THE BEAUTY OF KNOWING GOD. (Homily for Tuesday of the 1st Week in Advent, Year C.)

Bible Study: Isaiah 11, 1 to 10. And Luke 10, 21 to 24.

In today’s Gospel passage, we encounter a literally joyful Jesus so happy about the fact that his disciples were given the privilege of knowing him as God. First he prayed to God saying: “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.” Luke 10, 21. Then he turned towards the people themselves and said: “Blessed are the eyes which see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Luke 10, 23 to 24.

We should consider ourselves privileged to be Christians and followers of Jesus who is THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. To be a Christian is to have the way, the truth and life right in your hands. Yes, Jesus is the way, only by following him closely are we going to get the best things life has to offer. Jesus is the truth, he is the answer to all of life’s challenging questions. Jesus is the Life, only in him do we find true life and by true life, I mean health for our souls.

Many are physically alive but because they lack Jesus, they are dead within them yet they do not even know it. But for us who know Jesus, we are truly lucky, because we are the ones who have come to touch true happiness, we are the ones who experience that mysterious peace which Jesus spoke about when he said: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” John 14, 27. We are the ones who know that peace does not depend on how much money we have, how much power we have in the world or how readily we can find bodily pleasure.

We are ones who know that these very things which the people of the world crave for with endless pursuit are the same things which bring them sadness, restlessness and totally unfulfilled. We are the ones who defy Adam’s Smith theory that man is an insatiable creature because by our closeness to Jesus Christ, we have come to find satisfaction in Life. By living out the beatitudes, we have come to quench our unruly appetites. By refusing to live by bread alone but by every word God has spoken, we have come to discover a spring of water welling up inside of us such that as Jesus told the Samaritan woman, we do not have to keep going again and again to the well of earthly life to draw water.

Yes, we must consider ourselves lucky to know Jesus. The world does not know Jesus and that is why they look at us as weird people, they do not know what we enjoy. Truly, Isaiah’s prophecy in today’s first reading give us a clue to this mysterious joy and peace that knowing Jesus personifies. As Isaiah says: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11, 6 to 9.

Physically speaking, these things seem impossible yet they are real. The world cannot understand how the wolf can dwell with the lamb, how the leopard shall lie with the kid. In the same way, the world does not understand how we who say we have picked up our cross to follow Jesus are happy, contented and at peace. The world cannot and will never understand how we who have renounced the best it claims to offer are experiencing true peace and fulfilment in life. Aren’t we lucky?

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, you are my peace, may I never depart from you, the way, the truth and life. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. HAPPY NEW MONTH. Welcome to December

AND THEY LEFT EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW HIM. (Homily for Monday of the 1st Week in Advent, Year C.)

Bible Study: Romans 10, 9 to 18. And Matthew 4, 18 to 22.

Every year, the church calculates the date of Advent based on when the feast of St. Andrew occurs. This is because the feast of St. Andrew remains a defining point for our understanding of the true spirit of Advent. The life of St. Andrew we know was one of complete detachment as we read in today’s Gospel passage. The moment Jesus said “come after me and I will make you fishers of men,” Simon and Andrew his brother left everything they were doing at once and followed Jesus.

Advent is a time of detachment. Recalling the words of Jesus in yesterday’s Gospel passage, “But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and CARES OF THIS LIFE, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare; for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21, 34 to 36. When we are solely concerned about meeting the cares of this life, we lose touch with God and it is impossible to serve both God and money.

Another aspect of the life of this great saint that defines the spirit of Advent was the fact that he was a person who always brought people to God. That is to say, Andrew knew how to prepare the minds of people and he always did background work before bringing them to Christ. Although today’s Gospel passage depicts the calling of Simon and Andrew as something that happened at the same time, the Gospel of John gives us a different picture. According to John, Andrew was first a disciple of John the Baptist and when John the Baptist pointed out Jesus as the Lamb of God, he and the other disciple of John walked up to Jesus and asked, “Master, where do you stay?” Then Jesus said: “Come and See.”

As the Gospel of John puts it: “One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). John 1, 40 to 42. Even though Simon become more prominent than Andrew later on, Andrew did not seem to be bothered, he had done his job, he had brought the best candidate to Jesus.

Again, at the miracle of the multiplication of loaves, while the other disciples were scampering around thinking of what to do, Andrew was the one who brought the little boy with five loaves and two fish to Jesus. John 6, verse 8. I guess, Andrew must have spoken to this boy in a manner that he was willing to render his entire lunch box to Jesus and I am sure if Andrew had not brought this boy to Jesus, that miracle would not have occurred.

