Holy Spirit. If a family prays together, God will be in their midst. There are also many wonderful religious groups in our church community you can belong. The small basic Christian community is a place for you to cultivate an opening for the Holy Spirit to in-break in you. If there is no group you see that you like, I challenge you to begin yours, if you need ideas on how to start one up, I am more than willing to help you. The important thing is that, you must be in prayer with other Christians. The Holy Spirit did not find the Apostles all scattered around, it found them together praying. You need to have that longing for the Holy Spirit and ask God to in-break the Holy Spirit in you. Luke 11: 9-13 tells us, “Ask and you shall receive.” Ask specifically for the Holy Spirit and I will assure you that you will receive it abundantly.
The Apostles gathered around Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary was the great intercessor of the Holy Spirit. She was the first woman in the New Testament to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must not neglect her. She is the woman I turn to every morning and ask for her help. I cannot imagine a day without her in my life. She is constantly interceding for me and she will intercede for you also that you may receive the Holy Spirit.
As we celebrate this feast of Pentecost, let us ask God to refresh us in his Holy Spirit, that we may go out and be the witnesses of his love to all of humanity.

Sunday May 4, 2008: Acts 1: 1-11; Ephesians 1: 17-23; Matthew 28: 16-20

Jesus Christ in today’s readings gives his farewell speech to his Apostles. In this speech, he challenges them to go out and make disciples of all nations. The disciple cannot draw other people to become disciples if they themselves are not good disciples. You will not want to apply to a law school where majority of their graduates cannot win a case. For us to be able to convince other people to become disciples of Jesus, we must first be good disciples. People are tired of hearing us tell them what they need to do, but they want to see it in our lives. We must embody the life of our Master, Jesus Christ. Our lives must become a school of discipleship for other people. This morning, I want to share with you the four characteristics of a good disciple.

A disciple of Christ must be one filled with the Holy Spirit. In the first reading of today, we are told that, we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. At baptism and confirmation, we received the Holy Spirit. Like the Holy Spirit led the apostles to become witnesses of the gospel, the Holy Spirit must lead us also to become witnesses. Jesus Christ tells us in Luke 24: 49 that, “I am sending the promise of the Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” You need the power from on high to clothe you and lead you towards becoming an effective disciple. The command to “stay in the city” is very important. Jesus Christ knows that allowing his followers to go out there and trying to do it on their own with that power will only lead to failure. You cannot be an effective disciple if the power of the Holy Spirit is not alive in you. The Holy Spirit is the oil that lubricates your discipleship. Without the Holy Spirit, you are running dry. It is never good to run dry. What you can do if you are running dry – pray sincerely for a new Pentecost in your life.

A good disciple of Christ must be a person of prayer. Prayer is simply a relationship with Jesus. In prayer, we speak to God and he speaks to us. It is in prayer that we come to discover the Will of God. Almost every parish I know has different wonderful “programs.” These programs are usually well developed by intelligent people with good ideas. However, when you put these programs to work in a parish or diocese, they work for a little bit and then die or the results over a long time are not encouraging and then they eventually drop them. Like computer programs, they have developed bugs or they are not doing what they were supposed to do. No wonder every now and then we keep getting software updates and then after some time they come up with an entirely new program. I can guarantee you that there is not a single good Christian ministry that is grounded in sincere prayer that is unsuccessful. The disciple realizes that God is first. The disciple trusts the wisdom of God more than his own wisdom. The disciple does not do things because he thinks they sound good or look good, he acts based on discernment. Prayer is a place of discernment. We all have family members that we have been working so hard to bring them back to Church. Yes, you are working too hard. Pray for them. There is no amount of human wisdom that St. Monica would have used to convince Augustine to come back to Church. Her most effective tool was prayer. Prayer is the master key that opens the door to success where failure is the expected result. In Mark 9:14-29, a man brought his son to the disciples of Jesus to cure him of a demon. The disciples could not cast out the demon. Being frustrated, the man brought the son to Jesus and told him about the failure of the disciples to cure the son. Jesus Christ commanded the demon and it left. In private, the disciples of Jesus asked him, “Why could we not drive it out?” Jesus answered them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.” Our ministry can only be successful with prayer.

