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Category: Year II

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Ordinary Time / Second Week / Weekdays / Year II

“GO, AND THE LORD BE WITH YOU!” (1 Sam 17:37)

⏰Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time II (22 Jan 2020) 📖1 Sam 17:32-33, 37, 40-51; Ps 144:1, 2, 9-10 (R.v.1a); Mark 3:1-6 “GO, AND THE LORD BE WITH YOU!” (1 Sam 17:37) My dear, yesterday, we were well reassured that with the presence of God around us, there will be no obstacle to our victory. When God speaks, every opposition remains silent (see Mark 3:4). Our destinies are safe in his hands and so, nobody can tamper with it. Of course, that is only if we don’t tamper with it ourselves. The Church teaches that faith alone cannot...

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Ordinary Time / Thirty-Fourth Week / Weekdays / Year II

LET YOUR BABYLON BE FALLEN

⏰Thursday of the Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time 2 (29 Nov 2018) 📖Rev 18:1-2, 21-23, 19:1-3, 9a; Ps 100:1-2, 3, 4, 5 (R. Rev 19:9a); Luke 21:20-28 What comes to your mind when you think of Babylon? For the Israelites, it was a place of exile, alienation from their fatherland, backwardness, oppression, slavery, etc. Babylon offered them nothing but pains. Remember that the book of Revelation uses coded language in talking so that only the people it is addressing would understand. So, at the time the Christians were suffering great persecution, the book used the image of Babylon to represent...

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Ordinary Time / Thirty-Fourth Week / Weekdays / Year II

BE WISE! THERE IS NO TIME!

⏰Tuesday of the Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time 2 (27 Nov 2018) 📖Rev 14:14-19; Ps 96:10, 11-12, 13 (R.v.13b); Luke 21:5-11 What is your understanding of the eschatological discourses of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke 21? Many understood that to mean that there is still plenty of time, but that is not so. Remember that these Gospels were written down at the time the early Christians were still building up and were facing many temptations. There were sufferings everywhere and people were rising to give interpretations of these as signs of end time, and instilling more fear on people....

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Ordinary Time / Thirty-Fourth Week / Weekdays / Year II

“WILL ONLY A FEW BE SAVED?” (Luke 13:23)

⏰Monday of the Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time 2 (26 November 2018) 📖Rev 14:1-3, 4b-5; Ps 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 (R.v.6); Luke 21:1-4 A misreading of Rev 14 has always created confusion for people. It talks about a vision of 144,000 who are marked with the seal of the Lamb, and who alone were capable of hearing the voice of the Lamb. So some people now assume that heaven must have been filled up. Hmmmmm! Remember that Jesus said, “my sheep hears my voice and follows me” (John 10:13). Ok! Rev 14 does not suggest that only 144,000 people would be...

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Ordinary Time / Thirty-Third Week / Weekdays / Year II

THE WORD OF GOD SHALL FOREVER TRIUMPH!

⏰Saturday of the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time 2 (24 Nov 2018 – Memorial of St. Andrew Dûng-Lac and Companions) 📖Rev 11:4-12; Ps 144:1, 2, 9-10 (R.v.1a); Luke 20:27-40 Does that not give you a cause to be joyous? That means that whatever the word of God says about you shall come to pass. And he says in John 20:19, “Peace be with you.” And in another place he says, “I have come that [you] may have life, life in all its fullness” (John 10:10). To you who are sick, “By his stripes, you are healed” (1 Pet 2:24). To...

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Ordinary Time / Thirty-Third Week / Weekdays / Year II

“OUR HELP IS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD” (Ps 124:8)

⏰Thursday of the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time 2 (22 Nov 2018 – Memorial of St. Cecilia) 📖Rev 5:1-10; Ps 149:1b-3, 3-4, 5-6a and 9bc (R. Rev 5:10); Luke 19:41-44 Do you understand what the psalmist meant when he says, “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal man who cannot save” (Ps 146:3)? If you are yet to understand that, ask an average Nigerian to define the term, “Politician” to you. You will surely get an answer that would shock you. (Well, not all politicians are bad but the many bad eggs silence the few good ones). That...

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Ordinary Time / Thirty-Third Week / Weekdays / Year II

LOOK UP TO HEAVEN FOR YOUR OPEN DOOR (cf. Rev 4:1)

⏰Wednesday of the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time 2 (21 Nov. 2018 – Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary) 📖Rev 4:1-11; Ps 150:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6 (R. Rev 4:8b); Luke 19:11-28 Child of God, I pray for you this morning, that as you continue to wade through the material and spiritual challenges of this present life, may the heavens open to grant you all the help you need and also lead you to see God face to face in the end. Amen. Indeed, life may not be very easy to live in, but looking up to heaven can...

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Ordinary Time / Thirty-Second Week / Weekdays / Year II

“BLESSED THE MAN WHO FEARS THE LORD” (Ps 112:1b)

⏰Saturday of the Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time 2 (17 Nov. 2018 – Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary) 📖3 John 5-8; Ps 112:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6 (R.v.1b); Luke 18:1-8 Remember that we already saw that love could be a veritable instrument of fostering unity. Now, the evangelist John goes ahead to encourage the early Christians on the importance of showing hospitality to strangers, especially the missionaries who have left everything for the sake of the Gospel (cf. 3 John 5-8). In doing that, we would once more be assisting Christ indirectly in line with the demands for the kingdom of...

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Ordinary Time / Thirty-Second Week / Weekdays / Year II

“BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO WALK IN THE LAW OF THE LORD” (cf. 119:1b)

⏰Friday of the Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time 2 (16 Nov. 2018) 📖2 John 4-9; Ps 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18 (R.v.1b); Luke 17:26-37 As we gradually draw closer to the end of the liturgical year, the readings of this period keep taking our minds back to the time of the ultimate end of all things. The Gospel calls us to fix our mind on this reality so that whenever it happens, it shall not be an accident to us. The point we must hold on to is that call to move out of ourselves and consider the things...

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Ordinary Time / Thirty-Second Week / Weekdays / Year II

JESUS HAS PAID THE PRICE FOR YOU AND FOR ME

⏰Thursday of the Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time 2 (15 Nov. 2018) 📖Phlm 7-20; Ps 146:6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10 (R.v.5a); Luke 17:20-25 Have you read the Letter of St. Paul to Philemon? It is an interesting piece. Find time to read it. As you do so, you will notice the fortunes of the slave boy, Onesimus, completely for the best and beyond expectations. And I tell you this! Forget about public opinion on you and people’s condemnation of your faith, and hold on sincerely to Christ. You shall equally be lifted up beyond human expectations. Amen. Now, strictly speaking, we are...