In the course of his life, Andrew continued his mission of bringing people to Jesus by preparing their minds. And it was precisely for this beautiful work of spreading the message of Christ that he was persecuted in an “X” shaped cross. As we are told, he did not die immediately but suffered terribly on that cross for two whole days still preaching to the people who had gathered to watch his crucifixion. Here was a preacher par excellence, he continued to preach up till his very last breath.

Thanks to the preaching of St. Andrew, many were converted to the faith and came to believe that Jesus Christ is lord thereby leading to their salvation. This is what St. Paul sings about in the first reading, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news.” The task of preaching is central to the salvation of souls.

Preaching is the first of the chain of processes that brings people to heaven. As St. Paul analyses, “For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!" Romans 10, 13 to 15.

Are you a preacher? Today’s message should greatly encourage you. Keep on spreading the Good News. You are contributing greatly to the salvation of souls. And like Andrew, note that you are cannot preach well unless you are completely detached, that is, unless you actually leave everything behind to follow Jesus. What makes modern day preaching ineffective is that preachers are still very much attached to the world and preaching itself has now become a means of increasing in wealth and worldly goods, these days, the truth itself is sacrificed on the altar of entertainment. Preaching is not about making anyone feel good or saying what they like to hear, preaching is delivering God’s message just as it is, that it may cut through stony hearts and bring about repentance.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, grant me the grace of true detachment from the world and grant that through my life, many may be brought closer to you, O Lord. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy new week.

A NEW YEAR. A YEAR NEW BEGINNING. (Homily for Sunday of the 1st Week in Advent, Year C.)

Bible Study: Jeremiah 33, 14 to 16. 1^ST Thessalonians 3, 12 to 4, 2 and Luke 21, 25 to 36.

Happy New Year to you all my dear brothers and sisters. At last there comes again that time of the year when the world as a whole begins the preparation for Christmas. In this part of the world, the rains are no more and the cold-dry dusty wind known as harmattan has started blowing across the air and you can almost feel the scent of that memorable Christmas stew. Indeed, in less than thirty days from now, the jingle bells would start ringing and we would be once again exchanging pleasantries as part of events marking the celebration of Christ’s birthday.

However, you would agree with me that one thing that is most common with this season is an increase in the level of vice and a multiplication of evil in our society. When going out now, you hear people say: “Be careful oh, you know this is Christmas time.” Meaning, “watch out oh, there are people out there that do not mind using you as their Christmas chicken.” In fact, this is the time of the year you see our young men and women dress most provocatively and go about almost nude all in the name of catching some sugar daddy or sugar mummy or some mugu who will give them plenty of money for the Christmas in exchange for their bodies forgetting they are the temples of God.

A few days ago, there was a terrible robbery incidence in an industrial estate in Lagos and all that people could say was: “It is Christmas time.” It is so sad that we now need armed robbers to remind us that Christmas is around the corner. Ironically, this is also a time when there is an upsurge of the number and presence of our security agents. Almost every corner you turn, you find men and women on uniform pretending to be checking vehicle particulars or signs of exhibits, yet rather than go after criminals, majority of them are after their pockets and they are not ashamed to say to you, “Happy Christmas oh, anything for the boys?”

In the world of business, this is a time of the year when people actually throw their conscience to the wind in the name of “my family must chop this Christmas oh.” All of a sudden, you notice a terrible hike in the prices of everything and you see people creating artificial scarcity just so as to give an excuse for their 200 to 300 increase in prices. A few days ago, I was listening to the radio and a man so perfectly described the issue of fuel scarcity in the country with the ishan proverb, “oria gbo ria” meaning “a man is killed only by his fellow man.” Some filling stations after buying the product at a very cheap price would stop selling to motorists and claim not to have it yet at night, they sell it to black market operators at a very high price who in turn sell it to these same motorists who feel they have no choice but to buy since they can’t find it anywhere else. We kill ourselves through various sharp practices all in the name of preparing for Christmas.