Jesus’ disciples are grounded in the Word of God. Jesus Christ says to us in John 8:31, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” To be a disciple of someone, you have to know the person very well. It is in scriptures that we get to know Jesus very well. The bible is not a novel or a text book. It is the living word of God. Whenever I read the bible, I get to know Jesus Christ in a way that I did not before. The disciple should always be learning from his master. The moment he stops learning, he has ceased to become his disciple and he is trying to become his own master. Jesus Christ tells us in Matthew 10: 24-25 that “No disciple is above his teacher.” If you do not know about Jesus, how can you teach about him? How can you embody his life? Remember who a Christian is? A Christian is someone who is Christ-like. What you can do. Devote a few minutes every day going through the daily Mass readings or reading a few verses of the bible. You don’t have to read the whole bible.

A true disciple must courageously embrace the cost of discipleship. He is not only a disciple on Easter Sunday and at the Ascension, he is also a disciple at the garden of Gethsemane, on the Way of the Cross and at the foot of the crucifixion. In Luke 9: 57-62, Jesus Christ spells clearly the cost of discipleship. The disciple must look forward to the crown and abandon anything that detracts from that crown. Even family is not a good enough reason to stray away from the path of discipleship. A disciple need not be politically correct even with his family, he must always hold on to his Christian beliefs even if they are unpopular. He must embrace the persecution that comes as a result of his Christian beliefs. Jesus Christ reminded his followers in the gospel of John that they will weep and mourn while the world rejoices, but they should not lose sight of their crown, for when they attain it, they will rejoice and no one can take their joy away from them.

As the disciples of Jesus, we have been given the mission to share what we believe with others in the way we live our lives. Do not forget that God does not give us a mission we cannot accomplish. He has made a promise to us today that he is not leaving us as orphans, but he will always be with us until the end of time.

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Pt 3:15-18; Jn 14:15-21 (April 27, 2008 – Fifth Sunday of Easter)

In the last few weeks, Jesus Christ has been inviting us to hope. He has been calling us to have faith in him and to remain in his love. In the face of all the pains and tribulations we go through, why should we still hope? For those who have suffered for many years, the question becomes, what is the fruit of hoping all these years? Our Christian hope is not foolish hope as some of my skeptical friends think. Our hope is not a pie in the sky as Karl Marx will think. It is not an illusion or at consequentially, a delusion as Sigmund Freud will argue. The temptation is that when we hope and hope for many years and nothing seems to change, we begin to believe that our hope is delusional.

In the last few months, there is hardly a day that goes by without using the word “hope.” For a friend who has just lost a loved one, I say “hope;” to a parishioner that has just been diagnosed of cancer, I say “hope;” to a class mate who has just been laid off because their company is moving over to Taiwan, I say “hope.” It is not uncommon to hear these people ask me, “Do you really believe that things will be better?” I do believe that things will be better. Why do I believe that things will be better? That is what I want to share with you today.

St. Peter tells us in the second reading of today that we need to have an explanation ready for anyone who asks us why we hope. My skeptical friends want to know why I will continue to hope in the Lord after letting my brother and sister die in accidents. Let me tell you, after going through traumatic or difficult circumstances in your life, it sometimes become difficult to remember why we hope. My job this morning is to remind us why we Christian people hope and to give you reasons why we should hope.

We hope because God is truth. He is always faithful to his word. He does not deceive us. Again and again throughout scriptures, he blessed those who hoped in his promises. The story of Abraham in the book of Genesis, is a story of hope. Abraham hoped that the promise which the Lord has made to him would be fulfilled. Biologically, it was impossible for him to become the Father of all nations because his wife Sarah had reached old age. He mistakenly thought that, that promise was to be fulfilled through Haggai, his slave woman. God still made it known to him that, it was Sarai that would fulfill this promise. He believed and because of his hope in the promise of the Lord, St. Paul tells us in Galatians 3:6 that he was credited of all righteousness.

