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Category: Sundays

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Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year B

YOU SHALL BE MY WITNESSES (Acts 1:8)

⏰Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) ????1 Sam 3:3b-10, 19; Ps 40:2 and 4ab, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10 (R. cf. 8a and 9a); 1Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20; John 1:35-42 In a way, today would be considered as a vocation Sunday. This is because all the readings, especially the First Reading and the Gospel make reference to the call which God makes to man, as well as the responsibility which man is given to help others also answer that call. The Gospel begins with John the Baptist pointing out Jesus to two of his disciples. At their encounter with Jesus, Jesus invited...

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Feasts and Solemnities / Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

“THIS I DID FOR YOU! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME? (cf. Matt 25:40, 45)

⏰Last Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Solemnity of Christ the King ????Ezek 34:11-12, 15-17; Psalm 23:1-2a, 2b-3, 5, 6 (R.v.1); 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28; Matt 25:31-46 Today, the Church celebrates in a special way, Christ, the Universal King. It is the last Sunday in the Ordinary Time of the Churchs Liturgical Year, pointing to the fact that Christ emerges victorious even to the very end. The Eucharistic procession round the streets and villages reminds us of Christ who, though being a King and equal to God, humbled himself to the level of a servant (Phil 2:5-8), going around towns...

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Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

“BLESSED ARE ALL WHO FEAR THE LORD AND WALK IN HIS WAYS” (Ps 128:1)

⏰Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) ????Prov 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 (R.v.1a); 1Thess 5:1-6; Matt 25:14-30 With just one more Sunday to go in this Liturgical Year, the Church reminds us in practical terms the need to be ready at all times for the endtime when we shall be required to give an account of our lives. The tone of the Second Reading suggests that the Thessalonians were anticipating an imminent parousia (the second coming of Jesus) and were becoming confused over its delay and the death of their fellow brethren before the time. But the...

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Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

“WATCH THEREFORE, FOR YOU KNOW NEITHER THE DAY NOR THE HOUR” (Matt 25:13)

⏰Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) ????Wis 6:12-16; Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 (R.v.2b); 1Thess 4:13-18; Matt 25:1-13 For the second time in two weeks, the readings appear so live to me as if they would be fulfilled immediately. I just told someone with me at the time of making this reflection that it is possible that I may not finish it before the Lord calls me. But in case I remain alive, it reminds me that I am living on a borrowed time. The owner of the time, God, may demand of it at any time. How prepared...

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Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

“THEY PREACH, BUT DO NOT PRACTICE (Matt 23:4)

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Mal 1:14b – 2:2b, 8-10; Psalm 131:1, 2, 3; 1Thess 2:7-9, 13; Matt 23:1-12 Today, I remember some words that are ascribed to St. Augustine, “For you, I am a priest; with you, I am a Christian. I rejoice at what I am with you, but what I am for you terrifies me.” As I was going through the readings for today’s liturgy, terrible fear enveloped me. I realized once more how delicate is this precious vocation that I embraced. To be frank, I have enjoyed every minute of my priestly life such...

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Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

“LOVE IS THE GREATEST OF ALL (1Cor 13:13)

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Exod 22:21-27; Psalm 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 47 and 51ab (R.2); 1Thess 1:5c-10; Matt 22:34-40 “LOVE IS THE GREATEST OF ALL (1Cor 13:13) There is really no other commandment than the call to love. A careful consideration of all the commandments of God would show us that that is in the mind of God when giving out the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. Unfortunately, hypocrisy and pharisaism have led to the bastardisation of that original intention of God. That was how the Pharisees led the Jews of Jesus time into the confusion they found themselves...

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Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

WE ARE THE VINEYARD AND ITS TENANTS

⏰TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A ????Isa 5:1-7; Psalm 80:8 and 11, 12-13, 14-15 and 17b, 18-19(R. Isa 5:7a); Phil 4:6-9; Matt 21:33-43 My dear, the end is becoming even more imminent, and the reality of accountability at the end is being more emphasized in our readings at this period. May God grant us the wisdom to always take all these messages seriously to avoid being taken unawares in the end. Amen. Today, the theme of the vineyard flows through the Readings and two important issues stare at us from them: ????How do we accept the word of God?...

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Feasts and Solemnities / Sundays

“THERE SHALL COME FORTH A SHOOT FROM THE STUMP OF JESSE, AND A BRANCH SHALL GROW OUT OF HIS ROOTS” (Isa 11:1)

⏰Solemnity of Our Lady, Queen of Nigeria (01 October 2017) ????Isa 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 (R.v.7); Eph 2:13-22; Matt 2:13-15, 19-23 Happy Independence Day Nigeria! Again, many people might want to ask me, “What are we celebrating?” In the face of the recent happenings in the country, with the great tension and threats in the air, what is there to celebrate? And I will answer, “Hope!” A lot of people have lost hope in the country really and there are calls for secession here and there. A lot of lives have been lost and there are threats for...

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Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

GOD CAN DO MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER ASK

⏰Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) ????Isa 55:6-9; Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-19 (R.v.18a); Phil 1:20c-24, 27a; Matt 20:1-16a May the peace of Christ which is beyond all things dwell with you. Amen. After a long time of suffering in exile, the prophet of the Deutero-Isaiah had, right from the beginning in Isaiah 40:1 embarked on the project of comforting and encouraging the people. Throughout the book (Isa 40:1 – 55:13), he prophesied restoration and the coming of the Messiah. At the end in Isaiah 55, he reminds the people that God is able to provide all that they need,...

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Ordinary Time / Sundays / Year A

“THE LORD IS COMPASSIONATE AND GRACIOUS, SLOW TO ANGER AND RICH IN MERCY”

⏰Twenty-FourthSunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) ????Sirach 27:30 – 28:7; Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12 (R.v.8); Rom 14:7-9; Matt 18:21-35 Last Sunday, in the liturgy, we reflected on the necessity of forgiveness and fraternal correction in order to build up a harmonious community. But today, we are reminded that forgiveness is a norm that must be observed by all. Recall that Jesus had earlier said, “If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you either” (Matt 6:15). Peter might have just recalled that teaching in Matt 6:14-15, and then, since Jesus just brought up the matter...