Dear friends in Christ, the question we all need to ask ourselves today is: “Am I really preparing for Christmas or am I like the rest of the world preparing for X-mas?” You see, there is a whole world of difference between Christmas and X-mas. The alphabet “X” stands for anything you can think of that is bad, evil, immoral, indecent and just short of the mark. In those days, when you don’t do well in your homework, you get a lot of “X”s, isn’t it? In the name of abbreviating words that are not worth abbreviating, people have removed Christ from Christmas and replaced him with “X” and that is why this season of the year can best be described as the season of evil, indecency and immorality, the season where beer parlours are packed full and night clubs are most functional all in the name of Christmas.

For those of us who know we are not preparing for X-mas, the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel passage are very apt and they actually help to put us in the right frame of mind for a spiritual preparation for Christ’s coming. Jesus says to us: “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.” In another translation it says, “But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare; for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth.” Luke 21, 34 to 35.

To be honest, this period ought to be the holiest time of our lives, a time of inner renewal and spiritual cleansing. In the course of this Advent season, we shall be repeating these words again and again “Come, Lord Jesus , Come Lord Jesus.” And most of our hymns would carry those words “Come Lord Jesus.” And so, it would be a contradiction if we are asking Jesus to come again into the world yet by our actions, we are telling him, “Jesus, please wait there, let me enjoy myself first.” If we must truly prepare for Christ’s coming, then we must be vigilant and prayerful as Jesus says: “But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21, 36.

Let us not be like the world who claim to be celebrating Christmas but do not know Christ. Let us not join in the bandwagon of those celebrating X-mas. And if actually we are preparing for Christmas, then Christ should be our focus, our centre of attraction, our attitude this period should be that of watching and praying, our conduct should be as St. Paul tells us in the second reading, that of holiness and love for one another. Advent is a time to “increase and abound in love to one another and to all men … so that {God} may establish our hearts unblamable in holiness … at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” 1 Thessalonians 3, 12 to 13. Dear friends, it is only by holiness of life that we can actually claim to be preparing for Christ because at his coming, he would destroy all those who are living in vice and sinfulness including those who indulge in sin in the name of celebrating his birth.

Come to think of it, if somehow breaks into your home, takes away your property and even kills your children in the process, how would you relate with the person when after he has been caught and he tells you he did what he had to do because he wanted to prepare for your birthday. Would you drink wine with the person and congratulate him saying, “after all it was all for my birthday?” Dear friends, do you think Christ would be happy when he comes around and discovers that your heart is full of vice and evil simply because you claim to be preparing for his birthday?

Above all, advent is a time of deepening our trust and confidence in God because we are again reminded that He is a God who fulfils his promises. In the course of this season of advent, we shall read about so many prophecies that spoke about the coming of Christ into the world beginning with our very first reading today from the book of Jeremiah. “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I WILL FULFIL THE PROMISE I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring forth for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely.” Jeremiah 33, 14 to 16. 

The fact that we celebrate Christmas is a reminder that God’s words are “yes” and “amen.” Whatever he has promised, he must surely bring to pass. Christmas is a celebration of the good news that God did not, will not and has not abandoned mankind on earth. That he chose to come and take our human flesh and be born like us shows the depth of his concern for our good. Therefore my dear friends as we prepare to celebrate the anniversary of that glorious day when God himself became man, let us increase our trust in God that he sees everything going on with us, that he know what is best for us, and that he is willing to go to any extent to ensure that we have the very best.

So therefore, this is not a time for us to panic like children who have no father, this is not the time for us to get involved in sharp practices in our businesses or in our daily life in the name making money to blow at Christmas. God knows it is his birthday you want to celebrate, he knows you and your family would love to eat chicken and fried rice to mark that great day, he knows your children would love to wear new clothes on Christmas day, God knows how much you desire to have the best of this holiday, trust that he would provide for you. Show your trust in God by refraining from evil in any form, show your trust in his providence by doing the right thing and avoid sin at all costs, allow God to be God and let him who is celebrating spend on you and providing the best for you. Trust him and do right and he will not let you down.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, it is your birthday, come into our hearts and change us that we may not be carried away by the world in the name of celebrating your birth. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Sunday.

PRAYER IS THE KEY. (Homily for Saturday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B.)

Bible Study:  Daniel 7, 15 to 27. And Luke 21, 34 to 36.

For some days now, our Gospel passages were taken from Luke, chapter 21. And honestly, this is one chapter that contains a lot of scary predictions about the future. We have hear Jesus say things like: “You will hear of wars and tumults…” “Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom… there will be earthquakes and pestilences, and there will be terrors…” “They will persecute you…” “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake…” “Alas for those who are with child… Great distress shall be upon the earth… there will be signs in sun and moon and stars…, men fainting with fear and foreboding.” Today, Jesus concludes it all by telling us the reasons for his stern warnings and how we are to deal with the end times. He says:

“Take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life…. But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21, 34 to 36.