We hope because we are children of Abraham. Through Jesus Christ, the singular descendant of Abraham, we too are sons and daughters of Abraham. The promises and blessings of Abraham are also rightfully ours. This promise from the Lord is of good and not of evil. In Deuteronomy 28:12-13, the Lord makes a promise to us, “The Lord will open up for you his rich treasure house of the heavens, to give your land rain in due season, blessing all your undertakings, so that you will lend to many nations and borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail, and you will always mount higher and not decline …” It may be difficult to see how this promise would be fulfilled in your life if you are going through difficult circumstances. The promise of the Lord, is his promise, how he will fulfill it is not for us to decide. I remember what Mike Huckabee use to say in the campaign trail, “I am in the business of miracles and not Math.” Our science cannot explain how God will bring to fruition these promises. Job, the righteous man must have been wondering how God will bring about a change in his life after going through those years of tribulation in his life. His friends had all given up. He was even persuaded to curse God and die, but he stayed firm in the Lord. His response is found in Job 42:2, “I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.” As we see at the end of the story of Job, his situation was turned around. Job 42:12 tells us that, “The Lord blessed the late days of Job more than his earlier ones.”

We hope because hope does not disappoint. St. Paul in Romans 5: 4-5 says that we can now boast of our afflictions. We boast of our afflictions because they produce endurance, and endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint. It is hope that brings you here every morning, it is hope that makes you go to school, it is hope that makes you go to work. If you have no hope, you can do nothing. In Ezekiel 37, we have the prophecy of the dry bones. God asked the prophet Elijah to prophecy so that these dry bones will come back to life. He says that these dry bones are the house of Israel, their hope is lost and they have been cut off. God asked Elijah to prophecy that their graves will open and they will rise from them. He will put his spirit in them and they will live. He concludes that, “I have promised and I will do it.” We have become like dry bones without life in them. We have been buried in our problems and difficulties, but God has made a promise he will keep. He will open our graves and we will have life and live.

How is he going to give us life? He says to us in the gospel of today that, I will send you the Holy Spirit, the helper, the comforter. Help is on the way. On Friday, the President told us that the treasury department will be mailing out our stimulus checks beginning this Monday. That is help on the way. It will be foolish to sit down and hope that the checks are not coming. We know they are coming. In the same way, Jesus has told us that help is on the way, the Holy Spirit is coming to help us, it will be foolish to stop hoping and believing that help is not on the way. If we do that, we are making Jesus Christ a liar.

We hope because of what God has done in Jesus Christ. He sent him to come and set us free. What greater witness there is, for us to hope? If we believe that Jesus Christ died for us, then we have no option than to hope. His death and resurrection, guarantees everyone of us a place in his father’s kingdom, where as Revelation 21: 3-7 tells us, there is no pain and suffering. We must keep our eyes on this eternal prize. As St. Paul exhorts us in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “we are not discouraged by this momentarily light affliction … we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen, for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Let us not give away our greatest and only weapon, hope. If all fails, the one thing we must hold unto is hope. The moment you let go of hope, your life will become meaningless. It is hope that will bring us successfully to our kingdom. I live you with the words of the prophet Jeremiah in 31:17, “There is hope for the future, says the Lord.”

John 8: 31-42, (Wednesday, March 12, 2008)

In the course of my ministry, I have come across many people who have been enslaved to sin. These are generally good people who strive to do better but they cannot. They find themselves caught up in a sin they very much enjoy and at the same time they really want to get out of. They cannot get out of the sin because the sin has held them bondage. There also have been instances where by the repercussions of getting out are very grave. It is very easy to put ourselves in situations like these. Many people who get addicted to drugs will tell me they wanted to just try it once and then they got hooked up. I have also heard something like this, “I just wanted to have casual sex with her and now she has turned to gum, she wouldn’t let me alone.”

As Christian people, Jesus has liberated us from the slavery of sin and has given us the freedom of righteousness. If we turn around and enslave ourselves, we would be ejected from his family. A slave has no permanent residency in the Master’s house. However, sons and daughters do. As Jesus tells us in John 1:12 that by virtue of our belief in him, we are his sons and daughters, let us maintain this identity.

