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Category: Year I

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Twelfth Week / Year I

“ENTER BY THE NARROW GATE” (Matt 7:13)

⏰Tuesday of the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time 1 (27 June 2017 – Memorial of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Patroness of Issele-Uku Diocese) ????Gen 13:2, 5-18; Ps 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5 (R.v.1a); Matt 7:6, 12-14 My dear, do you wish to be saved? If yes, then you must follow the way that leads to life and enter through the narrow gate (cf. Matt 7:13-14). That way is already identified by Jesus in the Beatitudes (Matt 5:3-12). God wants all to be saved (cf. 1 Tim 2:4) but only a few chooses to be saved (Matt 7:14; 22:14). Do you wish...

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Twelfth Week / Year I

“I WILL BLESS YOU…SO THAT YOU WILL BE A BLESSING” (Gen 12:2)

⏰Monday of the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time 1 (26 June 2017) ????Gen 12:1-9; Ps 33:12-13, 18-19, 20 and 22 (R.v.12b); Matt 7:1-5 Did you say “Amen” to that promise of God? So shall it be for so that all who encounter you henceforth shall begin to glorify the name of the Lord with and through you through Christ our Lord. Amen. In this new working week, the Lord makes us that promise as children of Abraham. That promise comes with some responsibilities that we must keep in mind: You need to move away from your comfort zone. Abraham, to...

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Eleventh Week / Year I

“FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US” (Matt 6:12)

⏰Thursday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time 1 (22 June 2017) ????2 Cor 11:1-11; Ps 111:1b-2, 3-4, 7-8 (R.v.7a); Matt 6:7-15 Prayer is a communication between God and man. With prayer man presents his petition before God and hope that God hears and answer him. With the above in mind, I wonder how many of us who listen to ourselves when we say the Lord’s Prayer. Yet, that is part of the reason why Jesus tells us not to use many words in the manner of the Gentiles. It is so that we could meditate on what we are...

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Eleventh Week / Year I

“GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER” (2 Cor 9:7)

⏰Wednesday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time 1 (21 June 2017 – Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga) ????2 Cor 9:6-11; Ps 112:1b-2, 3-4, 9 (R.v.1b); Matt 6:1-6, 16-18 Do you remember the story of that boy that donated his lunch pack to Jesus (John 6:9) and equipped Jesus with the things to perform the miracle of feeding so many people? That is also the effect our charity has. The joy is that, just as the boy was also a beneficiary of that feeding, we too would gain from any cheerful charity we undertake. Being cheerful is a state of...

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Eleventh Week / Year I

“LOVE YOUR ENEMIES AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU” (Matt 5:44)

⏰Tuesday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time 1 (20 June 2023) 📖2 Cor 8:1-9; Ps 146:1b-2, 5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a (R.v.1b); Matt 5:43-48 My dear, in our reflection yesterday, we pointed out that one of our guiding principles in this new working week should be to shun revenge as Jesus taught us in Matt 5:38-42. However, Jesus wants us to do more than shunning revenge; he wants us to love those who hurt us and pray for them. This is really a hard teaching for us in this age when “Back to Sender” is now a label of an anointing...

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Eleventh Week / Year I

“THE LORD HAS MADE KNOWN HIS SALVATION” (Ps 98:2)

⏰Monday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time 1 (19 June 2017) ????2 Cor 6:1-10; Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4 (R.v.2a); Matt 5:38-42   My dear, I welcome you to this new working week. We are ever grateful to the psalmist for introducing us into this week with the above beautiful message of the Lord’s salvation. St Paul also makes an important claim for us that, “…now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). Do you want to be a partaker of that salvation? St Paul tells us how – you must not dwell in self-glory; rather see yourself as...

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Tenth Week / Year I

“THE LOVE OF CHRIST URGES US ON” (2 Cor 5:14)

⏰Saturday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time 1 (17 June 2017) ????2 Cor 5:14-21; Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8-9, 11-12 (R.v.8a); Matt 5:33-37 What is your motivation in serving God? Miracle? Protection? I mean, “Is it just about your selfish interest or is it about the love of God?” What is it that has changed in you since you accepted Christ? For some days we have been trying to decolonise our minds from too much attachment to the law which may block our view of what really matters – God. 1 John 4:16 tells us that God is love. So,...

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Tenth Week / Year I

“IT IS NO LONGER I WHO LIVE, BUT CHRIST WHO LIVES IN ME” (Gal 2:20)

⏰Friday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time 1 (16 June 2017) ????2 Cor 4:7-15, 3-6; Ps 116:10-11, 15-16, 17-18 (R.v.17a); Matt 5:27-32 Yesterday, we talked about the freedom which we received for being part of Jesus. That freedom enables us to live beyond mere observance of the Law but live rather in imitation of Christ who called us. St Paul tells us of the importance of staying focused on that course not minding the challenges that come our way. The result shall be that we shall now be a reflection of Christ with our lifestyle bearing witness to what...

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Tenth Week / Year I

“WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, THERE IS FREEDOM” (2 Cor 3:17)

⏰Thursday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time 1 (15 June 2017) ????2 Cor 3:15 – 4:1, 3-6; Ps 85:9-13 (R.v.2ab); Matt 5:20-26 My dear, have you considered the significance of the tearing of the the veil covering the temple’s sanctuary at the death of Jesus (cf. Mark 15:38)? It is a sign that with Jesus, there is no longer any limitation for anyone to be enriched in God. That was a shift from the existing status quo. The Israelites of the Old Testament lived an isolated life which assumes that they are the only ones known and loved by...

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Tenth Week / Year I

“I HAVE COME NOT TO ABOLISH [THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS] BUT TO FULFILL THEM” (Matt 5:17)

⏰Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time 1 (14 June 2017) ????2 Cor 3:4-11; Ps 99:5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (R.v.9c); Matt 5:17-19 Of all the Gospels, Matthew shows more sympathy to the Jewish traditions. The interest of the Gospel is more on purification and renewal of those traditions rather than complete obliteration and replacement. That explains the statement of Jesus that we quoted above. Remember that the prophet Jeremiah had prophesied of a time when God would make a new covenant with his people, in which the letters of the law would be written in the hearts of...