As Jesus himself point out here, what keeps us from growing in the spiritual life is our attempt to take in all of the world forgetting that we really do not belong to this world but are simply strangers and passers-by. This is what often leads us to depression, sorrow and anxiety; dissipation, drunkenness and cares of this life. The word DISSIPATION simply means “wasteful or thoughtless spending or activity.” Dissipation can also mean a life of indulgence, in which health and wealth are squandered in the pursuit of pleasure. Dissipation is a kind of self-indulgence, excess in action and immoderate indulgence of bodily appetites.” No matter how much we try to satisfy our bodily appetites, we never seem to get enough and the more we indulge our senses, the emptier we become within and the more we find it difficult to pray.

Jesus says that the only way to stand triumphant and victorious in the midst of all that he has told us about the end time is WATCHING AND PRAYING AT ALL TIMES. To watch means to stand guard, a watcher man never sleeps, he continuously anticipates danger and does everything possible to prevent attack from the enemy. We too must be conscious at all times like watcher man against the many temptations that are bound to come our way. It is only when we are conscious spiritually that we are able to discern that we are being tempted.

From the words of Daniel in the first reading, it is clear that there are powers that be, powers that are set to wage war against us as children of God.  Daniel 7, 19 to 21. Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrible, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze; and which devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up and before which three of them fell, the horn which had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and which seemed greater than its fellows. As I looked, this horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them.

Dear friends, do not be surprised when you hear of grave scandals even among people who are supposed to be holy. Do not condemn or judge anyone or make a mockery of them, do not conclude that all Christians are hypocrites. Instead, let the words of Daniel today put you on guard, know that the spiritual life is a constant battle. And the only way we can overcome and stay victorious is PRAYER. Listen to the words of Jesus again: But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man. Did you get it? Pray that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place. Prayer is what give us strength.

If for instance, you are finding it difficult to stop a particular sin, it is simply because you lack the strength to do so. Like one suffering from paralysis, you lack the power to move your body around. But prayer energises, it empowers, it is like fuel for your bone marrows. You need it and you need it ALL THE TIME. You need to be place your heart in the presence of God, never taking your gaze from him, allow your thoughts to dwell on God constantly even as you move about your daily activities. Then and then only, would you find true joy, true inspiration and you will find that pleasure that the world and all its useless dissipations cannot give. St. Augustine’s favourite quote remains true always: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” How do our hearts rest in God? By prayer!

Prayer is the key.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, help me to rid myself of worldliness, take my heart and let it be yours always. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy weekend.

A KING WHOSE REIGN LASTS FOREVER. (Homily for Friday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B.)

Bible Study:  Daniel 7, 2 to 14. And Luke 21, 29 to 33.

In our first reading today, Daniel narrates the contents of his dreams; the visions of the night:  

As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was ancient of days took his seat; his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. I looked then because of the sound of the great words which the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.

As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7, 9 to 14.

When we look closely at this passage, we would discover that bulk of our imagery of God comes from this very vision of Daniel. When we think of God, we consider God to be masculine (based on Daniel’s use of the masculine pronoun), we see him as one who is very old (ancient of days), with very long beards (his raiment was white as snow), with some sort of scary demeanour (his throne was fiery flames) and with lots and lots of angels and saints serving him (thousand thousands served him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him).

The other aspect of the vision corresponds perfectly with an image of Jesus Christ. He is the “one who came like a son of man.” Jesus himself in the course of his earthly life referred to himself son of man again and again. “And to him was given dominion… his dominion is and everlasting dominion… one that shall not be destroyed.” In speaking about Jesus, St. Paul confirms: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2, 9 to 11.

God is a king that can never be destroyed. He is greater than anything we can ever imagine or think of. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the one who made us and sustains our life. Let us renew our faith and confidence in him every day casting off our fear of evil spirits, as we know, no one is greater than God.    

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, increase my love and devotion to you every day and may I serve you as my king and Lord with my very life. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.

THE EVIL THAT MEN DO LIVE WITH THEM. (Homily for Thursday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B.)

Bible Study:  Daniel 6, 12 to 28. And Luke 21, 20 to 28.