In what ways am I a prisoner to sin?

John 8: 1-11 (Monday, March 10, 2008)

“GO AND FROM NOW ON, DO NOT SIN ANY MORE”

Jesus Christ uses these powerful words. These words of healing; these words of consolation; these words of challenge in the gospel of today. Let us for a moment imagine how this woman felt when she heard Jesus say to her, “neither do I condemn you.” This is a woman that was about to be stoned to death. She committed one of the worst crimes in Jewish law. The three capital sins in Jewish law are Idolatry, murder and adultery. These sins were punishable by death.

Adultery simply means unfaithfulness. In Christian tradition, we refer to this sin of unfaithfulness as Mortal sin. When we are unfaithful to God, we have committed a mortal sin. Mortal sin is a turning away from God and choosing something else; it is a rejection of Jesus. Mortal sin is deadly, because it separates us from God. There are three things that make a sin mortal: it is a grave matter, you know it is a sin and you willfully go ahead to commit it. At one point or the other in our lives, we have fallen into this kind of sin. And some people are living in this sin, separating themselves from Jesus Christ. This period of lent, it is an opportunity for us to turn once more towards God and turn away from our unfaithfulness.
In what ways have you been unfaithful to God?

John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30 (Friday, March 7, 2008)

Jesus Christ knew the Jews were trying to kill him. He also knew that he has a mission that is greater than his death. For this reason, he went preaching publicly at the cost of his death. It takes courage to do what Jesus Christ did. He stood courageously for what he believes. He was not going to let fear stop him from carrying out his mission. In the martyrs, we have models of people who stood firm in what they believed in. They were ready and willing to offer their lives for their beliefs.

St. Paul tells us that we have not received the spirit of timidity. The Holy Spirit that we have received is a spirit of boldness, of courage to always stand firm and defend our Christian faith and values. Given the wave of anti-Catholicism in America, many people are not confident to boldly say they are Catholic. We must be proud of our Catholic identity, our Catholic heritage. I do not see any gift that I have received that is greater than the gift of my Catholic faith.
I am willing to die for my Catholic and Christian faith. Would you?

Mark 12: 28-34 (Friday, February 29, 2008)

The scribe in today’s gospel understood the basis of true Christianity. The two anchors of Christianity are: love of God and love of neighbor. These are worth more than any sacrifices. Jesus says this man is close to the kingdom of God because unlike many of the learned people of his time who placed so much emphasis on the rituals of the temple, he understood that, that relationship of love with God and neighbor is more important.

There is no other Christian Church that has as many devotions and rituals as the Catholic Church. We should not make the mistake of thinking these devotions and rituals are the basis of our Christianity. Our Christianity is rooted in what God has done in Jesus Christ – an act of love. Devotions and rituals do not make us Christians, but they however cement our relationship with Jesus. That relationship of love is primary and the devotions and rituals are secondary.

As we continue throughout this season of Lent to prepare ourselves to respond positively to the invitation Jesus Christ is offering us, let us ask ourselves one important question: Are we as loving to God and neighbor as we have been loved by Jesus?

January 3, 2008 - 1John 2: 29-3:6; Psalm 98:1, 3cd-4, 5-6; John 1: 29-34

The mystery of Christ’s incarnation, passion, death and resurrection is a restoration of the human person to Jesus Christ. It is through this mystery which expresses the infinite love of God for us human beings that we truly become God’s children. After the fall of our first parents, the human person became indebted to God in ways that he could not repay. The debt was paid by Jesus Christ. Not only that he paid our debt, he adopted us and made us his children. We are adopted by virtue of our baptism. As adopted children, we are guaranteed a new life and we have all the rights and privileges of children. Our adoption is not because of any thing we have done for God, but it is the generous love of the Father. The only responsibility we have to enjoy this spirit of adoption is to believe in Jesus Christ. John 1: 12 tells us that all those that believe, he has given them the power to be called sons and daughters of God.
As sons and daughters of God, we belong to a family of the sanctified and sin should not be part of our lives. We must get rid of all sin from our lives so that we can live fully our vocation as God’s children.
What are the things that hold you from living out fully your Christian vocation?