Yesterday, we read of how the reign of King Belshazzar came to an end for his ominous sin of sacrilege. If you recall, Daniel actually interpreted the handwriting on the wall saying that his kingdom would be divided and given to the Medes and Persians that was exactly what took place. Now a new king reigned over the kingdom of Babylon, King Darius of the Medes and Persians and just like other kings, he too had come to develop a close friendship with Daniel for his resourcefulness and administrative skills.

But there was a problem. Not an unfamiliar one though. It is a type of problem that we notice everywhere even in our own day and time. It is called P. H. D. meaning PULL HIM DOWN syndrome. Whenever a person seems to be doing well and winning favours in the sight of the people, he or she immediately has enemies who feel threatened by such progress and start plotting out ways to destroy him or her. In the case of Daniel, his adversaries thought out a plan carefully. They examined Daniel’s life carefully and since they couldn’t find anything wrong with him, they decided to create something wrong with him; that is, they went to the king and pressured him to issue a new law that would forbid anyone from praying to God other than to the king himself.

What a fine plan they had. Even though the king had come to love Daniel, little did he know that this new law was an indirect plan to destroy Daniel! Perhaps he felt that it would make him more popular and revered as king. When a society deviates from the path of truth and justice and begins to pass into law just about anything law-makers feel like, such a society is set for self-destruction. There are just laws as well as unjust laws and it is not every law of the land that a Christian is bound to obey. Yes, any law that contradicts the Law of God as contained in the Bible is an evil law, any law that is contrary to conscience, truth and righteousness should never be obeyed.

Closeness to God brings about an increase in faith, a deepening of one’s confidence and a certain fearlessness. That is what we see in Daniel. He had CONFIDENCE in God. He knew the king had just issued a decree and he knew the implication of that decree but he decided to not only increase his prayer and devotions to God, he even went as far as opening the windows of his upper chamber so that people would actually see him disobeying the king’s command. Dear friends, what is your level of confidence in God? Is your fear of people greater than your respect for God?

Daniel’s disobedience came as an offshoot of his disposition for martyrdom. He did not mind losing his very life for what he believed. He must have been really detached from his wealth, position and power, he must have had very little love for his very life that he was ready to let go of everything for the sake of his faith in God. That which you fear most is that which you are most attached to. That which you fear most is that which you are most attached to. If you let you of your attachments, you will instantly be relieved of your fears as well. For instance, if you are most afraid of losing your job, then it means you are most attached to that job, you have come to define your life by that job and you feel that without that job, you are nothing. As such, if your job is leading you to sin even on a daily basis, you keep pacifying your conscience and explaining away your actions.

Fear can really act as an obstacle in one’s spiritual progress and the best way to deal with fear is detachment. What is detachment? A resignation to death, a constant self-reminder that nothing in this world is really worth it, a firm resolution that naked you came into this world and naked you must surely return. When Jesus Christ spoke of the events of the end time, he said: "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken…. Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Luke 21, 25 to 28. In another passage, he said: “Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.” Luke 17, verse 33.

Daniel did not seek to preserve his very life otherwise he would have either stopped praying to God or he would have gone into hiding. Eventually his adversaries pressured the king to throw him into the Lion’s den. There are times in our lives we actually get thrown into the Lion’s den for doing good. All we see are lions around us yet we are unable to realise that our faith is being tested. We soon start complaining excessively or we even quarrel with God for allowing evil people succeed but if only we can see that the lions are not meant for us but for our enemies, if only we can wait patiently, if only we can develop a thick resistance within our spirit and remain cheerful no matter what, we would not have any reason to question God.

The same God that did not prevent Daniel from being thrown into Lion’s Den was the same God that shut the mouth of the Lions from making a meal of him. Dear friends, no matter what you may be going through, just know that the worst has not happened yet. As long as your hands are clean and your ways are pure, don’t look back, don’t be discouraged by the seemingly success of evil people. Their success is only a show, it doesn’t last long. The next morning, the men who thought they had finished Daniel became bread and tea for the hungry lions. Yes, evil people may thrive, they may even go as far as taking your very life but stand firm, look up and raise your heads; you will surely have the last laugh. It may be right here on earth but better for you if it is in the next life.