My response:


Today I will:

Luke 19: 11-28 (Wednesday, November 21, 2007) - Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

It is important that we put into action the gifts that we have received from God. God has richly blessed us with various gifts but some times we do not use these gifts to further God’s kingdom on earth. How can we be better stewards of the resources that he has entrusted to us? I believe this is what the last judgment would be. Are we going to be like the first two servants who invested the master’s treasures or are we going to be like the last servant who did not invest? As members of Christ’s family, we are called to be investors of the treasures entrusted to us. When the Apostles received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, they did not go back to the upper room; they used their gifts to minister to other people. We also are invited to be active in ministry. The most rewarding ministry we can do is the ministry of our lives - living radically our Christian vocation in the midst of the world.


Prayer:
Lord, help us to be better investors of the treasures you have given to us. Mold our lives according to your Christian image that we may daily minister with our lives to others.

1Corinthians 3: 9c-11, 16-17 (Friday, November 9, 2007 – Feast of the dedication of St. John Lateran)

Today’s feast is a celebration of the unity of the Catholic Church. St. John Lateran is not only the cathedral of the diocese of Rome, but also represents all the dioceses of the world. This feast is also a celebration of religious freedom. Christians in the Roman empire can now worship publicly. Contrary to the general opinion that it was Constantine’s conversion that made Christianity grow in the empire, it was rather the growth of Christianity that made Constantine convert. As it is always said, “if you cant beat them, you join them.” After many years of persecution, Christians were steadfast and large numbers continued to join them. Christians achieved this success because of their unity. They were all of one mind and spirit. The story is different today when we have left our personal ideologies and differences tear us apart. Today we speak of “liberals” and “conservatives”; “traditionalists” and “progressives”; “orthodox” and “unorthodox”, etc. These divisions do not help in building up the body of Christ. That is what St. Paul is saying in the second reading of today. The Church is the temple of the Holy Spirit and we all have the responsibility to add to this building. We are not called to tear it down. We tear it down when we put ourselves first, rather than put Jesus first. It is only when we are of one mind and spirit that we too can change our society.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, give to your church unity. Help us to rid ourselves of all divisions and give to us the courage to accept each other’s differences and together work to build your kingdom here on earth.

Romans 13: 8-10 (Wednesday, November 7, 2007)

St. Paul tells us in today’s reading that the only debt we should owe as Christians is that of love. For every other debt, we can finish paying and we do have the responsibility to pay, but the debt of love, we can never finish paying. The reason is because love is the foundation of our Christian lives. Every moment in a Christian’s life should be marked by love. Love is the substructure, the structure and supra-structure of our Christian faith. All the commandments are subsumed in love. To say we have paid the debt of love is to say, I can now stop loving. Christians should not stop loving. The moment you stop loving as Jesus did, you have let go of your Christian vocation. Our Christian calling is a call to the love of Jesus Christ. It is when we embrace Christ’s love that we are able to shame the same love with other people. The one law guiding us as Christians is the law of love, if you keep to this law, you can live your life anyway you want to live because your whole life will reflect this law.

Prayer:
Jesus I love you, all I have is yours, yours I am and yours I want to be, do with me whatever you will.

Revelation 7: 2-4; 9-14; 1John 3: 1-3; Matthew 5: 1-12A (Thursday, November 1, 2007 – Solemnity of All Saints)

When I was growing up, we lived near an army memorial park. In the park there was a life size statue of a soldier on a Nigerian Army uniform. Every 15th of January, the veterans marched and paid homage to this soldier. As a little child, I always wondered who he was and what he did to achieve such great honors. It was at an older age that I learnt that he was a symbol for all the unknown soldiers that died serving the country. Today is the day we celebrate all those people who lived exemplary Christian lives that might be unknown to other people. Usually on this day I invoke the intercession of those people that I personally know whom I believe strive to live daily their Christian lives when they were living here on earth: I remember family members who have died; I remember those missionaries who labored to share their faith with my rural people; I remember those Christians I prayed with and anointed on their dead beds; I remember friends who died very young but lived their whole lives hoping to return to their eternal home one day.

Today is also a day we Christians celebrate our call to be saints. We are all called to sainthood because we have been elected by Christ to be members of the sanctified community. As members of the sanctified community, every moment of our lives most be sanctified – it must be an opportunity to respond to this call that we have received from the Lord. Thus, we must see our responsibilities and professions as moments that God has given to us to gain grace.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for calling us to be saints. May you help us to see each moment of our lives as an opportunity to respond to you, so that one day, we together with all the saints will rejoice with you in our eternal home.

Luke 7: 36-50 (Thursday, September 20, 2007)

In the gospel of today, we learn how an encounter with the living Christ can change our lives. The sinful woman in today’s gospel encountered Christ at a dinner in Simon’s house. Having Rabbi’s at special dinners like these and even having them teach to a general audience present from all walks of life was not uncommon. Jesus’ presence could have attracted a greater crowd because of all the miracles he has been working and the radical nature of his teachings. Yesterday’s gospel gives us a glimpse into the radical life of Jesus. If he was in today’s world, he would probably be called “a liberal.” This prostitute who was present at the dinner, most probably for other reasons than listening to the Christian message of Jesus, had a conversion experience. This experience of the living Christ took away all the shame she had and she did things that were very unconventional. For once, she knew what true love means. It is reflective in the life and teaching of Jesus. She could feel that love being before the presence of Jesus. That love is forgiveness. That encounter with the living Christ brought her salvation.

In our lives, our striving should be to always encounter the living Christ. Sometimes we walk away from him. We can only encounter him by fostering families that are truly a domestic church; by reading and praying with the scriptures; by visiting him in the Eucharist and by partaking in his greatest mystery, the Eucharistic sacrifice.

Prayer:
Lord, we want to be in your presence. We want to encounter you. We believe that in your presence there is true love, true peace and true joy.

Luke 6: 27-38 (Thursday, September 13, 2007)

Jesus Christ in today’s gospel sets out to show the Christian difference. Christians have a higher calling. While the regular people in the society live a life of retribution, Jesus calls Christians to rather live differently. They are to love their enemies, bless those who curse them, pray for those who mistreat them, etc. These commands by Jesus are rooted in love. It is only the heart that loves fully can live this life. Jesus Christ sets himself as an example for us. He prayed for his enemies even when they were crucifying; even when he was harshly treated, he was submissive and still loved them. Just as Jesus Christ was kind to the wicked, we too are called to the same way of live. Our reward is not on this earth, it is in heaven.

As you go out today, say hello to a difficult co-worker; hold the door with a smile for a colleague you cannot stand; call a family member you are estranged from; write a nice note for your spouse who has been aggravating you recently. We cannot truly become the people God has called us to be if we do not begin to live practically these commands of Jesus.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, you lived a life of love and taught us to love like you have loved us. Lead us develop good relations with the people we cannot stand and help us to always think positively about the people we love the least.

Luke 4: 16-30 (Monday, September 3, 2007 – Labor Day United States)

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. These words are what we may the mission statement of Jesus. They are his mission plan. This was an important ministry to Jesus and it made him stand in opposition to many, including the political and religious leaders of the time. He lived out these words and gave away his life that we may experience liberation. Jesus invites us Christians to continue this ministry. This challenges us to against injustice in our society. It is not enough that Christians pray against injustice but Christians must work actively to end the reign of injustice, oppression, poverty, captivity, and corruption in our society.

As we celebrate Labor Day, we must as a Christian community apologize to all those who have worked for us that we did not pay them just wages; give them their due benefits or treated them fairly. We cannot fight injustice in the society if we do not first live radically the life of justice in our Christian community. This will mean paying our staff just wages; providing retirement benefits to them if they qualify and give them basic things such as health insurance. Those of you who have employees, you must treat them in that way too.

Prayer:
Lord, help us to be people of justice. We apologize to all those living or dead whom we have treated unfairly in the past. We apologize most especially to our employees living or dead whom we took advantage of and did not pay them just wages or provided benefits that would have significantly improved their lives. We are sorry lord. Help us to do better.