In the end, it is important to also place ourselves in the shoes of the so-called enemies in this story. This would enable us ask ourselves come hard questions: Have you ever tried to do harm to somebody? Have you ever felt insulted or seriously offended by the action of someone that you had to sit up all night planning what you are going to do to that person? Have you ever discussed the downfall of a fellow human being or sort our ways of carrying out a revenge? Well, if we all must be honest with ourselves, we would agree that in several ways we too have been enemies to some persons somehow in the past and when we would have simply FORGIVEN, we have instead brought ourselves into various Lions’ dens in the past.

If today you hear God’s words, harden not your heart!

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, deepen my confidence in you every day, teach me to be detached from everything and even from my very life itself, show me how to forgive and let go and not create enemies for myself. Amen.

St. James Alberione, pray for us.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.

DO NOT INSULT GOD. (Homily for Wednesday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B.)

Bible Study:  Daniel 5, 1 to 28. And Luke 21, 12 to 19.

The very first commandment states “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. (Exodus 20, 2 to 5). Furthermore, Jesus himself reminds us in Matthew 4, 10. “It is written: You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”

The sin of King Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadnezzar was the sin of SACRILEGE. What is sacrilege? According to Catechism of the Catholic Church, Number 2120, “Sacrilege is profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated to God.”

The word “holy” simply means “set apart” or “dedicated.” For instance, if you have many biros but decide to set one particular biro only for signing cheques, that biro becomes holy to your cheques since you do not use it for anything else. In the same way, in our worship of God, we also set things apart.

This includes the church building itself where the people of God gather, as well as other items such as the pulpit, the chairs, the vessels for carrying Holy Communion, and so on. Also, in the worship of God, certain persons are set apart from the world; priests, religious and those who enter into vows not to marry, not to have riches of their own and to be obedient to God and the church. By setting themselves apart from the world and making themselves available only for the service of God, they, like the items dedicated to God become Holy! And it really offends God when something or someone that has already been set apart for him is now engaged in another service other than worship.

In our first reading today, we get to see a graphic image of how God reacts to such high disrespect. Feeling like a mighty man, Belshazzar ordered that the vessels of gold and silver which were looted from the temple in Jerusalem be brought that he and his wives and concubines might drink from them. What an insult? And if it was not enough to drink from these holy vessels, which ordinarily only an ordained priest is allowed to touch, Belshazzar and his harem of wives and concubines started singing praises to the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron wood and stone.

God could not hide his displeasure anymore and decided to show up with the handwriting on the wall. Belshazzar could only see the hand, he couldn’t see the rest of the body and the hand wrote those words which only Daniel, could interpret: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN, which meant that “God had numbered his days as king, he had been found wanting and his kingdom would be divided and given to others.” To cut the story short, Belshazzar did not live to see the next day. He was killed that very night according to the prophecy of Daniel.

God does not joke with his own. He does not force anyone to dedicate himself to him neither does he force us to dedicate items to his worship. But when we do give ourselves or certain items to him, we must endeavour that we do not incur his wrath by profaning our bodies or items already dedicated to him. It is an act of respect to God to keep holy things, persons and places holy, set apart and revered.

On no account is it permissible to dishonour the things set apart for God. Even if we have to face the scorching fire of persecution. Jesus encourages us in the Gospel passage this morning that there would be hard times, there would be moments of trials but our minds must never waver about even on what to say. Our endurance and perseverance even in the midst of persecution will win us victory in the end.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, teach us to fear you and respect that which belongs to you that we may not draw your anger upon ourselves. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.

DREAMS, VISIONS AND SEEING THE FUTURE . (Homily for Tuesday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B.)

Bible Study:  Daniel 2, 31 to 45. And Luke 21, 5 to 11.

In today’s first reading, we encounter the prophet Daniel displaying before the king a talent very similar to that of Joseph who not only told King Pharaoh his dream but also gave the interpretation as well. If you recall, it was precisely Joseph’s ability to tell Pharaoh his dream about the seven years of plenty and seven years of famine that catapulted Joseph to the position of Prime Minister of Egypt. Pharaoh knew that this was no ordinary talent and whoever could tell a person his dream must surely have connection with God.

And so we see Daniel today telling the king his very dream in details. He said: “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image…. The head of this image was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,  its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.  As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces; then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Daniel 2, 31 to 35.

At this point, the king was completely dumbfounded. Daniel who was not in his mind while he was sleeping was here telling him everything he dreamt about. This is not an ordinary human feat. Then Daniel proceeded to give an interpretation. According to Daniel, each item on the image represents a kingdom, one of gold followed by that of silver, then bronze, iron and clay but there shall arise a kingdom from stone cut by no human mind (meaning of Divine Origin) and this kingdom shall shatter to pieces every other kingdom that came before and it shall fill the whole earth.