Mathew 24: 42-59 (Thursday, August 30, 2007)

Christians should always be ready because they do not know the time Jesus will come. Today’s gospel reminded me of something that happened prior to the great Jubilee year. There was supposedly a secret from the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Fatima apparition that they would be three days of darkness. These three days of darkness were predicted to be some time around 1997. To survive the three days of darkness, you needed to burn candles for the three days. People went purchasing a lot of candles. My family had a different attitude to the whole event. We did not purchase any candle. This was our simple belief – during these three days of darkness, God will shine his light on the righteous people; and for the unrighteous people, even if they should light their candles, God will blow them out and they will experience the darkness. As Christian people, we do not have to wait for dates when the world will come to an end for us to live righteously. No one knows when God is going to come or call us individually for judgment. Our Christian motto should be “always ready.”

We have been given so much freedom during this time of our exile on earth. We should use our freedom to make right choices and not choices that will lead to our damnation. Do not live in an ungodly manner because you have this freedom, you do not know when you would be called to give an account of how you lived your life.

Prayer:
Lord, help us always to be faithful to you. May you find us worthy when you invite us to give account of how we spent our lives in this world.

I Thessalonians 1: 1-5, 8b-10 (Monday, August 27, 2007 Feast of St. Monica)

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. Monica was given in marriage to a pagan Patricius, even though she was Christian. Patricius lived a life of licentiousness. Monica’s mother in law who also lived in the same town with them was a very difficult woman to contend. Her child, St. Augustine, also became a Manichean. Monica was able to bring Christ to their lives and change them. Monica did this through an enduring life of prayer and an exemplary Christian lifestyle. As today’s reading says, the gospel does not come in words alone. It comes by how we live our lives. The results of Monica’s prayers were not immediate; they came after a long time of prayer.

In our lives, we know people we wish they were better people. We may have family members or friends who have fallen from the church or never practiced religion. The greatest important thing we can do for them is to pray for them and live exemplary Christian lives. Jesus would gradually draw them to himself.

Prayer:
Lord, we place in your hands family members and friends who have fallen away from the Church or who have no place for you in their hearts, we ask you to draw them to yourself and help them to recognize the power of your presence in their lives.

Matthew 23: 1-12 (Saturday, August 25, 2007)

Today’s gospel invites us to be humble. As a minister of the word, I feel strongly challenged by it to look into myself and be sure that I live the message that I preach. Christianity is not a religion of the lips, but it is a religion of the heart. I cannot just talk the talk, I must walk the walk. The gospel for which I preach must challenge me to be a better Christian. We must always look at our leadership positions not as those of authority to Lord it over others, but we must be at the service of others. Jesus Christ was an example of a servant leader – he washed the feet of his disciples. Every Christian is called to wash the feet of others. To be at the service of those in need. Whatever you are: doctor, nurse, lawyer, teacher, priest, religious, farmer, banker, realtor, etc. look at your work as God’s opportunity for you to serve others. Do not look down on others because of your position or position your career just only from the perspective of making more money. You must be that Christian example in the work you do.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help us to bring you to our work, that we might be a shinning example of the servant leader.

John 1: 45-51 (Friday, August 24, 2007 – Feast if St. Bartholomew)

“Here is a true child of Israel, there is no duplicity in him.” This is an amazing statement from Jesus about Nathaniel. Most scholars believe that Nathaniel is the same apostle with Bartholomew. When Jesus looks you in the face, can he say that, “this is truly a Christian, there is no duplicity in him?” Christianity is not an outward show. It is a religion of the heart. Our external practices must come from our internal movements. It is not enough to do the external things when your heart is not in relationship with Jesus. We must reflect today and ask ourselves if we are real. If you are not, it is time to do something about it. The external practices will not engrave your name in the heavenly Jerusalem. What will do is a life lived in and for Jesus.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, sometimes we are hypocritical in our actions. We let the external things dominate our lives so that people will say we are truly holy. Help us to be real. Take away the spirit of spiritual pride from us that we may truly access ourselves and work towards being the people you have called us to be.