Wow! This was Daniel interpreting exactly what has not come to pass in the person of Jesus Christ; the king who was born by no human means and whose reign now fills the whole earth. This was hundreds of years before Jesus would be born yet his birth was already being prophesied. In our Gospel passage this morning, we see Jesus himself talking about something that would happen in the future; the fact that the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed and that many false prophets would come claiming to Christ, that there shall be wars and tumults and the reign of terrorists.

And true to the words of Jesus’ prophecy, this is exactly what we see happening today. The great Jerusalem temple was actually destroyed, all that is left of it is a wailing war and pilgrims to Israel still go there to pray. Many false prophets have actually arisen and we have many of them here in our country where churches are springing up every day and becoming dignified business centres. We have never stopped hearing of wars and now the new one is terrorism on a global scale.

Dear friends, what does all this say to us? That God alone knows the future and at times, he reveals the future to us through dreams, visions or trances. But then, we must be careful not to jump into quick conclusions about our dreams because the fact that we have certain dreams does not mean their contents are directly meant for us. The king who saw the great image of gold, bronze, silver, iron and stone never met Jesus Christ, yet God was showing him something that was going to happen many many years after. But that of Pharaoh was something going to happen in his lifetime and it came to pass just as Joseph said. This means that when it comes to dreams, there are no clear cut formulas. It remains on the level of mystery! So, the fact that you see something in your dream does not mean it will happen just as you saw it and if you do not have an interpreter, you should not go about feeling sad or thinking you are going to die because its content might not even happen in your very lifetime.

Again, we see that God gives certain person the ability to see dreams and interpret them. This tells us that God is so powerful and the more we open ourselves to him, the more he allows us share in his power. We experience God’s power in our lives in different ways as St. Paul makes us understand in 1^st Corinthians 12, 28 to 31: “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

Today we mark the memorial of Andrew Dung Lac and companions. They were murdered under a fierce persecution against Christianity in their attempt to spread the Gospel in Vietnam. The stories of the martyrs challenge us to be brave and defend our faith no matter what we may face.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, may we, like Daniel grow daily in our Spiritual life and bestow upon us your gifts that through us many may come to know God. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT. (Homily for Monday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B.)

Bible Study:  Daniel 1, 1 to 20. And Luke 21, 1 to 4.

The modern day sickness of our society today is conformity. It is like people have lost confidence in themselves and in what that they believe. The moment any popular artist or musician makes a certain hair style or dresses in a particular way, it becomes the new trend and you see millions trying to dress or act like that.

The desire for conformity has eaten so deep into our society that people no longer question why they act in a particular way, all they simply say is “everybody does it.” And even in these days of the super-social media apps and devices, these days of viral videos and so on, it takes only a few minutes to get thousands of people conform to a particular way of thinking or behaviour.

We have left the ways of our fathers, we have forgotten our traditional customs. Even as Christians, we are no longer convinced of our faith and God’s commandments, all we want is just to be like everybody else, we want to have what everybody else has, dress like everybody else, eat like everybody else.

The reason why we easily get caught up with the disease of conformity is the lack of a solid individual Spirituality. We are yet to build a personal one-on-one relationship with God. We are so lazy with growing our inner space and giving God a chance in our lives. We feel that as long as we can just do the basics, just say a little prayer in the morning an evening, then that is all. So we reduce our Christianity to just a little prayer and the world around us becomes our spirituality. That is why we easily get carried away by popular trends, popular patterns of thought and popular ways of behaviour even if such popular ways are direct contradiction of what God demands from us.

The Story of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah which we read about in today’s first reading shows us the need to build our individual spirituality rather than conform to the world. Having been brought into the king’s service, they refused to eat the so called “rich” food provided from the king’s table and instead requested only for vegetables and water.

Building a personal spirituality is like having a sixth sense. You are not easily carried away by things that thrill people. You see beyond mere mortals! In the end, they looked even fatter and more nourished that those who claimed to be eating rich food. Theirs which did not look rich in appearance became richer in reality because they fed not only their bodies but their spirits as well. We shall see more of them in the coming days after their names had been changed to Shredrach, Meshach and Abegnego

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, you were different in the course of your life on earth. Help me to mark out my own path and not be carried away by the sickness of conformity to the world. Amen.

St. Clement, pray for us.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.